THUNDER BAY - With the district expected to move into the Orange classification in the province’s COVID-19 response framework, Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro says it’s the right decision given the rising number of cases, but the public needs to do its part to prevent further restrictions.
“It’s not a surprise. It’s prescriptive,” he said. “The numbers from the province indicate when you reach a certain threshold you move into a different colour range. We have achieved unfortunately those numbers and we move into orange and the prescriptions get a little more significant under that colour coding.”
“Will this get people’s attention more than when we were in yellow or green? You would hope so. You would hope there is some measure of seriousness that people weren’t picking up on.”
Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said on Thursday that she anticipates the district will move into the orange or restriction classification on Friday.
The provincial government reviews case numbers on a weekly basis and decides if a region will move into a new classification on Friday.
There are 108 active cases in the Thunder Bay District as of Thursday, with the city seeing double-digit increases in positive tests in recent weeks.
More than 50 per cent of active cases are associated with an outbreak at Southbridge Roseview Manor and Mauro said if that outbreak is contained, the city could start to see the numbers go down.
Moving into the orange classification should not have a significant impact on city-run facilities, but Mauro said there are always considerations for potential closures if cases continue to climb.
“We are not there yet,” he said. “The orange piece is not too impactful on the facilities that are open that are city run. If we continue to progress through the colour coding we would probably find ourselves having to make decisions on city run facilities.”
“We are considering it all the time. You could make the argument if you waited until you are forced you waited too long. Nothing is forcing our hand, we are still able to maintain and meet the prescriptions of the province and the health unit.”
Mauro did express concern that if things do not improve, particularly with the holiday season coming up, the city could continue to move into more restrictive classifications, which would be detrimental to both public health and the economy.
“We all want local business to survive,” Mauro said. “If the numbers increase to the point where the province walks in and says you are now in red or in grey and you are shut down, you’ve got a serious health concern, but you also have serious concern for your economy and local businesses. We need to keep taking this as serious as we can.”
And that is the message Mauro wants to get across to the people of Thunder Bay – that everyone must continue to be as cautious and vigilant as ever to help minimize the spread of the virus.
“We need to adhere to the public health guidelines, it’s more serious now than it’s ever been,” Mauro said. “Unfortunately the numbers have climbed. Christmas is coming and there are going to be more indoor gatherings, it concerns me greatly that post-Christmas we see possibly the numbers going even higher.”
