Following the City of Kenora's announcement earlier Tuesday, declaring a state of local Emergency, the city has now closed a number of facilities effective immediately.
Currently, Kenora is reporting 53 active cases, as another two confirmed cases were reported Tuesday, to add to the 102 active case count across the region.
Effective immediately following facilities will be closed to the public:
• Kenora Recreation Centre
• Lake of the Woods Museum
• Douglas Family Art Centre
• Lake of the Woods Discovery Centre
• Kenora Operations Centre
• City Hall
• Kenora Public Library
• Kenora Fire Halls
The Transfer Station will remain open, however, the city is asking residents to adhere to the social distancing and mandatory masks while using the recycle area and disposing of waste. City Hall will continue to serve customers over the telephone and service the essential business that is required during this period. The public is encouraged to use online payment options only at this time. The Kenora Public Library will move to curbside service only. Holiday hours are in effect for these departments who will continue to provide essential services.
The facilities are scheduled to reopen to the public on Tuesday, January 4th, 2022.
“We recognize that this decision affects residents during the holiday season. It is a critical time in our community and we need to recognize the importance of these measures to keep people safe. Gathering in public spaces increases the risk for everyone and that is the basis of our decision to close our facilities. We need to reduce the risk of spread to the community and our staff.” states Chief Administrative Officer Kyle Attanasio.
As the City continues to take actions to minimize the spread of COVID-19, by closing municipal public buildings and declaring a state of emergency, residents must take responsibility to follow the advice of health experts on the best ways to stop the virus. We know that staying home as much as possible, maintaining physical distancing of 2 metres from others, and masking, whenever you are in contact with others outside of your own household, are important behaviours as we fight to keep our community healthy. We ask everyone to do their part during the holiday season and ensure we reduce the spread we are seeing within the community.