Toronto and Peel to remain in lockdown until January 4, Hamilton latest region moved to ‘Grey Zone’
Posted December 18, 2020 1:23 pm.
Last Updated December 18, 2020 5:49 pm.
Ontario’s government has announced lockdown measures have been extended in Toronto and Peel Region until at least January 4.
This comes as Premier Doug Ford will hold an emergency cabinet meeting this weekend to discuss future restrictions that could be announced as soon as Monday at 1 p.m. that afternoon.
Ontario also announced that, in addition, five public health regions will be moved to levels with stronger public health measures, including moving Hamilton Public Health to ‘Grey-Lockdown‘.
“With public health indicators continuing to worsen in Toronto and Peel, we are making the difficult but necessary decision to extend public health measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, protect our hospital capacity and safeguard the key services we rely on,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
“With the first vaccines administered to our frontline health care workers this week, the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter every day. However now more than ever we are urging everyone to continue following public health measures and advice, especially over the holiday season.”
The government also announced that Brant-County and Niagara Region will move to the ‘Red-Control‘ zone, Kingston will shift to ‘Orange-Restrict‘, Timiskaming to ‘Yellow-Protect’, and Sudbury to ‘Green-Prevent.’
Since Toronto and Peel entered lockdown measures, the government says Peel saw its COVID-19 case rate increase by 8.6 percent to 199.1 cases per 100,000 people while Toronto saw an increase from 37.5 percent to 127.5 cases per 100,000 people.
Hospitalizations have risen by 54 percent in Peel and by 40.9 percent in Toronto, resulting in delays for surgeries and other procedures at several hospitals.
Positivity rates also remain well above the 2.5 percent high-alert threshold, at 8.5 percent in Peel and 5.8 percent in Toronto.
“The trends we’re seeing throughout Ontario are very, very concerning,” Ford said in a brief update on Friday.
“Nothing is more important to our government is to ensure we protect the health and safety of each and every province. I have asked for an emergency meeting with all CEOs of all hospitals in Ontario. I want to listen to what’s happening on the ground, within hospitals and ICU units.”
A source tells 680 NEWS that the Ford government is considering different options currently being looked at and debated by the cabinet that involves a possible lockdown after Christmas in southern Ontario, noting that nothing is final as of now.
Today, @fordnation and I convened an emergency meeting with Dr. Williams, @OntHospitalAssn, and hospital leaders across the province to hear firsthand about the serious situation hospitals are facing and discuss next steps to address these concerning trends. pic.twitter.com/2bSnS3QVED
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) December 18, 2020
Ford said he will sit down with the cabinet over the weekend to gather and look over all the necessary data from Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams.
“We’re asking for your help. We’re asking for your support,” the premier added.
Toronto and Peel both entered a 28-day lockdown on November 23 that was set to expire on Monday, December 21.
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On Wednesday, Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, reported 850 new COVID-19 cases as well as 19 additional deaths leading to mayor John Tory calling for stiffer restrictions ahead of the holidays.
From January 25 to October 20, de Villa said Toronto reached 25,000 cases of COVID-19. Toronto Public Health (TPH) maintains it has taken approximately eight weeks to double the number of cases to more than 50,000.
The Ontario Hospital Association, meantime, issued another letter asking for immediate action to avoid a “devastating surge in COVID-19 patients.”
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“We’re seeing a lot of transmission across regions. Some of it is because essential workers must go to their jobs in the health-care, transportation, and food production industries,” said Dr. Samantha Hill, president of the OHA.
“Unfortunately, some of it is also people crossing into areas with looser restrictions for non-essential reasons such as shopping, hair cuts, and social visits.”
The OHA is also recommending that ‘Grey-Lockdown’ zones of the province’s framework be re-evaluated by health experts to determine if additional or stricter restrictions are necessary.
Ontario Health sent out a memo on Tuesday warning every hospital CEO in the province to prepare to activate their emergency plans within 48 hours if needed.
Ontario reported 2,290 new cases of COVID-19 and over 68,200 tests completed on Friday.
Locally, there are 691 new cases in Toronto, 361 in Peel, 296 in York Region, 207 in Windsor-Essex County, and 126 in Hamilton.
