THUNDER BAY - The state of emergency declared by the city of Thunder Bay is in response to concerns about the potential for community spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable segments of the population.
“It’s been strongly recommended that this would be the appropriate step to take,” said Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro.
“There is concern in the community with the outbreaks at the Correctional Centre and the District Jail specifically. Many of these people would be discharged to shelters or be homeless and there is concern about community spread.”
A second state of emergency was declared by the city on Tuesday, the first having been declared last spring during the early days of the pandemic.
According to Mauro, the decision to declare a second state of emergency was based on the need for financial and staffing assistance for isolation shelters for those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Isolation shelters are hotel-based and used for individuals who are vulnerably housed or people being released from custody and may not have anywhere to stay.
The Thunder Bay Correctional Centre and the Thunder Bay District Jail declared outbreaks of COVID-19 last month, with 88 total confirmed cases at the District Jail and 73 at the Correctional Centre.
“Many of them probably have homes to go to. The concern is where they don’t,” Mauro said.
“If you are discharged and a shelter is your first option or some other congregate setting or if you are homeless, if COVID gets established in the shelters and it becomes a community spread issue in a homeless population or shelter population that is what is driving this decision.”
“The isolation capacity that we have now is maxed out or very close to being maxed out,” Mauro added. “It’s about having the money to be able to run it but also having the people able to run it.”
There are also concerns that COVID-19 could spread to staff and if there is community spread within a shelter setting it could quickly become overwhelmed.
Increasing staffing levels will also help ensure those needing to isolate continue to do so, which hasn’t always been the case.
“It’s important to note that even before what we are doing today, when people go into isolation shelters, you are not always able to maintain and keep them there,” Mauro said.
“So this comes down to staffing as well. This was a concern before. Once COVID took hold in the correctional system, once these individuals are discharged they go into the existing isolation facilities.”
Staff at the isolation centres are there to provide support and resources but don’t have the power to keep people in isolation.
“That would be a different decision that would be made by others, certainly not the city of Thunder Bay,” Mauro said.
The request has been sent to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. A dollar figure or number of staff needed has not been determined yet.