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Two men from a Mennonite church in a rural Chatham-Kent community face provincial charges after two weekend services that each had more than 100 unmasked people.
Chatham-Kent police charged a 43-year-old man Sunday and a 50-year-old man Saturday under the Reopening Ontario Act after each took responsibility for the respective gatherings at Wheatley’s Old Colony Mennonite Church in Wheatley.
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“Restrictions have been implemented by the provincial government to halt the spread of COVID-19,” Chatham-Kent police said in a statement. “As a community, it’s imperative that everyone does their part to keep the citizens of Chatham-Kent safe and healthy.”
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For the second time in as many days, a Wheatley-area church has been found in contravention of provincial legislation that restricts the number of people who can congregate in a church at the same time.
Chatham-Kent police issued a fine after finding over 100 unmasked people inside the church on Sunday morning.
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The fine was issued a day after over 100 unmasked people were found inside the church on Saturday morning.
On both occasions, police were responding to a “report of a large gathering” at the Old Colony Mennonite Church.
December 27, 2020
It didn’t take long for the first charges to be laid in Chatham-Kent for breaking the province-wide lockdown regulations.
All of Ontario entered into the Grey-Lockdown framework of COVID-19 restrictions at 12:01 on December 26th.
At 11am that morning, police were called to a large gathering at the Old Colony Mennonite Church in Wheatley where officers found over 100 people inside without masks, despite provincial restrictions allowing only 10 people for indoor religious services.
A member of the church, a 50-year-old Merlin man, claimed responsibility for the gathering and has now been charged under the Reopening Ontario Act, and will appear in court January 27th.
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The Sudbury area recorded four new cases of COVID-19 over the Christmas Day-Boxing Day period.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts said three of the cases were in Greater Sudbury; the fourth was recorded in the District of Sudbury.
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Try refreshing your browser. Sudbury adds four new cases of COVID-19, Ontario 2,005 Back to video
In all, the region has recorded 266 cases of COVID-19 as of Dec. 27, compared to 262 on Dec. 24.
There are now 11 active cases, compared to 10 on Dec. 24.
In total, 255 cases have been resolved, compared to 252 on Dec. 24.
Broken down by region, 237 cases have been detected in Greater Sudbury, 16 in the District of Sudbury and 13 on Manitoulin Island.
Author of the article: Daily News staff
Publishing date: Dec 27, 2020 • December 28, 2020 • 1 minute read •
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With the province now under lockdown, Chatham-Kent police have laid a charge after a gathering was reported at the Old Colony Mennonite Church in Wheatley.
The shutdown took effect Saturday as the entire province entered the “grey-lockdown” tier of the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open framework.
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That morning, shortly after 11 a.m., police responded to a report of a large gathering at the church.