Crisis Management now at Level 2; Mayor has declaring an emergency on hold.

News 100 redBy Staff

March 16th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

To protect the public and City staff and to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 virus, all City facilities including City Hall will be closed to public access effective Monday, March 16 to Sunday, April 5.

Essential services will continue to operate as usual to support our community. Cemetery services will be by appointment.

Service Burlington will continue to operate via phone 905-335-7600 and email city@burlington.ca

We encourage residents reach out if they have questions. Residents can also access services using the City of Burlington mobile app.

A drop box outside of City Hall is available to drop off documents.

Residents are encouraged to delay any non-essential business or to consider conducting business online or by phone, where possible.

Meetings with City staff where appropriate can be setup on a case by case basis and will require a health screening process in keeping with established public health guidelines.
While Mayor Meed Ward has not yet declared an official emergency on COVID-19,

Burlington’s Crisis Management Team (CMT) has now fully activated the City of Burlington Emergency Response Plan at a Level 2.

This decision made today by the CMT, in close consultation with the Mayor, enables a more rapid response to dedicating specific resources to prevention and containment of the virus.

City buildings closed to general public access effective March 16 include:

City Hall (phone/online/drop box still available)
Roads, Parks and Forestry
Burlington Transit – Transit Operations Centre
Animal Shelter
City offices in SIMs Square office building (390 Brant Street)
414 Locust Street offices
Burlington Fire Headquarters and all stations

Residents are encouraged to delay any non-essential business or to consider conducting business online or by phone, where possible. Meetings with City staff where appropriate can be setup on a case by case basis and will require a health screening process in keeping with established public health guidelines.

All Burlington Citizen Advisory Committee meetings have been cancelled until April 5, 2020.
The following meetings are cancelled:

March 18 – Agricultural and Rural Affairs Advisory Committee
March 18 – Sustainable Development Advisory Committee
March 23 – Seniors Advisory Committee
March 23 – Committee of Adjustment
March 23 – Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee
March 27 – Inclusivity Advisory Committee
March 31 – Council Workshop
March 31 – Cycling Advisory Committee
April 1 – Mayor’s Millennial Committee
April 1 – Mundialization Committee

City staff are reviewing options related to the upcoming March 30 Burlington City Council meeting, as there are time sensitive matters that may require Council resolution. The City of Burlington is looking into how the meeting may be conducted and will be provide an update closer to the meeting date.

For further information and updates, the City has launched the webpage burlington.ca/coronavirus
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
“Our first priority is ensuring public health and safety, and the safety of our staff who engage with the public. We are looking at options to ensure residents can still be served without physical attendance at City Hall. As a result, we are expecting a higher than usual call volume and we are redeploying staff to assist, but we would ask for your patience and understanding in these times.

Our decisions are not taken lightly, as we realize the impact they have on our community, but they are done in an effort to do our part to ‘flatten the curve’ and slow down the spread of COVID-19.

Quick Facts

• Contact Halton Region Public Health by calling 311, 905-825-6000 or toll free at 1-866-442-5866 if you have a fever OR cough OR breathing difficulty AND any of the following:
o travelled outside of Canada in the 14 days before onset of illness; or
o close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19; or
o close contact with a person with acute respiratory illness who traveled to affected areas within 14 days prior to their illness onset.

Hand washing

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1 comment to Crisis Management now at Level 2; Mayor has declaring an emergency on hold.

  • Penny Hersh

    Joseph Brant Hospital starting today will not be performing any elective surgery. Physicians who operate in the hospital will no longer be able to see their patients in the hospital, they will have to see them in their offices.

    The Breast Cancer Assessment Clinic has been converted to a negative space to deal with Covid 19 patients and I noticed that there are dedicated parking spots at the Emergency Department Entrance for Covid 19 patients.

    However, there still seems to be some confusion when someone comes into the Emergency Department ( which they should not really be doing) looking where to go or what to do to be seen because they feel they have Covid 19 symptoms.

    I would like to know if Joseph Brant Hospital, like some hospitals in Hamilton, will be allowed to do their own testing?

    I read that one of the perfume makers in France will stop making perfume and have started making hand sanitizer. Perhaps we need more “thinking outside the box” in Canada.

    The Prime Minister is scheduled to speak at 1PM today as the cases of Covid 19 have increased over the weekend. I feel quite certain that more extreme measures will be announced.

    This is a crazy time, and as we try to “flatten the curve”, I hope that the residents of Burlington will take these measures seriously. If we don’t we will suffer the consequences.