TIMMINS -- YMCAs across northern Ontario announced over the weekend that all childcare and March Break programming is being cancelled in response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
The North Bay and Sudbury facilities closed all programs and services as of Monday, while operations in Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins will cease starting Tuesday, March 17.
The closures coincide with province-wide school closures to curb exposure to the virus.
"Part of it is our responsibility," said Wayne Bozzer, CEO of the Timmins YMCA. 'It hurts a lot of our clients, mind you, but we have infants here, a vulnerable group. So, it became, kind of, let’s do what we think is right.'
Finding alternative childcare
Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins facilities remained open Monday to give families time to find alternative care.
Natasha Dubano is a mother of five and co-owns an auto detailing shop with her husband in Timmins. While finding other arrangements will be challenging, she says it’s better to be safe.
"You have to be understanding," Dubano said. "It is a little bit frustrating, but you have to deal with it, figure things out."
(Natasha Dubanow will now need to balance finding alternative childcare for her five children with work at her auto shop. Mar. 16/20 Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)
"In the end, the YMCA provides childcare while we’re at work and when they can’t, then it’s up to the parents to take care of it," said Dubanow.
With around 200 children in the area now needing care, Dubanow said she’s found substitutions for her three and four-year-olds for the next week. Otherwise, she said she will likely have to bring them to work until they can return to school or daycare.
"We are kind of putting (work) on the back-burner because family is more important," Dubano said. "If things are a little slower at the shop... because we will have our children with us, then that’s when it’s going to be."
Dealing with it by the minute
Other childcare programs in the region are also suspending services until concern around COVID-19 dwindles. Some babysitters are accepting clients to fill in the gap.
(Childcare programs, among other services at local YMCAs, are suspended until COVID-19 can be contained. Mar. 16/20. Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)
The Timmins and Sault YMCAs hope to reopen April 6, but with the ever-changing circumstances surrounding the virus, Bozzer said that’s a very tentative date.
"We’re like everybody else, in unchartered waters and dealing with it by the minute and the hour," said the Timmins YMCA CEO.
