Ford unveils province's Christmas holiday advice: Stay home
Christmas 2020 in Ontario will look a lot like Thanksgiving, Halloween and Easter did — celebrated with the same people you have breakfast with every day.
Premier Doug Ford unveiled the province's advice for the holiday season on Wednesday by urging people not to travel and to celebrate the season only with the members of their own household.
“This year is unlike any other. We are in the second wave of COVID-19 and we can't take any chances. We have to bend the curve and stop the spread of this awful virus,” Ford said at his daily news briefing. “The safest way for any of us to enjoy the holidays, no matter where we live in the province, is to celebrate with our own households. Doing so is critical if you live in a lockdown region.”
People who live alone will be allowed to join one other household, he said.
A holiday guide posted online Wednesday suggests safe activities such as virtual gatherings with family and friends, outdoor activities such as sleigh rides with other members of the same household and “visiting Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus or their elves outdoors and taking photos while keeping two metres apart.”
Ford also urged people to shop local this season to support small-business owners who have been devastated by the pandemic.
“Shop local. Shop early,” he said. “I know it's easy to go to big box stores or to order from the big online retailers like Amazon. But whatever you need to buy, there's probably a small business in your neighbourhood that sells it.”
The provincial government is spending $600 million to support small businesses, covering the cost of property taxes, hydro and gas, up to 95 per cent of their rent and up to 65 per cent of their salary costs, Ford said. Millions more are being spent to help small businesses develop online shopping, he said.
Ottawa Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches also gave holiday advice during her briefing to city council on Wednesday.
“This is 2020 COVID pandemic (Christmas) and it's going to be pretty memorable because it's got to be different,” Etches said. “We've got to create new traditions and new approaches which are based on limiting our celebrations in person to the people we live with.”
Ontario reported 1,373 new infections and 35 new deaths from COVID-19 Wednesday, including 455 new infections in Toronto, 415 in Peel and 136 in York Region.
Ottawa Public Health reported 23 new cases on Wednesday — up from 19 reported the day before — and four new deaths.
In a rare bit of good news, Etches said the precautions taken to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus appear to be controlling the spread of influenza as well.
There are no flu outbreaks in the city and influenza infections are currently “almost none,” she said.
Also Wednesday, Ontario's auditor general, Bonnie Lysyk, issued a report that was harshly critical of the province's pandemic response.
Lysyk said the response was rife with “delays and confusion in decision-making” and lagged behind other provinces. She also criticized Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, something that angered the premier.
“I have some serious, serious problems with this report,” Ford said, adding that the auditor general has done “nothing but undermine our entire health team.”
“Stick with the job of looking for value for money. Stick with the job that we hired you for. Don't start pretending you're a doctor or a health professional, because I can tell you, you aren't. Stick with the number-crunching.”