Mayor cautiously optimistic on COVID numbers

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — After months of daily phone calls, Zoom meetings and communication with health officials, government officials and municipal staff, Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald is happy to be able to take a breath.

“I’m actually getting to do what I need to do,” she said.

With local COVID numbers currently low, MacDonald is cautiously optimistic that we can keep the curve flattened in this area.

“We are keeping the numbers low, thanks to people adhering to the guidelines,” she said.

In reference to the strong guidelines put in place over the course of the pandemic, she feels that the municipality did a good job in informing and educating the public.

“We needed to get the message out,” she said. “Now we just need to avoid becoming complacent.”

As for what the future may hold, she’s relying on the province to make any calls on further restrictions.

“Halloween will need to be decided by the province,” she said. “We’re not prepared to tackle that issue.”

Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald speaks to the media in early September at Shotton Park.

Sun Photo

“I think the level of information has come to a peak,” she said. “It’s really up to the people at this point.”

She believes that how well we follow the guidelines in the coming weeks will determine what our Christmas will be like.

“Let’s hope Christmas can be as normal as possible,” she said. “What we do now, will affect our holidays.”

Her biggest fear for the community is complacency, as the dreaded COVID fatigue sets in among people in the community.

“People are so fatigued — I just try to be encouraging,” she said. “We have to lead by example.” She’s confident that if we follow the guidelines, we can avoid what’s happening in Toronto and Ottawa.

MacDonald has recently been named to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO)’s Waste Management Task Force and she looks forward to getting to work on that, which will be a welcomed change from the months of COVID-related work.