Breaking News – Cobourg Mayor Lifts COVID-19 Declared Emergency in Alignment with the Province

Pete Fisher
4 years ago
• Categories: City Hall, Local

Emergency Orders continue to be enforced from the province and the HKPR District Health Unit.

At 4 p.m. today, the Town of Cobourg lifted the local State of Emergency that has been in place since March 19 in alignment with the COVID-19 declared provincial emergency that came to an end on July 24.

On July 21, 2020, Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 received Royal Assent.

This new Act was proclaimed on July 24, 2020.

On March 19, 2020 the Town of Cobourg declared a State of Emergency as an important measure in supporting the Province of Ontario and Minister of Health to provide a swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To terminate a municipal emergency declaration, the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act states that: The head of council [Mayor] or the council of a municipality may at any time declare that an emergency has terminated. The Premier of Ontario may [also] at any time declare that an emergency has terminated.

“Within these last four months our community has come a long way and we are now seeing the number of new cases and active infections in Ontario continuing to drop,” said Mayor John Henderson for the Town of Cobourg.

“I want to state that even though we are lifting the local State of Emergency it does not mean the pandemic is over. By lifting the State of Emergency that means we can no longer issue new local orders to respond to local health emergencies. We are moving from an emergency response mode toward recovery mode but we must continue to remain vigilant.”

The Province of Ontario has extended Emergency Orders currently in place until July 29 in order to ensure the province maintains the necessary flexibility to protect public health and safety as more businesses reopen and people go back to work. Citizens are asked to continue following all health precautions and Emergency Orders already in place, including wearing a mask or face covering as prescribed by the Health Unit, maintaining physical distancing, practicing vigilant hand hygiene and staying home if you’re ill.

The Town of Cobourg, the Cobourg Police Service and Bylaw Enforcement, will continue to support, educate and enforce Emergency Orders in place from the Province and the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit.

The Town of Cobourg’s Emergency Control Group will also continue to meet and monitor the situation closely and provide updates accordingly that can be found on the Town of Cobourg’s page on www.cobourg.ca/covid19.