IMMEDIATERELEASE

Township of Ramara Announces Service Impacts

Ramara/December 22, 2020 - After carefully reviewing the steady increase of COVID-19 cases and trends over the past week, Premier Doug Ford announced a Provincewide Shutdown as of Saturday, December 26, 2020 at 12:01 am.
The objective of the shutdown is to implement widescale measures and restrictions, including closures, to halt or interrupt transmission. The Province of Ontario will evaluate the restriction after 28 days to determine if it is safe to lift any restrictions or extend it.
As always and particularly during this challenging time, the health and safety of our community and staff is of upmost importance. Moving into the Provincewide Shutdown includes a number of closures and restrictions for municipal services. These include:

• Closure of ALL Township Buildings and Facilities to the public. Residents are asked to call in to speak with staff and access municipal services online where available at www.ramara.ca/onlineservices/.
• Library will be closed to the public, but will have contactless curbside pickup services available. 
• All Council and Committee meetings will continue virtually and can be accessed by by visiting the Township's website at www.ramara.ca.
• All in person recreation programs are cancelledor delayed, but all virtual recreation programming will still continue. For information on available recreation programming, please visit our recreation programs page. 
• All planning, infrastructure and building applications will be accepted either electronically or by paper/hardcopy and can be dropped off in the outside drop off box.
• For all building inspections, please contact the office to book the inspection, as it will be assessed on a case-by-case basis with new health measures in place.
• Short-Term Rental Accommodations must be closed until further notice unless it is rented to people in need of housing or those who have a confirmed reservation made prior to December 26th, 2020 at 12:01 a.m.
• Locally, our By-law Enforcement Team will be responding to complaints as well as proactively enforcing all the applicable regulations throughout the township.

The Provincewide Shutdown puts in place time-limited health and workplace safety measures that include, but are not limited to:

• Restricting indoor organized public events and social gatherings, except with members of the same household (the people you live with). Individuals who live alone may consider having exclusive close contact with one other household.
• Prohibiting in-person shopping in most retail settings - curbside pickup and delivery can continue.
• Restricting indoor access to shopping malls.
• Prohibiting indoor and outdoor dining. Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments will be permitted to operate by take out, drive-through and delivery only.
• Indoor and outdoor service at restaurants, bars and food/drink establishments is not permitted. Take-out, drive-through and delivery are permitted.

The Township also wants to remind the community that we all have a role in reducing the spread of COVID-19 that goes beyond following provincial restrictions. The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit advises everyone to keep safe and to do the following:

• The fewer people you have contact with the lower the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
• Remember that just because you know someone, it does not reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19.
• Trips outside of the home should only be for essential reasons (work, school, groceries/pharmacy, health care, assisting vulnerable individuals, or exercise and physical activity).
• Do not visit any other households or allow visitors in their homes. If you live alone, you can have close contact with only one other household.
• Everyone should avoid social gatherings.
• Work remotely, where possible.

The Township of Ramara is working diligently to keep residents informed during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information on how services are impacted, please visit www.ramara.ca/covid-19.For health-related information, please go to www.simcoemuskokahealth.org, or call the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit directly.

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Media Contacts
Ashley Watson
Business and Communications Coordinator
Township of Ramara
705-484-5374 ext. 322
awatson@ramara.ca