Opinion split in North Bay on speeding up province’s reopening plan
Officials at the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit are siding with Dr. Peter Juni, Ontario's Science Advisory Table's scientific director, who opposes an early reopening in the province.
"I feel it is important to retain that 21-day period in between moving between steps so that we can asses the situation," said Dr. Carol Zimbalatti, the health unit’s public health physician
Juni said Thursday the province is "absolutely not ready" to move into the next step of the reopening plan. He cited the threat of the highly infectious Delta variant as the main reason.
Health officials said they needs to see 75 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated before moving to the next step. They are calling for patience and for the government not to rush the reopening plan.
As of this week, half of all adults are fully vaccinated in the North Bay Parry Sound District, and numbers are rising among youth.
"Fifty-five per cent of our youth 12-17 years of age have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (and) 48 per cent have received both doses," said Andrea McLellan, director of the health unit’s COVID-19 immunization strategy.
But business leaders like Peter Chirico, president and CEO of the North Bay and District Chamber Of Commerce, said businesses have weathered the storm long enough and that it's time to reopen further.
"When we look at the numbers for the Stage 3 reopening, we're there,” said Chirico. “Our businesses -- especially our hospitality industry -- has demonstrated that they can open safely."
The Ford government's current timeline is for Ontario to remain in Stage 2 until July 21.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.