Walpole Island Governance Building. (Photo courtesy of Walpole Island First Nation Council via Facebook).Walpole Island Governance Building. (Photo courtesy of Walpole Island First Nation Council via Facebook).
Chatham

Walpole Island to move into lockdown Monday

The Walpole Island First Nation (WIFN) community will be moving into the Black/Lockdown level effective Monday, March 22 at 12 a.m.

Walpole Island First Nation Council announced the news on their Facebook Page Sunday.

Elementary students will switch to remote learning, and the Bkejwanong Children's Centre will suspend service. Monitored gatherings will no longer be allowed.

The lockdown will have no direct impact on WIFN staff activities where there is no in-person programming with the public. All WIFN buildings already have mitigation in place to prevent close contact among employees. WIFN staff should continue to follow the same precautions they were following under the Red Alert level.

Retail businesses will also be able to continue following the same Red Alert precautions.

"Retail businesses tend to involve brief exchanges rather than prolonged close contact, and retail has not been identified as a concern for transmission when proper safety protocols are followed," read the statement.

As of March 18, there are 17 active cases in the Walpole Island community, with a total of 82 positive cases overall.

More information will be released in the coming days. Read the full statement here. 

 

 

 

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