There was a lot of new information today regarding Covid and what it means for both individuals and businesses. We wanted to provide a few updates to help keep you up to date as well as share information we received from the Ministry of Labour.
Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development Education Toolkit
The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development has reached out to the Listowel BIA with an educational outreach initiative to assist all businesses in understanding and coming into compliance with the rules and regulations pertaining to the REOPENING OF ONTARIO ACT (ROA). They have asked us to provide you with tools and information to help keep you informed. They are aware that we have a wide range of businesses in our community and the different requirements can be confusing or overwhelming. As a result, they have put together the general compliance rules and specific rules to the various industries including restaurants, personal services, malls, and retail.
They have also let us know that Compliance Assistance Officers may be visiting some of our businesses leading up to Christmas.
The tools and information package can be found HERE.
Other Announcements Today Regarding Covid:
The Federal Government held a press conference today to advise all Canadians to suspend all non-essential international travel. This will be for the next month at a minimum.
More information can be found HERE.
Starting Saturday at 12:01 a.m. Ontario is bringing back capacity limits of 50 per cent at indoor entertainment venues, meeting and event spaces and sports venues with an indoor capacity of 1,000 people or more.
The Ontario government is rapidly accelerating its booster dose rollout by expanding eligibility to all individuals aged 18 and over, as well as shortening the interval to three months following an individual’s second dose. To provide an additional layer of protection against COVID-19 and variants during the holiday season, Ontario is also launching a holiday testing blitz starting today to offer rapid antigen screening to individuals free of charge at pop-up sites across the province, as well as select LCBO stores across Ontario.
The full press release can be found HERE.
Other Announcments Recently Regarding Covid:
In line with Ontario’s cautious approach throughout the pandemic and in light of evolving global evidence around the Omicron variant, the province is adjusting its COVID-19 response that will strengthen the province’s proof of vaccination requirements and enhance public health measures. This includes the following measures:
-
Delaying the lifting of proof of vaccination requirements beyond January 17, 2022, aligned with the reopening plan that stipulated that doing so was contingent on the absence of concerning trends.
-
Effective January 4, 2022, requiring the use of the enhanced vaccine certificate with QR code and the Verify Ontario app in settings where proof of vaccination is required. The QR code can be used digitally or by printing a paper copy. Individuals can download their enhanced certificate with QR code by visiting https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/.
- Strengthening the verification process for medical exemptions and clinical trial exemptions by requiring a certificate with a QR code. Organizations and businesses that are under the provincial proof-of-vaccination system will be advised to no longer accept physician notes as of January 10, 2022.
- Effective December 20, 2021, requiring proof of vaccination for youth aged 12 to 17 years participating in organized sports at recreational facilities.
- On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Ontarians are strongly advised to limit their social gatherings and the number of gatherings they attend over the holiday season. Additional precautions should be taken if all individuals are not fully vaccinated or where vaccination status is unknown. Employers in all industries should make every effort to allow employees to work from home.
The full suite of measures is outlined HERE.
Given the recent Omicron varient is now in Huron Perth, Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) is advising residents of the following:
- Isolate if you are a contact of a COVID-19 case, regardless of vaccination status
- All close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case, regardless of vaccination status, are required to self-isolate for 10 days from their last exposure to a case, and to get tested.
- If someone you know informs you that you’re a close contact of someone with COVID-19, self-isolate immediately and get tested. Do not wait for HPPH to contact you.
- Everyone should limit indoor social gatherings in private dwellings to no more than 10 people.
- Where possible, individuals should work remotely.
You can read the full update HERE.
We will be sending out a regular newsletter in January. In the meantime, we continue to promote Listowel as a place to Shop, Dine and Discover. We hope you continue to stay safe and healthy during these difficult times.
