It's been almost eight weeks since a state of emergency was declared in the City of Timmins due to COVID-19.
At the May 26 council meeting, Timmins Mayor George Pirie started by giving a local update on the pandemic. He said if the province lifts its state of emergency, the city will as well. The provincial declaration was made March 17, with the local one going into place April 3.
The current provincial declaration is in effect until at least June 2. This morning, Ontario announced an extension of the provincial emergency orders, which limit gatherings of more than five and restrict what businesses are allowed to open and more, until June 9.
To date, there have been 65 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Porcupine Health Unit region. Of those, 56 are resolved and seven people have died.
Pirie extended his condolences to the family of the Timmins woman who passed away over the weekend.
He said they don't know if they expect more tragic outcomes locally, and noted there are still a couple of people in intensive care.
With 15 days having no new positive tests for the virus being reported locally, he said the city has been doing remarkable well.
“There’s been a lot of hard work, effort put in by virtually everybody - first responders, of course, the cleaning people, cashiers, those that installed the plexiglass, those that are wearing masks, those that are wearing gloves,” he said.
As the economy reopens, he recognized all the people working to make sure it's a success and that business can be done safely.
Since the beginning of April, Timmins bylaw officers have been visiting local stores to make sure shoppers and business owners are following safety measures in place for the pandemic.
He said there have been no fines levied, and that it's been all about education.
“The vendors and those individuals that have been talked to have responded tremendously. They have been a key part of the effort to ensure that the city has responded safely to this pandemic,” he said.
Pirie also pointed out the money the government relief efforts that have been rolled out.
“If in fact we do have a second wave in October — we don’t know if it’s going to happen — however, we know that it will be fundamentally different. It will be different because there won’t be any money,” he said.
He said there is one shot to do it correctly and people have all the information to do it.
“The message is this, we have got to do this right and we can do this right,” he said, commending the city for its efforts.
