Cornwall Moves Into Red-Control Level
March 26, 2021Cornwall Ontario — The region governed by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit is moving to the Red-Control levels in the COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open. This region includes the City of Cornwall, United Counties of Stormont Dundas Glengarry and Akwesakne as well as the United Counties of Prescott and Russell.
Decisions were made in consultation with the local medical officers of health and are based on the trends in public health indicators and local context and conditions.
“Over the last week, we have continued to see some concerning trends in key health indicators in regions across the province,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “As we cautiously make targeted adjustments to public health measures to support the wellbeing of individuals and small business owners, it is critical that everyone remains vigilant and continues to strictly follow all public health measures and advice to keep each other safe.”
The move takes effective Monday, March 29, 2021 at 12:01 a.m.
Red – Control Regulations
Organized public events, social gatherings and wedding, funeral and religious services, rites and ceremonies
- Limits for all organized public events and social gatherings, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 5 people indoors
- 25 people outdoors
- Limits for religious services rites or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services, where physical distancing can be maintained (applies in any venue other than a private dwelling):
- 30% capacity of the room indoors
- 100 people outdoors
Restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments
- Capacity limits
- Indoors: the lesser of approximately 50% of indoor dining area or 50 people
- Outdoors: limited to allow physical distancing of 2 metres to be maintained
- Indoor and outdoor dining, take out, drive through, and delivery permitted, including alcohol
- No buffet style service
- Line-ups and patrons congregating outside venues managed by venue; 2 metres distance and face covering required
- A sign posted by the establishment in a location visible to the public that states the maximum capacity (number of patrons) they are permitted to operate under
- Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
- Require patrons to be seated; 2 metres minimum or impermeable barrier required between tables
- For indoor dining, patrons may only be seated with members of their same households, with limited exceptions for caregivers and people who live alone
- Require contact information for all seated patrons
- Face coverings required except when eating or drinking only
- Personal protective equipment, including eye protection required when is a worker must come within 2 metres of another person who is not wearing a face covering
- Establishments must be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- No consumption of liquor permitted between 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- Dancing, singing and the live performance of music is prohibited
- Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible
- Night clubs and strip clubs only permitted to operate as restaurant or bar
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Sports and recreational fitness facilities
- Maintain 2 metres physical distancing at all times
- Increase spacing between patrons to 3 metres in areas where there are weights or exercise equipment and in exercise and fitness classes
- Capacity limits, where physical distancing can be maintained
- 10 people in indoor areas with weights and exercise machines
- 10 people in all indoor classes or
- 25 people in outdoor classes
- No spectators permitted, however each person under 18 may be accompanied by one parent or guardian
- Team sports must not be practiced or played except for training (no games or scrimmage)
- Activities that are likely to result in individuals coming within 2 metres of each other are not permitted; no contact permitted for team or individual sports
- Exemptions for high performance athletes and parasport
- Patrons may only be in the facility for 90 minutes except if engaging in a sport
- Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible; measures to prevent shouting by both instructors and members of the public
- Face coverings required except when exercising
- Require contact information for all members of the public that enter the facility
- Require reservation for entry; one reservation for teams
- Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Meeting and event spaces
- Capacity limit for the venue, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 10 people indoors or
- 25 people outdoors
- Establishments must be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- No consumption of liquor permitted between 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- Face coverings required except when eating or drinking only
- Require contact information for all seated patrons
- Limit of 4 people may be seated together
- Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible
- Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Retail
New for Red-Control as of February 2021:
- Capacity limits of:
- 75% for supermarkets and other stores that primarily sell groceries, convenience stores, pharmacies
- 50% for all other retail, including discount and big box retailers, liquor stores, cannabis stores, hardware stores and garden centres
- Stores must post capacity limit publicly
- Stores must have passive screening for patrons (for example, posting signs outside the store front about not entering if you have covid 19 symptoms)
- This does not apply to indoor malls, which are required to actively screen their customers before they enter the mall. Malls can use the patron screening tool to help meet this requirement.
- Stores within the malls subject to appropriate retail measures
- Curbside pick-up and delivery permitted, including for cannabis stores
- Fitting rooms must be limited to non-adjacent stalls
- Line-ups and patrons congregating outside venues managed by venue; 2 metres distance required inside and outside; face covering also required while in line
- Limit volume of music to be low enough that a normal conversation is possible
- For malls:
- Maximum number of patrons permitted to be seated indoors in mall food court is 10
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Personal care services
- Oxygen bars, steam rooms, saunas, bath houses and other adult venues, closed
- Sensory deprivation pods closed (some exceptions)
- Services requiring removal of face coverings prohibited
- Require contact information from all patrons
- Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments
- Capacity limit for the venue, where physical distancing can be maintained:
- 10 people indoors or
- 25 people outdoors
- Table games are prohibited
- Face coverings required except when eating or drinking only
- Liquor sold or served only between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- No consumption of liquor permitted between 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.
