The Province of Ontario has extended all COVID-19 orders until January 20, 2021.
Meanwhile, the active case count in Chatham-Kent has dropped to 34.
The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit updated their ‘current situation’ page, which provides a summary of COVID-19 cases and testing in Chatham-Kent, on Thursday, December 10, 2020.
The total number of cases has increased to 541.
A long-term care outbreak, which was declared at Riverview Gardens on Tuesday, December 1, 2020, remains active.
Officials at the long-term care home announced on Thursday that a second employee has tested positive for the virus. Details, here.
28 of the current active cases are linked to close contact, three are unknown, one case has information pending, one is linked to travel and one is linked to the outbreak at Riverview Gardens.
CK Public Health officials say one person from Chatham-Kent is currently hospitalized with COVID-19.
To date, 504 people have recovered from the virus in Chatham-Kent, while three people have died.
A total of 47,792 tests for the virus have been completed to date.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is remaining in the ‘Yellow-Protect’ tier of the Province of Ontario’s Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework, Provincial officials announced on Friday, December 4, 2020.
Public health officials are encouraging people to continue following these public health measures:
Ontario extends COVID-19 orders
The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced on Thursday, December 10, 2020 that they are extending all orders currently in force under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA) until January 20, 2021.
This extension will support the safe delivery of health care and other critical services until COVID-19 vaccines are approved and widely available, Provincial officials say.
“Safeguarding the health and well-being of Ontarians remains our top priority at every stage of our COVID-19 response,” stated Solicitor General Sylvia Jones in a media release.
“As we prepare to implement a safe and effective immunization program, extending these orders will ensure tools remain in place to address urgent public health situations until all Ontarians can be vaccinated.”
Ontario continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by taking the actions needed to support and keep Ontarians safe, Provincial officials say.
Effective December 7, 2020, under the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework, the government, in consultation with health officials, amended O.Reg. 363/20 (Stages of Reopening) to move three public health units to new levels.
This action imposes stricter public health measures in an effort to reduce transmission in these regions and avoid broader closures, Provincial officials added.
The government also made amendments to O. Reg 82/20 (Rules for Areas in Stage 1) under the ROA, which applies to public health unit regions in the Stage 1 lockdown.
These amendments, which came into force December 4, 2020, permit indoor farmer’s markets that primarily sell groceries, to be open.
For post-secondary institutions, the amendments increase the limit on the number of persons permitted in an instructional space at any one time for in-person instruction or in-person exams from 10 to 50 people for certain programs critical to supporting the health care workforce as set out in the order.
The list of orders under the ROA that have been extended can be found online on the Government of Ontario’s website.
