I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. More statistics are coming from Halton Region regarding COVID19 later today but I wanted to give you a quick update as to what is happening this week at the Town of Milton as our community continues to deal with our state of emergency.

A message that I wanted to stress…a narrative that I think needs to be changed. The narrative of “We will get through this” needs to be changed to “We ARE getting through this!” Thank you Milton for doing your best to continue social & physical distancing, staying home whenever possible and to flatten the curve to get back to where we want to be…a community … together.

[spreaker type=player resource=”episode_id=25415903″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” autoplay=”false” live-autoplay=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]

Earlier today with the support of Milton Town Council, the Town of Milton & the Crisis Management Team has officially declared a State of Emergency. This declaration supports Halton Region and the Province of Ontario’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and on-going measures to “flatten the curve”.

This action provides the municipality with the flexibility needed to manage this rapidly evolving emergency situation. Declaring an emergency supports the Town’s ongoing efforts to slow down the spread of COVID-19 through the implementation of public safety measures and encouraging social distancing.

This measure is used to ensure that the Town of Milton does everything we can to protect the health and safety of our residents throughout the COVID-19 situation.

As always, we want everyone to follow the advice of the medical professionals at both Halton Region and the Province of Ontario by doing the following things.

1. Stay at home and only leave when necessary / to get essential items like food & prescriptions.
2. Keep a social-distance of 2m or 6ft between people when outside the home.
3. Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds on a regular basis.
4. Monitor any symptoms you might have & use the self assessment tool on www.halton.ca/covid19
5. Call 311 or Telehealth Ontario if you have any questions.
6. If you have symptoms and they become severe, please call 911.

Check in on friends and family as well, either by phone or internet video options. It can make someones day to see a friendly voice and face during times of self-isolation. This isn’t the time for play dates with kids, congregating at friends homes for parties, or gathering in large groups in parks.

My church, like many of yours has be cancelled for the time being and we urge all other religious gatherings to follow suit and postpone your services. It is so important at this point to stem the tide, flatten the curve and stop the spread of this as soon as possible. Schools will remain closed as well for the time being so please help your kids maintain contact with their friends through technology or picking up the phone and having them call.

As Ive said before, we will get through this. This situation is new for all of us and we’re dealing with things the best we can. I urge you all if you have any questions, please get a hold of me at mike.cluett@milton.ca – Call / text / WhatsApp me (647) 888-9032

For the most up to date information from our area please visit milton.ca/coronavirus or our Halton Region website www.halton.ca/coronavirus.

Other Links and Resources

milton.ca/coronavirus

halton.ca/coronavirus

ontario.ca/coronavirus

Public Health Agency of Canada

World Health Organization.

The Regional Municipality of Halton
For Immediate Release
March 24, 2020

Halton Regional Chair declares state of emergency in response to COVID-19

On March 23, 2020 Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr declared a State of Emergency in support of the Province of Ontario’s efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the advice and support from the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hamidah Meghani.  Halton Region Public Health initiated its Infectious Disease Emergency Response Plan on January 23 and Halton Region activated its Emergency Response Plan, including its Regional Emergency Operations Centre, on February 27 to ensure a coordinated and rapid response to the pandemic.

This declaration of a regional emergency is part of Halton Region’s ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of the community, and will ensure the Region can continue to act and respond quickly to the pandemic and any other events that arise in the weeks ahead.  A copy of the declaration is included below.

“This declaration is an important message to our community: we need to take this seriously and we need to act now,” said Chair Carr. “We need to listen to the recommendations of Public Health to practice social distancing and self-isolate when directed – to protect ourselves, the ones most vulnerable, our first responders and healthcare workers. We must all do our part to control the spread of COVID-19.”

Halton Region’s top priority remains the health and safety of our residents. Please continue to follow direction from Halton Region Public Health and visit halton.ca/COVID19 to get the latest information about symptoms, risk, when to contact 311 or seek medical attention.

-30-

Media Contact:

Julia Le
Communications Specialist
Halton Region
905-825-6000, ext. 7763
Cell: 365-228-5342
julia.le@halton.ca

I had the opportunity to speak with Jessica Kaitting from Halton News (YourTV Halton) to bring Milton residents up to date on whats happening regarding the COVID19 situation. As I mentioned in the interview, we need to get the message out about social distancing, the possibility of a state of emergency declaration, staying away from playground equipment and staying at home unless necessary. Stay informed by visiting www.halton.ca/COVID19 and keep up that great Milton spirit.

News Release

March 13, 2020

Town of Milton shuts down recreation, culture and library facilities and cancels programs to help protect the community from COVID-19

Effective March 14, the Town of Milton is closing all recreation, culture and library facilities and canceling programming, until April 5 (inclusive), as a precaution following health directives and to protect the health and safety of the community from the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

The Town of Milton will automatically issue refunds within 2 – 4 weeks for programs and rentals that are impacted by this.

“The health and safety of our residents and staff is the number one priority for everyone at the Town of Milton,” said Mayor Gord Krantz. “As a response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, we are taking action to close recreation, culture and library facilities in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.”

With the evolving COVID-19 situation, the following facilities will be closed;

• Milton Leisure Centre
• Milton Sports Centre
• Mattamy National Cycling Centre
• Sherwood Community Centre
• Nassagewaya Community Centre
• Hugh Foster Hall
• John Tonelli Sports Centre
• Milton Indoor Turf Centre
• FirstOntario Centre for the Arts
• Milton Memorial Arena
• Milton Seniors’ Activity Centre

Town Hall and the Milton Innovation Centre remain open and Milton Transit will continue to provide service at this time.

For more information about the Town of Milton’s action to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, please visit milton.ca/coronavirus.

For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, visit

halton.ca/coronavirus

ontario.ca/coronavirus

Public Health Agency of Canada

World Health Organization

The Halton Region Public Health and the Province of Ontario sites provide up to date and accurate information on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention and when you need to contact Halton Region Public Health.

– 30 –

For media inquiries, please contact: 

Tracy Hasselfeldt

Communications & Marketing Advisor

905-878-7252 x2196

media2020@milton.ca

Here is my podcast for Friday March 13th that contains sources of information on COVID 19/Coronavirus for Milton & Halton Region.

www.halton.ca/coronavirus and www.milton.ca/coronavirus

[spreaker type=player resource=”episode_id=23840619″ width=”100%” height=”200px” theme=”light” playlist=”false” playlist-continuous=”false” autoplay=”false” live-autoplay=”false” chapters-image=”true” episode-image-position=”right” hide-logo=”false” hide-likes=”false” hide-comments=”false” hide-sharing=”false” hide-download=”true”]