- Require contact information from all patrons
- Screening of patrons is required, in accordance with instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Cinemas
- Closed, except for:
- drive-in cinemas
- rehearsal or performing a recorded or broadcasted event, with restrictions, which include:
- Performers and employees must maintain 2 metres physical distance except for purposes of the performance
- Singers and players of brass or wind instruments must be separated from any other performers by plexiglass or other impermeable barrier
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
Performing arts facilities
- Closed to spectators
- Rehearsal or performing a recorded or broadcasted event permitted, with restrictions, which include:
- Performers and employees must maintain 2 metres physical distance except for purposes of the performance
- Singers and players of brass or wind instruments must be separated from any other performers by plexiglass or other impermeable barrier
- Drive-in performances permitted
- A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
The above regulations have been sourced from the Ontario Government website and may have changed over time. Please view the regulations for full details.
The province is also modifying outdoor capacity limits for weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites or ceremonies held in regions in all levels of the Framework. Effective Monday, March 29, 2021 at 12:01 a.m., capacity limits for weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites or ceremonies, will be adjusted to allow for the number of individuals that can maintain two metres of physical distance. This change does not apply to social gatherings associated with these services, such as receptions.
Targeted enforcements are being applied, with an enhanced focus in public health regions identified in the Yellow-Protect, Orange-Restrict, Red-Control and Grey-Lockdown levels. This includes conducting field visits to check for compliance with the Reopening Ontario Act.
To ensure the continued health and safety of individuals and families, as public health measures are cautiously adjusted, the government is modifying the activation of an “emergency brake” which would allow the Chief Medical Officer of Health, in consultation with the local medical officer of health, to advise the immediate reimplementation of the previously lifted provincewide Shutdown measures if a public health region experiences a rapid acceleration in COVID-19 transmission or if its health system is at risk of becoming overwhelmed.
“Adjusting the emergency brake to allow for the recommendation to immediately implement shutdown measures in regions experiencing a rapid increase in transmission is important given the changes to the public health measures in the Grey-Lockdown level and will provide an extra layer of protection as we continue to fight this virus,” said Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “While adjustments are being made to the emergency brake and certain public health measures, the latest data continues to show some worrying trends throughout the province, and variants of concern remain a significant threat to public health. That is why it is important that people remain cautious and vigilant in order to minimize the transmission of COVID-19 and protect themselves and their communities.”
Quick Facts
- Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.
- Find out what level and which public health and workplace safety measures are in place for your area.
- From March 15 to 22, 2021, the Hamilton public health region’s case rate increased by 37.6 per cent, to 109.4 cases per 100,000 people. Over the past week, the positivity rate in the region is 4.6 per cent, above the high-alert threshold of 2.5 per cent.
- To help stop the spread of COVID-19 and safeguard health system capacity, everyone is strongly urged to continue staying at home and limit trips outside their household and to other regions for essential purposes only, and not to gather with individuals outside of their household. In addition, people are required to wear a face covering in certain circumstances, both indoors and outdoors, including when attending a business or organization that is open to the public, with limited exceptions.
- Local medical officers of health continue to have the ability to issue Section 22 orders under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, and municipalities may enact by-laws, to target specific transmission risks in the community.
- Screening tools for workers/employees and customer/visitors help keep Ontarians safe and healthy by pre-screening for symptoms before leaving for work or visiting a business. The tools help workplaces and businesses meet screening requirements.
Additional Resources
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit
- Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy
- Ontario Moving Eight Regions to New Levels in the COVID-19 Response Framework
- To find the right supports, visit COVID-19: Support for People, which has information about the many available and free mental health services and supports.
- Get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms, or if you have been advised of exposure by your local public health unit or through the COVID Alert App. Visit Ontario.ca/covidtest to find the nearest testing location.
- Visit Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine web page to view the latest provincial data and information on COVID-19 vaccines.
- Visit Ontario’s COVID-19 information website to learn more about how the province continues to protect the people of Ontario from the virus.
- For public inquiries call ServiceOntario, INFOline at 1-866-532-3161 (Toll-free in Ontario only)
Business Reopening Toolkit
Cornwall Economic Development has put together a toolkit to help businesses reopen. The toolkit includes guidelines and a maximum occupancy calculator along with signs and posters that can be downloaded and printed:
We summarize the latest news about the impacts of COVID-19 on Cornwall businesses on a daily basis. Click on the following link to view: