Al McDonald says last week saw the region go from one extreme to another.
The North Bay mayor says he was in talks with Dr. Jim Chirico, medical officer of health, to reopen outdoor recreation which has been closed for the past month due to the provincial lockdown.
“It flipped like a switch,” McDonald said. “We were having that conversation. Then, within two days, the variant hit and our cases spiked.”
The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit is one of four in Ontario not in the colour-coded reopening framework beginning Tuesday.
An ongoing outbreak at the Skyline-Lancelot Apartment building has infected 29 people (as of Tuesday), many of which have preliminary positive results of a COVID-19 variant.
In addition, the presence of a variant from South Africa has been identified in the Parry Sound District, which is unrelated to the North Bay outbreak.
Mayor McDonald compares the region’s situation to that of Newfoundland and Labrador, which also has a confirmed presence of a COVID-19 variant. The province saw over 250 new cases of the virus last week alone.
“They were in the same boat. They were doing well just like us,” McDonald observed. “If we start seeing spikes like Newfoundland is seeing, then the stay-at-home order will be in place for longer.”
McDonald says the region’s handling of the virus variant will be “critical” over the next two weeks.
“The last thing we want is our local businesses to stay closed for a longer period of time because of the variant,” he said.
City Budget
In addition to last week’s variant news, McDonald’s council passed the 2021 budget, which will see a 3.38 percent tax levy increase.
Over half of the levy is made up of the city’s share of the Cassellholme Home for the Aged renovation and the construction of a new community centre.
“Our capital projects and our infrastructure are so important,” McDonald commented. “If you don’t invest then it eventually catches up. Yes, we could wait another year to do some of our capital projects, but next year they get even more expensive. There will never be a right time to build an arena or fix a bridge or a road if you can say you can do it next year. You’d just never do it.”
Three councillors opposed the passing of the budget for concern the levy increase was too much to ask during the pandemic.
