Local health units tighten COVID-19 rules for recreation facilities
Three local health units have announced that proof of COVID-19 vaccination will now be required for anyone over the age of 12 who enters an indoor area of a sports or recreational fitness facility to participate in, coach, officiate, or watch organized sport
In a video call held Wednesday, top officials from Middlesex-London, Southwestern Public Health (which covers Elgin and Oxford counties) and Huron-Perth announced the decision, effective Oct. 31.
“These additional protective measures will make it safer for everyone entering a facility for organized sports, whether to play, practice, coach, volunteer, or watch,” says Dr. Miriam Klassen, Medical Officer of Health, Huron Perth Public Health.
According to a joint statement issued by the three health units, the decision to extend the proof of vaccination requirement to all those attending these facilities and to a younger age group involved in organized sport was made due to the nature of sport and fitness activities, which can create opportunities for COVID-19 to spread more easily.
The statement goes on to say, these factors include; close contact between participants, forceful exhalation and increased respiratory rate, prolonged exposure, crowded indoor spaces and the removal of masks/face coverings during physical activity.
It was also made in part because everyone 12 years of age and older is currently eligible to receive the vaccine.
Letters of Instruction will be issued to the owners and operators of facilities in the communities they serve, where organized sports are played or practised.
In addition to players, the provisions of the Letters of Instruction apply to coaches, officials, volunteers and spectators aged 12 and over.
Health units in Windsor-Essex and York Region have also announced similar plans that go above and beyond provincial guidelines.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.