Hamilton ends state of emergency for COVID-19 – CBC

Public health says it can manage virus, people have tools to protect themselves

May 10, 2022

Hamilton has ended the state of emergency it implemented more than two years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state of emergency was announced in April 2020 and allowed the city to redistribute staff as needed.

“We have reached a place where we can manage the virus within our community and our health-care system without the need for broad mandates and requirements to close lower-risk settings,” Michelle Baird, the city’s COVID-19 operations chief, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

“We are not going to see COVID go away completely likely anytime soon, and so all of us just need to understand what does it mean to live our life in a world of COVID.”

The city staff mask mandate will be lifted on May 25. The city will resume in-person public events and city council meetings will start being held in in a hybrid format that same day.

Five days later, committee meetings will also begin being held in a hybrid format, along with advisory committee meetings.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/covid-19-emergency-over-1.6448190