NEWS RELEASE
COUNTY OF SIMCOE
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MIDHURST – The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted residents, communities and businesses, yet during these challenging times, as the provider of essential and critical services, the County has taken the lead from council to adapt and play a vital role in the regional COVID-19 response and recovery.
On March 18, Warden George Cornell declared an emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic developments in our region. This declaration afforded the County additional powers to protect the health and safety of all individuals, families and businesses as well as the vulnerable populations that we serve.
The declared emergency is ongoing with a focus on a healthy, prosperous and sustained recovery.
"From the outset of this health crisis, the county has worked to ensure the continuity of essential and critical services, including continued access to front line health and emergency care,” said Warden George Cornell.
“I'm proud of our staff's ability to adapt to these challenging circumstances, and council's decisive action in providing support and resources to ensure an effective recovery. As we work to return to our new normal, we are committed to providing innovative new solutions to meet the needs of our residents, communities and businesses."
County staff quickly adjusted to virtual work from home options and continued to provide services and programs to residents, clients and partners at a high level.
Close to 80 per cent of the County’s 1,900 staff work in, or directly support, service and program areas deemed essential by the Government of Ontario, and more than 90 staff members working in non-essential roles during the pandemic have been redeployed to support critical needs in the County’s long term care and seniors services division – a sector greatly impacted during the pandemic.
As the provider and manager of emergency services, paramedic services, social and community services, long term care and seniors services, waste management, tourism and economic development programs, the county has responded during COVID-19 to offer recovery initiatives, continue program delivery, keep residents safe and offer program expansions during the pandemic, including:
Protecting the Health of Seniors:
The county operates four long term care and seniors services facilities. From the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the county has prioritized the health and well-being of our most vulnerable residents, and through our extensive health protocols, we have done and continue to do everything possible to minimize the risk to our residents and staff and limit their exposure to the coronavirus. To date, the County of Simcoe's four long term care and seniors services facilities, which provide care to 1,300 seniors, have only experienced one single positive case of COVID-19.
Providing Direct Medical Care and COVID-19 Testing to the Region:
County of Simcoe Paramedics answered the call and continued to provide enhanced medical response care during difficult times, paramedicine to alleviate impacts on hospitals, support to the Health Unit with community and facility COVID-19 testing, and health checks at area shelter programs to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and impacts on these vulnerable populations.
Supporting Vulnerable Populations:
Social and Community Services adapted programing and applied emergency funding to support regional needs, including implementation and oversight of a motel shelter program that enabled physical distancing and supports. Currently, 184 individuals are being served through the motel model, funded by the County of Simcoe with no reported COVID-19 cases within the system to-date. The county’s Ontario Works department played a critical role in the distribution of emergency assistance programs to residents in need, while continuing to support clients in a virtual setting.
Children’s Services:
The County of Simcoe led the charge to implement Emergency Childcare services to frontline workers and worked with partner organizations to establish local centres to provide childcare to healthcare workers in need.
Economic Development and Tourism:
The county’s Economic Development Office worked closely with area partners to execute two regional surveys to identify the urgent needs of businesses. Results of these surveys were shared with Provincial and Federal members of parliament for their consideration in relief programs. The county has funded the extension of the Digital Main Street program, supported the ShopHERE program, and has assisted manufacturing businesses in transitioning their core business to support the pandemic response. The county has played a key role in offering Ask the Expert webinars to local businesses to assist them in navigating reopening protocols. In addition, Tourism Simcoe County has supported local business with a ShopLocal campaign, including extensive promotion of delivery services throughout the region.
Legislative Services:
The Clerk’s Department introduced virtual video options to continue legislative services and joint meeting of County Council and Committee of the Whole to ensure timely response to the pandemic and continuation of important County business.
Public services:
The County continued to provide critical curbside collection services during a time when residents were at home and producing increased waste. Landfill and transfer sites were quickly reopened on a phased approach, while many surrounding municipalities continued to keep their sites closed. The County continued to provide LINX Transit Service, free of charge with modified schedules during the pandemic and has recently reintroduced paid fares. Road construction projects, land use planning projects, customer service and communication/marketing services have continued and the Simcoe County Museum and Archives identified opportunities to provide virtual services/programming.
The County is now taking steps to move to the next phase of our Return to the Workplace program and will continue to work closely with our partners in Public Health to ensure it has enhanced and thorough procedures and protocols in place for the safety of staff and residents.
On Aug. 4, 2020, the County will further open public facilities and spaces, such as the Simcoe County Museum, the Service Simcoe Contact Centre area at the Administration Centre in Midhurst.
The County will be diligent in all precautions, and even with the reopening of some business operations, it will monitor closely and take every step to safeguard staff and the public. More details will be released shortly.
County of Simcoe is composed of 16 member municipalities and provides crucial public services to County residents in addition to providing paramedic and social services to the separated cities of Barrie and Orillia. Visit our website at simcoe.ca.
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