Cornwall mayor requests COVID-19 hot spot designation from premier, health minister

In this September 2020, file photo, Cornwall Mayor Bernadette Clement stands outside the justice building on Pitt Street. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

CORNWALL – Mayor Bernadette Clement has sent a formal request to the provincial government to designate the City of Cornwall as a coronavirus hot spot.

In a letter dated Tuesday, April 13 to Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott, Clement detailed the stark news given during a special council meeting this month about the pressure being felt at the Cornwall hospital.

“I am respectfully requesting urgent consideration of our community requiring additional resources to support us in our specific battle against the virus and its variants at this particularly critical juncture of the pandemic,” Clement wrote.

Cornwall Newswatch requested a statement from the premier and health minister’s office.

Health Minister Christine Elliott’s press secretary, Alexandra Hilkene, acknowledged the request but no response was received by the end of the business day Friday.