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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ju ly 2, 20 20 | 8 We care about your hearing! Professional Arts Building 99 Sinclair Ave., Suite 210, Georgetown 905-873-6642 Serving the community of Halton Hills and surrounding areas since 1992 The Georgetown Dear people of Halton Hills; During these uncertain times, rest assured we remain open to serve you. We have adjusted services according to the guidance by Health Canada. Please call for an appointment. We are not accepting walk ins at this time. We handle every call on an individual basis to best handle each person's needs. Social distancing in clinic with one appointment per time slot in waiting room. If necessary, I offer mailbox drops as well! Take care, be safe and know this will pass. . . . Lend MeYour Ears Business (not quite) as usual.. By Cory Soal R.H.A.D. It's in your hands. Make sure your favourite business or professional is nominated for the Georgetown Acton Independent & Free Press' 2020 Readers' Choice Awards. The Georgetown Acton Independent & Free Press Readers' Choice Awards were created so you can tell us which local businesses and service providers are the best at what they do. Once the nominations close on July 25, 2020, the nominees will be shortlisted and you will have the chance to vote for your favourite. Help make your favourite local business become a Georgetown Acton Independent & Free Press Readers' Choice. NomiNatioNs NowopeN Start nominating now at theifp.ca/RC Over the past few months, our community has come together to flat- ten the curve and stop the spread of COVID-19. Although this has been a challenging time for every- one, our response has dem- onstrated the resiliency and dedication of our com- munity. As of June 19, as part of the province's Stage 2 plan, more businesses, services, recreational and outdoor facilities were permitted to reopen across our region. We've moved to Stage 2 based on our low case num- bers, local hospitals sus- taining adequate capacity, 90 per cent of new COVID-19 cases and close contacts be- ing reached by public health within one day, and adherence to physical dis- tancing and public health measures within our com- munity. This has truly been a col- lective effort to get us to this stage. I'd like to thank our residents, our public health team, essential workers and those who con- tinue to fight COVID-19 on the front line for all of your efforts. All of us have worked tirelessly together to pro- tect the safety and health of our community and we should all be proud of our progress to flatten the curve, keep us safe and move Halton forward. To help residents and businesses navigate next steps, we have launched a new "Reopening Halton Re- gion" webpage on halton.ca that includes information on what is reopening and guidance for residents and businesses on public health measures that must be in place. This webpage will be up- dated regularly with guid- ance documents and up- dates on the status of where Halton Region is within the province's reopening plan. Please continue to visit halton.ca/COVID19 to get the latest information on COVID-19 in our communi- ty and public health direc- tion. As we begin to return to a "new normal" and addi- tional restrictions are eased, please remember that we are still all in this together. We all need to continue following public health di- rection, ensure workplace health and safety guidance is followed, and make re- sponsible choices to protect ourselves, our loved ones and community. Thank you again for ev- erything that you continue to do to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep Halton a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Gary Carr is the region- al chair of Halton Region. To contact him, email gary.carr@halton.ca. OPINION MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER AS WE ENTER STAGE 2 WE MUST REMAIN VIGILANT AS RESTRICTIONS ARE EASED, WRITES GARY CARR GARY CARR Column