Chatham-Kent to move into red COVID-19 zone on Monday

Chatham-Kent will be moving up a restriction level and head in to the province's 'red-control' COVID-19 zone on Monday. 

The region has been in the 'orange-restrict' zone since March 1, but has seen an increase in cases in recent weeks. Eight other areas in Ontario are changing COVID-19 zones next week, according to a news release from the province Friday.

Medical officer of health for the region, Dr. David Colby, predicted the zone change on Thursday. 

"We had a large number of cases yesterday and this will be noticed. I'm just holding my breath to see how this shakes down," Colby said Thursday. 

As of Friday, Chatham-Kent has 91 active cases — an increase of 13 from Thursday — and 1 active outbreak at a place of worship. 

Windsor-Essex remains in the red-control zone and Sarnia-Lambton is still in grey-lockdown. 

New capacity limits for grey, red, orange zones

The province also said that in an effort to support economic recovery, it is increasing the capacity limits for regions in the grey-lockdown, red-control and orange-restrict zones starting Saturday 12:01 a.m. 

Restaurants, bars and other sorts of food and drink establishments under red or orange can now use 50 per cent of their indoor dining area, as long as it is in line with physical distancing rules. Total occupancy cannot go above 50 customers for red zone businesses and 100 customers for orange businesses, the province said. 

Meanwhile, those in grey-lockdown are now allowed to offer outdoor dining, as long as it follows physical distancing rules and other health and safety measures. 

Regardless of the zone, the province said people sitting at a table must be members of the same household, with exemptions for people who live alone and caregivers. 

Establishments must also visibly post a sign that states maximum capacity.