The top public health official in Chatham-Kent says he's prepared to take a tougher stance with eateries that don't mandate COVID-19 vaccines for their workers.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby told CK Mornings with Chris, Jenn, and Matt that servers are not currently required to be vaccinated while bar and restaurant patrons need to show proof of vaccination to enter the establishment. Colby said that loophole must be closed because it creates a double standard, adding that he has brought up the issue to the province.
"It does not make sense to me. The servers are required to wear masks. So, there is that as a form of protection," said Colby. "Personally, [not requiring them to be vaccinated] doesn't make any sense to me and I have taken that up with the province. Discussions are underway and I see that as a loophole that needs to be dealt with and if that's not done on a provincial level, I may take action here in Chatham-Kent."
Local public health officials said the health unit continues pushing workplaces to create a vaccine policy because the mandatory vaccine passport currently applies to customers only.
On Friday, Chatham-Kent Public Health reported two new COVID-19 outbreaks -- one at Copper Terrace Long Term Care home in Chatham, which has three cases and one at Tilbury District High School, which has two cases. Four other outbreaks continue across the municipality. The outbreak at Praise Fellowship Church in Chatham has 24 cases, an outbreak at Lambton-Kent Composite School in Dresden has four cases, Dresden Area Central School is still in outbreak with two cases, and an unidentified workplace has three cases. Dr. Colby noted the church outbreak has approximately 20 more indirect spinoff cases in addition to the 24 that are already listed with it.
The number of deaths in Chatham-Kent liked to the virus in stands at 18 and the number of active cases remains at 112.
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is reporting nine patients at the Chatham site with the virus. One is not a resident of Chatham-Kent and only one is fully vaccinated. Five of the patients hospitalized with the virus are in Intensive Care and four of them are on ventilators.
Currently, there are 10 public schools in Chatham-Kent with 24 student cases and one staff case. All public schools remain open. As of Friday afternoon, there are five Chatham-Kent Catholic schools with seven student cases. St. Angela Merici in Chatham and St. Joseph in Tilbury each have one class closed. Ursuline College in Chatham has two classes closed.
Dr. Colby said school cohorts are working very well to prevent school transmission and there has been no discussion about cancelling in-person learning. He said the vast majority of the current cases in schools are coming from the community, not transmission within the classroom.
"When you think of the number of kids in a school, this is a very effective program at limiting the spread of COVID-19 within a school environment and I'm quite happy with the way school boards have implemented this," Colby added.
Education Director of St. Clair Catholic District School Board Scott Johnson echoed the sentiment.
"Clearly the process is working. I'm very pleased at the current state we're in," said Johnson.