Peel top doctor recommends ‘Grey-Zone’ for the region when stay-at-home order ends

Peel Region medical officer of health says he is recommending the region be put into the strictest zone of the province’s COVID-19 framework when the stay-at-home order is lifted.

Dr. Lawrence Loh says numbers in the region have not improved enough to warrant eased restrictions, and the region has seen a “reversal of the favourable trends” in recent weeks.

“That is why as we exit the province’s stay-at-home order, I am recommending we enter the province’s response framework under Grey for a two week period.”

Though COVID-19 numbers have been declining across the province and in the GTA in recent weeks. Peel has continued to lag behind its GTA counterparts.

The most recent numbers show the region seeing 13.6 cases per 100,000 with a test positity rate of 5.4 per cent.

Loh singled out concerning numbers in Brampton, citing the climbing test positivity rate in the city. He says that number has climbed to 8.7 per cent, compared to 7.4 per cent the week prior.

Loh says while progress is being made on the vaccination front, he is asking residents to remain patient a little while longer.

Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie said last week she wanted the city to be put into the ‘Red-Control’ zone when the order expired, even if the rest of the region remained in lockdown.

Both Dr. Loh and Brampton mayor Patrick Brown rejected the idea of having different public health measures within the same region.

“The severity of the cases has been significantly higher in Mississauga,” said Brown. “The number of fatalities has been significantly higher so this talk about whether you can separate Peel Region doesn’t really make sense because we are completely interconnected.”

In the red zone, non-essential retailers and restaurants are able to welcome customers back, with capacity limits and physical distancing in place.

York Region entered the ‘Red-Control’ zone this week, joining Durham, Halton, Hamilton, and other regions in the process. The government decided to hold Toronto and Peel back after the expressed concern from health officials in both regions.

The decision about what lies ahead for the two GTA hotspots is expected to come from the province by the end of the week.

Peel Region has begun administering COVID-19 vaccines to adults 80 and over, as other regions prepare to allow the same age group to begin pre-registering for their vaccination appointments.

The province’s online booking portal won’t be ready until the week of March 15 though the website will reportedly begin a “soft launch” in six public health units this week.