Breaking News – Cobourg Declares State of Emergency to Support COVID-19 Response

Pete Fisher
5 years ago
• Categories: Local

At 5:02 p.m. on March 19, 2020, the Town of Cobourg declared a State of Emergency in accordance with Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.

The Town of Cobourg is currently working very hard to protect the health and safety of all community members in the municipality. Declaring a State of Emergency is an important measure in supporting the Province of Ontario and Minister of Health to provide a swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A State of Emergency was declared for the following reasons:

· To raise public awareness regarding the gravity of the current pandemic situation,

· To protect volunteers that are called to assist including Police Auxiliary and Volunteer Fire Fighters

· To preserve the rights of the Town of Cobourg for future support should it become available; and

· To ensure the organization can quickly respond to other unforeseen events should they arise

“By declaring a state of emergency I want the community to understand that we are acting in their best interests and to also ensure that operations within the municipality will continue to run smoothly,” said Mayor John Henderson for the Town of Cobourg. “Our Municipal Emergency Control Group is taking the best course of action to protect our most vulnerable citizens.”

Declaring a state of emergency offers protection to volunteers and preserves the rights of the municipality for future support related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s decision is the latest step taken from the Town of Cobourg to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Our emergency declaration was necessary based on the evaluation of the Emergency Control Group and will further aid the Town of Cobourg as we work with our community partners across government and industry to co-ordinate emergency response efforts,” said Shannon Murphy, Emergency Planner for the Town of Cobourg. “By declaring a state of emergency we will now have access to use the tools available to continue to keep our community safe.”

The Town of Cobourg would like to remind the community that, at this time, service delivery is continuing but operating within a restricted capacity:

· All Municipal Buildings including Victoria Hall, Cobourg Community Centre, Venture13 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre, Building 7, Environmental Services Plants 1 and 2, and the Cobourg Fire Hall are closed to the public until further notice.

· Town of Cobourg staff are providing services with all inquiries to be made by email or phone wherever possible.

· Public Works operations continues with essential staff to ensure safe roadways are maintained.

Again, the risk of COVID-19 for Ontario remains low and by declaring a state of emergency the Town of Cobourg is ensuring all the necessary precautions to ensure the health and wellbeing of our community.

Stay Informed
Citizens are encouraged to visit the HKPR District Health Unit’s website www.hkpr.on.ca for the most up-to-date information COVID-19. In addition to the daily updates to the website, Dr. Lynn Noseworthy, Medical Officer of Health for the HKPR District Health Unit., will continue to provide updates on COVID-19 through their website.

More Information
The Town of Cobourg has launched a webpage in regards to COVID-19 municipal communications. Updates will be posted to www.cobourg.ca/covid19 as they come in.