Guelph will see red for another week in Ontario’s COVID-19 pandemic response system

In contrast to the numbers, the province has left Guelph, Wellington and Dufferin counties in the red-control level of the province’s colour-coded COVID-19 pandemic response system for at least another week.

The government uses several epidemiological factors to decide on where to place a public health unit as well as the number of outbreaks and level of community transmission.

Over the past seven days, those numbers have improved across the area covered by the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit.

A week ago, the area’s weekly incidence rate of around 46.8 per 100,000 landed the area in the red category as 2 per cent positivity rate stood on the border between orange and red. An effective reproduction number of 1.05 put the area in the yellow range.

On Friday, the dashboard showed the area’s weekly incidence rate had plummeted to 33.7 per 100,000, dropping that total into the orange category. In addition, the positivity rate fell to 1.6 per cent which placed it in orange as well while a lower effective reproduction number of 0.8 remained in yellow.

There are now 13 active coronavirus outbreaks across the area, a number which has risen by two.

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Global News has reached out to the Ministry of Health to see why Guelph remained in red despite indicators saying it should be at a different level. This story will be updated when we receive a response.

Three other locales were shifted on Friday as Lambton was placed into the grey lockdown zone, the area covered by the Northwestern Public Health Unit moved into the red-control zone and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark are moving into the yellow protect zone.

Remaining in the red zone leaves movie theatres, performing arts venues, oxygen bars, steam rooms, saunas, bathhouses and other adult venues all closed.

In addition, sports teams are allowed to practice but games with other teams remain off-limits.

Restaurants, casinos, bingo halls, event spaces, and fitness facilities, will still only be allowed to seat 10 people inside at once.

Limits on public events and social gatherings are still just five people indoors and 25 people outdoors although this excludes weddings and funerals, which are limited to 30 per cent of capacity indoors or 100 people outdoors.

Supermarkets are limited to 75 per cent of capacity, with a 50 per cent capacity limit for all other retailers. Stores are required to post those capacity limits in addition to having signs outside noting mandatory masks.