By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Ontario’s planned Roadmap to Recovery has been put on pause.
The Ministry of Health announced last week it is not moving ahead on lifting restrictions in certain high-risk settings on Nov. 15 as promised.
The pause affects bars, restaurants, nightclubs, dance halls and strip clubs.
The news comes on the heels of knowledge that the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in Ontario is on the rise again.
Numbers in Windsor-Essex are on the upswing.
In Chatham-Kent, the number of active cases has hovered around 50 for about a two-week period, with 48 active cases as of Monday.
Cases in London-Middlesex and Sarnia-Lambton have been fairly constant as well, with no large spikes recently reported.
In Ontario the seven-day average of cases was about 15 people per 100,000 as of Monday.
On Nov. 12, Chatham-Kent’s medical officer of health, Dr. David Colby, said the rise across the province is concerning but locally, it remains a “wait and see” game, adding it may be possible to offer a tailored response to the virus if pockets of infections break through.
“We can attack the problem where there’s an issue very specifically,” Colby said.
Specific rules on the pause are outlined on the provincial website and are listed as follows:
For food and drink establishments with dance facilities, indoor capacity is limited to the number of people who can maintain physical distancing of two metres to a maximum of 25 per cent or 250 people, whichever is less.
Outdoor capacity is limited to 75 per cent or 5,000 people and includes other safety protocols.
The wearing of masks or face coverings indoors is required at food and drink establishments with dancing, except when eating and drinking or seated with household members.
