Mayors and residents grimly greet new restrictions in Perth, Smiths Falls

The president of the Perth Lanark Minor Hockey Association learnedthe season was about to come to a crashing end as one doesin a small town,in a phone call with his brother, who just happens to be the fire chief.

The chief had heard the medical officer of health expressing worry about rising numbers in Perth and Smiths Falls, Ont.

Looking back, Jeff Choffe said the end of the season arrived with shocking suddenness.

"It's more thestab in the heart, just like inplayoff hockey where all of a sudden, you're done," said Choffe.

"Unfortunately, actions of members inthe town, wherepolicies weren't followed and the outbreak blows up and that ends everything. It's kind of a weird simile," he said.

A series of sobering new restrictions imposed on Smiths Falls and Perth by the regional health authority are being greeted grimly by residents.

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paula Stewart implemented an order that saw sports facilities close and restrictions put in place for other businesses in those two towns as of Wednesday.

A news release from the health unit said "inconsistent masking" and a failure to maintain safe distancing were partially to blame.

"The bottom line is, it's very disheartening," said Perth Mayor John Fenik.

The order comes as the health unit has seen a rise in the number of cases in the western part of the region, and just weeks after a surge in cases in the eastern part led to a similar order.

On Wednesday, the health unit said 16 cases had been added in the past 24 hours. With 161 cases this month, Leeds, Grenville and Lanarkis on pace to have its worst month of the pandemic, passing April's 275 cases.

• COVID-19 rules tightened in Perth, Smiths Falls after cases rise
• Restrictions tightened in eastern Lanark County after rise in COVID-19 cases

"It's time to get back to basics," said Fenik, who echoed the health unit's call for more consistent masking and physical distancing.

Fenik said he was concerned about how the new restrictions would affect already struggling entrepreneurs, calling Perth a town of "mom and pop businesses,"often operating with what he called a "very thin line of profitability."

Curling club in disbelief

The health unit is asking members of the Perth Curling Club who played matches or socialized between March 5 and 12 to self-isolate.

"I never in a million years believed this could have happened," said club president Linda Selig, who said she believed the outbreak may have begun with an asymptomatic club member.

"We had absolutely no problem until last week and it absolutely blew up," saidSelig who said the club had "done everything right,"following local and Curling Ontario's guidelines.

WATCH | Mayor of Smiths Falls saysrecent surge in cases now leading to more restrictions:

Smiths Falls facing more restrictions as town moves to yellow zone

4 years ago

Duration 0:45

Shawn Pankow, mayor of Smiths Falls, says that for most of the pandemic, residents have managed to keep COVID-19 cases relatively low but a recent surge in cases is now leading to more restrictions.

In Smiths Falls, Mayor Shawn Pankow said the rising numbers and the newly-imposed restrictions had come as a shock to a town that had largely side-stepped the pandemic.

"It seemed for pretty much a year we had dodged a bullet," said Pankow,who calledthe rising number ofcases "alarming."

Hesaid the public health measures were needed to prevent the outbreak from "getting worse than it already is."