THUNDER BAY – Residents of the Thunder Bay District will see few major changes after a province-wide shutdown went into effect Saturday.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit has been under the Grey-Lockdown zone in the province’s COVID-19 response framework since Feb. 26, which has similar public health restrictions.
The decision to move the province into shutdown, announced Thursday, followed modelling released by public health officials indicating that COVID-19 variants of concern are fuelling a third wave in the province.
Ontario reported over 3,000 cases on both Friday and Saturday, daily case counts not seen since January.
The activation of the province’s so-called “emergency brake” will tweak local public health measures only slightly, though the changes could have an outsized impact for some businesses.
Notably, outdoor dining will not be allowed. The Ford government had changed its rules to allow outdoor dining in Grey zones barely two weeks ago, on March 19.
Personal service businesses like hair salons and tattooists, for which the province made a similar exception on March 26, must also now close their doors during shutdown.
Schools and daycares can remain open under provincial rules, though students in the Thunder Bay area won’t return to classes until at least April 19, at the direction of medical officer of health Dr. Janet DeMille
Gatherings and events
Social gatherings indoors are allowed only with members of the same household, though individuals who live alone and single parents may have exclusive close contact with one other household.
Outdoors, gatherings must comply with social distancing rules and involve no more than five people.
Weddings, funerals, and other religious services, rites or ceremonies are allowed, events held indoors are capped at 15 per cent of the venue’s capacity, and participants must wear masks and physically distance.
There is no hard cap for those ceremonies outdoors, but participants must be able to physically distance by at least two metres.
What’s open?
- Stores that primarily sell groceries, including farmers markets, can remain open at 50 per cent capacity, as can convenience stores and pharmacies.
- Retail stores can open at 25 per cent capacity.
- Restaurants can open for pick-up, delivery, and drive-through only.
- Indoor malls must screen customers before they enter. Each store in the mall has a 25 per cent capacity cap. Malls must also close indoor dining spaces including food courts.
- Maintenance, repair and property management services are allowed to operate.
- Veterinary services and other organizations responsible for the health and welfare of animals are permitted to operate.
- Housekeepers, nannies, and baby sitters can operate if they are supporting children, seniors, or vulnerable people.
- Golf courses and driving ranges are permitted to operate, but indoor facilities like clubhouses cannot open.
- Libraries can offer only curbside pickup and delivery.
- Sports and recreation facilities can only open for identified high-performance athletes and specified professional leagues, access to physical therapy for a person with a disability, or for groups of up to 10 related to childcare, mental health and addictions support, or social services.
What’s closed?
- Personal care services including hair salons and tattoo parlours
- Concert venues and theatres
- Casinos, bingos and gaming halls
- Ski hills
- Day camps
- Museums
Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly indicated ski hills could remain open under the provincial shutdown. Tbnewswatch apologizes for the error.
