Toronto, Peel staying in lockdown as province revises capacity limits for weddings, funerals, church services
Posted March 12, 2021 2:45 pm.
Last Updated March 13, 2021 4:01 pm.
The Ford government has decided not to move Toronto and Peel Region to the province’s “Red-Control” zone of its COVID-19 framework, announcing they are loosening capacity limits for weddings, funerals, and church services.
The provincial government says as of midnight on March 15, it’s invoking its Emergency Brake and moving three public health regions to new levels, including Lambton Public Health into lockdown.
Additionally, Northwestern Health Unit will move to the Red Zone with Leeds, Grenville, and Lanark District Health Unit shifting to “Yellow-Protect.”
Peel Region mayors, such as Bonnie Crombie and Patrick Brown, pressed for a move to the Red Zone, calling on Peel’s top doctor to put forth a request to get them out of “Grey-Lockdown.”
On Friday, Brown said city council unanimously endorsed a motion to be moved into Red-Control “as soon as possible.”
The province’s COVID warning system still considers Peel’s community risk level to be high, along with Toronto.
Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie also voiced her displeasure with Peel Region’s move to “Grey-Lockdown” arguing it didn’t go far enough for suffering businesses in the region.
On Friday, Crombie said she was “disappointed” with the province’s decision.
“I had been strongly advocating for the City to be moved into the Red Zone,” said Crombie in an updated statement.
“… I asked that Mississauga be moved into the Red Zone with or without the rest of Peel Region. The reality is that Mississauga’s case counts warrant us being there. This week, our numbers decreased significantly to 63 percent per 100,000 – down from 74 last week.”
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Crombie said she’s still optimistic Mississauga will be moved out of lockdown in due time.
“We can no longer afford to be held back just because case numbers in other cities in our region aren’t quite there yet,” said Mississauga’s mayor.
“I am still hopeful that next week Mississauga will move forward in the province’s framework, provided much-needed relief to our small business owners.”
On the news of Peel Region staying in the Grey Zone, top doctor Lawrence Loh says trends were favorable but insists it’s necessary to move gradually, saying “we need to be patient with vaccine coming in a few weeks.”
“The latest modelling suggests we are at a critical stage in our fight against this devastating virus, and that the actions we take now will help ensure people stay safe,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
“As we near completion of Phase One and prepare to rollout Phase Two of our vaccine distribution plan next month, we urge everyone to continue following all public health measures and advice to help prevent further transmission and protect our health system capacity.”
On the advice of Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, the province is also adjusting capacity limits for weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites, or ceremonies at Grey-Lockdown level.
Effective March 15 at 12:01 a.m., weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites, or ceremonies will be permitted to allow for up to 15 percent total occupancy indoors, or up to 50 people outdoors.
There is currently a max capacity limit of 10 percent occupancy indoors.
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“While the data shows that Ontario’s vaccine rollout is helping to save lives, the next few months are critical,” said Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “We all must remain vigilant and continue following public health advice and measures to prevent transmission, as variants of concern are continuing to become more prevalent throughout the province and threaten to undo all of the positive gains we have all worked so hard to achieve.”
Williams says that from March 3 to 9, Lambton Public Health’s case rate increased by 30.9 percent, to 110.0 cases per 100,000 people, well above the provincial average.
During the same period of time, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the region has increased by 33.3 percent.
Ontario used its Emergency Brake measure to move Sudbury into lockdown this week citing a case rate increase of 54 percent between March 3 and March 9.
Ontario’s latest round of provincial modelling suggested that there has been increased mobility leading to less-than-ideal circumstances across multiple Public Health Units.
The province’s Science Advisory Table said Thursday that progress has stalled as variants continue to spread across the province.
Over the past two weeks, Ontario has seen cases grow by an average of 1.19 percent per day.
