KAWARTHA LAKES-Today Ontario declared a state of emergency and issued a province wide stay-at-home order effective Thursday April 8 at 12:01am for four weeks, until May 6, 2021.
Everyone is required to remain at home except for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated), for outdoor exercise or for work that cannot be done remotely.
The list of Municipal services impacted is below and will be regularly updated.
CLOSED
All municipal buildings, with the exception of landfills, are closed to the public. This includes all arenas, community centres and halls, pools and fitness centres.
Municipal Administration
All buildings are closed to the public, including City Hall and all Municipal Service Centres.
- Staff continue to be available by telephone and email during regular business hours. Staff can be contacted by visiting the departments page of the website.
- The Municipal Call Centre continues to operate and calls will be received Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, 705-324-9411 or 1-888-822-2225. Dial 4000 for a recording of the latest information on closures.
- Drop Boxes are open at City Hall, Lindsay Service Centre, Coboconk Service Centre and Omemee Service Centre.
- For after-hours municipal emergencies please call 1-877-885-7337.
Libraries
All library branches are open for pre-arranged pickup of library materials only. Visit www.kawarthalakeslibrary.ca for details. Services such as dog tags, waste bag tags, oversize tag and pickup of waste calendars will not be issued at libraries until further notice.
OPEN, with restrictions
Parks, Recreation and Culture
- Parks, biking and walking trails and playgrounds are open, but may not be maintained so please use at your own risk.
- When using any of the above amenities, any person who enters or uses the amenity must maintain a physical distance of at least two metres from other persons using the amenity (excluding members of the same household).
Landfills
- Landfills will operate under regular hours but will limit occupancy in accordance with provincial regulations.
- Prepare for possible extended wait times.
- Waste collection will continue under normal operations.
- Please be advised that the backyard composter give away program being offered at the Lindsay Ops is temporarily on hold.
Emergency Services
All Emergency Services (Fire, Police and Paramedics) are being maintained. All administration buildings (Headquarters) for Fire and Paramedic Services are closed to the public. This includes all Fire Stations across the municipality.
- The annual Burn Ban is in place for the month of April.
- Special Burn permits can be requested by emailing [email protected]. Please include the type of burn permit requested, home address, phone number and burn address.
- For fire, paramedic or police emergencies, please dial 911.
- For information, regarding the fire/flood index rating please call 705-324-9411 and enter 8.
Victoria Manor
In order to provide the highest level of protection to residents, Victoria Manor in Lindsay continues to limit visiting to essential caregivers only as directed by the province. For more information, please call 705-324-3558.
Water/Wastewater
Operations are being maintained.
Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing
Offices are closed to the public and services are limited. Complaint queries are still being processed but there will be an extended delay in any additional action. We continue to monitor complaints including COVID-19 non-compliance complaints at 705- 324-9411 extension 1212, bylawcomplaints@kawarthalakes.
Human Services
The Human Services offices at 68 Lindsay St. N. in Lindsay and 49 Maple Ave. in Haliburton remain closed for public access. All critical operations including social assistance applications and payments, housing support and the maintenance of all KLH Housing buildings are continuing.
Roads Maintenance
General roads operations are continuing.
Lindsay Transit
Operations will continue, masks and occupancy restrictions in place.
Provincial Courts
The Kawartha Lakes and County of Haliburton Provincial Offences office remain closed to the public; however, Provincial Offences Act (POA) Administration has set up audio conferencing by phone for court appearances. Please visit our COVID-19 website for more details on accessing the platform.
If you have received a ticket that you wish to pay, payment can be made:
- Through www.paytickets.ca
- By emailing [email protected]
- By calling 705-324-3962 extension 0
Please be advised that in-person payments and Option 2 on the back of your ticket remain unavailable while the offices are closed.
Council meetings and Committee and Board meetings
Will be held electronically via Zoom and livestreamed on YouTube.
Municipal Airport
Airport remains open for Ornge and any emergency vehicles and fuel purchases.
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit is closing its three offices to the public after the provincial government today announced it was declaring a State of Emergency in Ontario.
During that time, staff from the HKPR District Health will continue to provide services to members of the public, including the operation of mass immunization vaccination clinics in Northumberland County, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Haliburton County, COVID case investigation and follow-up, and outbreak management. As well, Health Unit staff continue to support harm reduction programs, some environmental health programs, and some programs in place to support families and children.
“Although our physical locations may close, our staff will continue their work to support and help our residents,” says Dr. Natalie Bocking, Medical Officer of Health for the HKPR District Health Unit.
While the HKPR region is not seeing the same volume of cases as some parts of the province, Dr. Bocking says there has been a troubling increase in the number of local cases.
“We may not be considered a hot spot for cases, but I am concerned by the increase in the number of cases we have been seeing locally,” she says. “We are hearing stories of people gathering, not quarantining if they have been identified as a high-risk contact, and travelling for non-essential reasons. Unfortunately, these actions, coupled with the variants of concern that are now circulating, are leading to increased cases in our area.”
The province announced yesterday that individuals born in 1961 or earlier are now eligible to book vaccination appointments through the provincial booking system (www.ontario.ca/bookvaccine or 1-888-999-6488). Last week, the province also announced the expansion of the pharmacy vaccination program to include local pharmacies. The Health Unit, together with its many health partners, is vaccinating residents and is offering vaccination clinics in Haliburton County, City of Kawartha Lakes and Northumberland County.
“There are a number of options now available to residents who are eligible to be vaccinated under the provincial plan,” Dr. Bocking says. “I would urge eligible individuals to visit the provincial booking system to continue to look for appointments. Some of our larger clinics may fill up quickly, but I know we have a number of appointments available in the north throughout the month of April.”
It is Dr. Bocking’s hope that vaccinations, coupled with the newly imposed Stay-at-Home order will help turn the tide against this virus.
“I know we are all tired and experiencing pandemic fatigue,” she says, “but we need to work together just a little while longer in the hope that we can get this virus under control and start to see some normalcy in our lives.”
By booking through the provincial online vaccine booking system, you are scheduling an appointment at a mass vaccination clinic. You can also call the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900 (TTY 1-866-797-0007).
