22 December 2020
Object: 28 days lockdown in Ottawa
It is with great surprise that we listened to your announcement and we wish you to reconsider your decision to shut down the City of Ottawa– considering that this summer you put in place a system where regions were colour-coded based on their incidence of community transmission. That framework is based on local realities and relies on local data to make decisions for each health unit – and has been supported by our Mayor Jim Watson and Dr Etches.
Despite the fact that we have the best numbers of any large Canadian city, we are now facing a 28-day lockdown that will likely have a devastating impact on our local economy.
Ottawa registered 31 new cases of COVID-19 on December 22, less than 20 COVID hospitalizations, and we have had no one in ICU for COVID in three days. Despite these stark differences between our regions, we are all being lumped in under the same measures – which is completely overshooting when it comes to Ottawa.
Today’s announcement unfortunately goes back to “one-size fits all” – and it punishes regions like Ottawa, where residents and businesses worked so hard to flatten the second wave of COVID-19. That said, Northern Ontario is getting off the hook with a 14-day lockdown, which creates another double-standard across the province.
Businesses have played a key role in our fight against COVID-19, and once again, they are being treated like they’re a leading source of transmission – which they are not.
And now not only is there no reward for the good behaviour of our residents and business owners, we fear the overcrowding that will take place over the next few days, as residents rush to stores and shopping centres across the city to make up for Boxing Day.
In summary, we are respectfully requesting you reconsider the 28-day lockdown in Ottawa and give us the opportunity to continue to lead and work with you in this fight against COVID.
We remain in your service.
Thank you/Merci.
Lise Sarazin
Executive Director
RGA
Denis Laframboise
Chair Board of Directors
SÉO