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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 2, 20 21 | 10 oakville.ca Nominate a community champion today! Oakville residents spend countless hours volunteering their time to make our town a better place to live, work and play. This past year has been no exception, with individuals, groups and businesses facing and overcoming unique challenges to find ways to continue helping others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nominate your friend, family or colleague for aOakville Community Spirit Award today! After resisting imple- menting COVID-19 vaccine passports in Ontario, the provincial government is said to be reconsidering. Numerous medical offi- cers of health across the province have been calling for the province to intro- duce some sort of passport system, with some suggest- ing they will create their own if the province doesn't. An increasing number of employers are requiring proof of vaccination, and many venues have begun mandating vaccinations to gain entry into larger events. The Toronto Blue Jays will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend games at the Rogers Centre beginning Sept. 13. COVID-19 cases have continued to rise across the province. The seven-day average for new cases in- creased for 22 straight days, rising from 198 on Aug. 5 to more than three times that, 665 on Aug. 27. In Halton, there were 139 new cases from Aug. 20-26, two more than the previous week. Case totals started to reverse the provincial trend midway through the week. The region had three straight days with fewer than 20 cases from Aug. 24- 26, lowering the seven-day average from 22.3 to 19.9. The number of active cases in the region still rose slightly to 127, up six from the previous week. That in- cluded 49 in Burlington (an increase of seven); 33 in Oakville (a decrease of nine); 37 in Milton (an in- crease of 10) and eight in Halton Hills (a decrease of two). For the seventh straight week, there were no COVID-19 related deaths in Halton, keeping the total since the beginning of the pandemic at 237. WEEKLY ROUNDUP: PROVINCE RECONSIDERS VACCINE PASSPORTS HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com SCAN FOR MORE Scan this code to view COVID cases tracker. With the COVID-19 Delta variant continuing to spread, the region's top doc- tor is calling on local em- ployers to put workplace vaccine rules in place to protect staff and the public. Halton Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hamidah Meghani announced her latest advice Aug. 26, when she issued a guidance docu- ment for businesses that al- so includes suggested pro- visions for workers who de- cline vaccinations for med- ical or other reasons protected by Ontario's Hu- man Rights Code. "We are facing a critical time in our combined ef- forts against COVID-19 in Ontario," she said. "The rapid and continuing spread of the Delta variant of concern -- with in- creased transmissibility and disease severity -- mean that we must fully en- gage to protect our commu- nity and our health system capacity. Getting fully vac- cinated for COVID-19 is the best defence against the vi- rus, including the Delta variant." Meghani's recommen- dations say workplace vac- cination policies should ex- plain their purpose, time- lines, potential conse- quences for non-compliance, and spe- cific actions workers must take, such as providing proof of vaccination status or medical exemption. For unvaccinated em- ployees, the medical officer of health suggests that workplaces could consider having those staff members wear additional personal protective equipment, be relocated, reassigned or placed on modified work duties. "In the event of a CO- VID-19 outbreak, unvacci- nated and partially vacci- nated workers should not be permitted to work in the outbreak area," the docu- ment from Meghani states. "If reassignment is not possible, consider other op- tions, including whether unvaccinated workers should receive paid or un- paid leave or use vacation days until it is safe for them to return to the workplace." The full list of recom- mendations can be found at halton.ca/COVID19 under COVID-19 Resources for Businesses. WORKPLACE COVID-19 VACCINE POLICIES NEEDED: MOH Workplace vaccination policies are being recommended for Halton businesses. Alexandra Heck/Metroland MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com NEWS