Premier Doug Ford uses his authority to put in place a stay-at-home order starting at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
Reports of the move first emerged late Tuesday just days after the Premier pulled the emergency brake as a result of an alarming surge in case numbers and hospitalizations.
All non-essential retail businesses will close, except for curbside pickup. Grocery stores will stay open during the order and big box stores would be restricted to essential aisles only.
The Thunder Bay District’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janet DeMille believes including our region in the stay-at-home order is a wise move.
“When I look at what’s happening across the province, I can see why some like that is necessary…I think that there is a benefit for us being part of this province-wide shutdown,” explains DeMille.
She points out our cases can easily be affected by a spike in southern Ontario.
The stay at home order is getting a lukewarm reaction from the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce.
President Charla Robinson is pleased big-box stores will have to toe the line this time.
“We do welcome the announcement that big-box stores will not be permitted to sell non-essential items. This something that we have long advocated for to ensure that restrictions are applied fairly across the retail sector,” explains Robinson.
However, the chamber president adds without further support these restrictions will be adding more devastation to the business community.
Related: What Does A Stay At Home Order Mean
Premier Doug Ford first enacted the order back on January 14th and was lifted in our city on February 16th.
Thunder Bay had been in the Grey-Lockdown framework since March 1st while the Northwestern Health Unit was previously in the Red-Control level.
No Vaccines Wasted
Also on Wednesday, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit took to Twitter to dispel rumours about vaccines being wasted.
“No doses were wasted,” said the social media platform statement. “TBDHU and all of its partners have measures in place to ensure this does not happen. We are making full use of our vaccine allocations.”
Let’s clear the record: no doses were wasted. TBDHU and all of its partners have measures in place to ensure this does not happen. We are making full use of our vaccine allocations.
(2/2)— TBay Public Health (@TBDHealthUnit) April 7, 2021
