Tomorrow, is Canada Day, a day where we as Canadians get to celebrate Canada’s birthday with friends and families.
Step Two of the provinces Roadmap begun today bringing with it outdoor gatherings with up to 25 people and indoor gatherings allowance of up to 5 people. This allows residents to enjoy the holiday with outdoor BBQs, fireworks, family gatherings, and many other things.
The Northwestern Health Unit Medical Officer Dr. Kit Young Hoon gave advice on how residents can stay safe on Canada Day in a media briefing yesterday.
“People should still be mindful of risk, be mindful of the setting that you're in and thinking about who you're interacting with and what's their likelihood of having COVID-19 and a big key part of that is whether individuals are vaccinated or not, so we are still encouraging people to be careful of that risk and to make an effort to physically distance and wear a mask where you can to reduce the risk for everyone,” said Young Hoon
“We recognize now that people are being vaccinated. If you are in a situation where it's outdoors and everyone is fully vaccinated you are safe to shift away from having to follow physical distancing and the masking requirements. It's still required for certain settings to wear masks and to physical distance, so those are still requirements in indoor settings, particularly public settings.” added Young Hoon
The NWHU is still advising people to follow public health measures and being mindful of physical distancing and wearing masks in enclosed spaces.
Young Hoon did add that if anyone does feel sick or develop any COVID-19 symptoms for those people to stay home, self isolate and get tested.
The City of Kenora announced on Monday that the Canada Day fireworks will be postponed. A decision in letting Indigenous and First Nations Peoples know that we see them, mourn with them and we support them, and acknowledging that we need to do better as a society and a Nation. It is still unclear when and if the fireworks will take place.