The Ontario government has moved Windsor and York region to lockdown due to growing COVID-19 infections. Tighter tier adjustments have been made to other areas of the province, while Niagara Region remains in the orange tier.
“Moving a region into Grey-Lockdown is not an easy decision, but it is one we needed to make in order to help stop the spread of the virus and safeguard the key services we rely on,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health said he is concerned about ensuring there is capacity in the system for non-COVID medical care. “By making this difficult but necessary decision we can help to ensure that hospitals in these regions can work to provide patients with the care they need when they need it, including the performing of scheduled surgeries and other important procedures,” said Williams.
Despite current restrictions in the Red-Control level, cases and trends continue to worsen in some hotspot areas. Based on this data, effective Monday, Dec. 14, at 12:01 a.m., Windsor and York will move into lockdown. A full list of lockdown restrictions can be found here.
Other public health unit regions that will be moving into higher levels of the response framework effective Dec. 14, 2020, at 12:01 a.m. include:
- Red-Control
- Middlesex-London Health Unit;
- Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit; and
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
- Orange-Restrict
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit.
- Yellow-Protect
- Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit.
Public health units will remain at each level for 28 days or two incubation periods. After that period, the government will assess the trend and decide if regions will move or remain in the same level.
Visitor restrictions in long-term care homes will be applied to the Orange-Restrict levels or higher levels. Long-term health care workers will also be required to get bi-weekly COVID-19 tests. Support workers and caregivers will also be required to show proof of a negative test result within the past week.
The government is also reminding Ontario residents to follow current COVID-19 health and safety guidelines and celebrate the holidays safely by celebrating in person with members of their household and celebrating virtually with everyone else.
People who live alone may have close contact with one additional household to help prevent feelings of isolation and negative mental health impacts.
The Ontario government is providing an additional $600 million for property tax and energy cost rebates, as well as a PPE grant of up to $1,000, to help businesses impacted by the enhanced public health measures. This doubles the initial commitment of $300 million outlined in the 2020 budget plan.