By Cecilia Nasmith
News of provincial restrictions being rolled back have will soon allow the Town of Cobourg to hang the “open” sign back up, Chief Administrative Officer Tracey Vaughan reported at this week's committee-of-the-whole council meeting.
Especially since the town's vaccine mandate resulted in 94% of municipal staff being fully vaccinated, Vaughan noted.
The figures come from information disclosed to the human-resources department, she said. The remaining 6% were either unvaccinated or refused to disclose their vaccination status.
As per policy, this group underwent mandatory educational sessions and had twice-weekly rapid-antigen testing, Vaughan said, adding that the town did qualify for the very limited number of rapid-antigen tests that were available.
The policy governing the mandate did call for periodic review as the situation evolves.
Of residents in the HKPR region aged five and up, 85.8% have one shot and 82.4% have two. As of Feb. 18, those aged 12 to 17 can get boosters (provided it has been 168 days since their second shot).
“We continue to work in the Emergency Control Group to respond to the evolving nature of the pandemic and the changing conditions with respect to regulations, and we remain committed to delivering our regular services,” she said.
The latest change had just been announced – that as of 12:01 a.m. Feb. 17, the province is lifting more restrictions. This means increases in the size of social gatherings to 50 indoors and 100 outdoors, unlimited number of attendees at outdoor religious ceremonies, and increased capacity at many businesses and services – though masking and vaccine passports continue (for now) to be required.
Capacity limits must be posted at business entrances, Vaughan said. And as of March 1, capacity limits will cease to exist, as will the requirement for vaccine passports.
For now, Vaughan is asking the public for patience as the requirement is still in effect. For example, staff are posted at entrances to the Cobourg Community Centre to check this documentation for the time being.
“We are letting our staff know we are beginning to transition back to in-person, doors being open, not requiring appointments to access services. We will have to work through a number of factors ensuring we balance operational needs with ensuring staff are available to work.”
