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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, O ct ob er 15 ,2 02 0 | 8 How is our Law Office functioning during the COVID-19 Crisis? ASK THE PROFESSIONAL The advice offered in this column is intended for informational purposes only. Use of this column is not intended to replace or substitute any professional, financial, medical, legal, or other professional advice. We work for you. legal matters Q A COVID19 Helsons LLP is a firm of 9 Lawyers. We trace our firm back to 1885 in Georgetown, Ontario Frederick A. Helson (1921-2018) Allan W. Kogon (retired) David J. Ashbee John E. Schaljo Mark T. Rush Steven D. Kogon Caley E. Power Jessica A. Krause Jasmine M. Spudic Nicole E. Kucherenko Fiona A. Japaul Nancy L. Carnwath (retired) Helsons LLP Barristers and Solicitors 132 Mill Street, Georgetown, Ontario L7G 2C6 Tel: (905) 877-5200 35 Mill Street East, Acton, Ontario L7J 1H1 Tel: (519) 929-9333 Email: info@helsons.ca Web: www.helsons.ca David J. Ashbee 2018 Large Business of the Year As an essential service, our office continues to operate at full capacity with our doors locked and without physically being with clients. The Law Society of Ontario now allows lawyers to virtually witness the signing of documents. Ontario Legislation that specifically required all Wills and Powers of Attorney needed to be witnessed in person has now changed to allow virtual witnessing. Welcome to the World of Zoom. We maintain a strict protocol to combat the virus and keep staff and clients safe. All documents coming into the office from outside are handled with gloves and placed in isolation for 7 days. If documents need to be processed prior to 7 days then with gloves we copy them on a printer dedicated to only documents received from outside our office. We deal with the copies and put the originals back in isolation. No-one touches an original document from outside without gloves or prior to a 7 day isolation period. Clients that have to come into the office because they have no computer to video conference come to our lobby where social distancing is strictly followed. After the meeting all surfaces touched by our clients are sanitized. We are also keeping our Georgetown and Acton offices separated. No staff or Lawyers from one office go to the other office. All documents going between offices are treated as if they have come from outside using full protocols. Be safe. Georgetown's trusted choice for hearing care 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) 905.877.8828 Armstrong Ave Delrex Blvd Try before you buy! At Halton Audiometric Centre, we are committed to your hearing healthcare. To find out if hearing aids are right for you, come in for a complimentary assessment and try the latest digital hearing aids risk free! 905-877-8500 •www.devereauxcemetery.ca A Final Gift to Your Family Main Office: 600 Spring Gardens Road, Burlington Owned & Operated by The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the Diocese of Hamilton in Ontario Cemetery Address: 12337 17th Side Road, Georgetown Prearranging your burial or cremation is the last gift you can give your family. It releases them from having to quickly make decisions in their time of grief. It also frees them from the need to pay costs associated with your cemetery arrangements. Contact one of our family counsellors to discuss your wishes and options. three assessment centres have completed almost 55,000 COVID-19 tests. The facilities are cur- rently operating for 12 hours daily, including weekends. Joan Jickling, who oversees operations at the testing centres, said they made a number of changes to prepare for the increased demand, includ- ing longer operating hours and recruitment of additional staff. "We will continue to re- assess the need for addi- tional testing capacity based on provincial direc- tive and approvals," she said. The provincial govern- ment recently decided to make all Ontario testing centres run on an appoint- ment-only basis, but HHC's centres have oper- ated this way all along -- a decision officials say was made to prevent long line- ups and crowding. While this style of sys- tem has caused some frus- tration among local resi- dents looking for an imme- diate test for their chil- dren so that they can return to school, Jickling said the centres are doing their best to meet the de- mand and have been able to offer some appoint- ments within 24 to 48 hours. "There is some flexibil- ity in the schedule and cancellations do occur," she noted. Those looking to visit an HHC testing centre can book an appointment by phone or online, with the virtual system allowing time slots to be reserved up to seven days in ad- vance. "These spots fill up quickly, and it can appear that there are no available appointments," Jickling said, going on to encour- age people to phone the booking line at 905-203- 7963if they can't find a timely appointment on- line. Then comes the next wait -- for test results, which are facing signifi- cant delays across Ontario due to a massive backlog at provincial labs. "The backlog, com- bined with the recent in- termittent failure of the provincial results web- site, has understandably been very frustrating for many people waiting for their results," said Jick- ling. "The timeliness of the results that come from a provincial lab are beyond our control." NEWS Continued from page 4 TESTING TIMES FILLING UP QUICKLY