Hundreds party on St. Catharines beach despite pandemic restrictions
Mayor Walter Sendzik calls gathering ‘disappointing’
St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik says it was “disappointing” to learn hundreds of young people packed Sunset Beach Tuesday night in the middle of a pandemic.
Firefighters were called to the north St. Catharines beach just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, followed by police, where they estimated 350 to 400 people were gathered.
“A lot of people have put in a concerted effort to make sure that the infection rate remains as low as possible,” Sendzik said.
“To see this spontaneous gathering of what looks to be younger people, leaves the question, is the message not getting through to them?
“We have to refocus our efforts on making sure that we’re getting to every member of our community.”
St. Catharines Fire Chief Jeff McCormick said fire crews responding to the call for bonfires on the beach found it very difficult to navigate through the narrow roadways, with numerous vehicles parked illegally.
Once on the beach, they saw limited social distancing among the large crowd.
There were two separate bonfires, which firefighters extinguished, each with approximately 20 people around them.
McCormick said there were a significant number of people drinking alcohol who appeared to be underage, and police were called to attend.
Niagara Regional Police said the crowds were in the midst of dispersing when officers arrived on scene at approximately 8:40 p.m. No charges were laid.
This was the first massive gathering of this type St. Catharines firefighters have been called to during the pandemic. The city cancelled the sale of fireworks during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the fire department from having to respond to non-essential calls.
“Any time fire personnel or any emergency personnel are around a large gathering of peo
ple, it’s not making our life easy,” McCormick said.
“It exposes fire personnel and police personnel to unnecessary risks because we’re not aware of who may be in those large gatherings that has symptoms of COVID-19 or is asymptomatic and is potentially spreading the virus to others.”
The beach party came just days after large crowds at Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park made national news and prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to plead with residents to avoid mass gatherings.
Sendzik said the city has had staff patrolling areas of the beachfront from Lakeside Park to Sunset Beach during the day because of concerns the heat may attract people. He said they were seeing a lot of compliance and there was nothing to indicate something like what happened Tuesday night was going to occur.
He said it’s important for parents to reinforce the message to their kids not to congregate in large groups.
“Kids may feel invincible, but the reality is once they become a carrier of COVID-19 their ability to infect their grandparents, their uncles, their aunts, their moms and dads, it’s real and it’s a transmittable disease,” he said.
“Parents also need to have those discussions with their kids. Where are they going? Who are they going out with? Please don’t go out with any groups at all. Be responsible.”
Niagara’s acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji said the gathering at Sunset Beach was the wrong thing to do and risks spreading a virus that, to date, Niagara has done a good job controlling.
“The reason our numbers are where they are is because when it comes to physical distancing and hygiene, people have been pretty good at it,” Hirji said. “But to become lax now will open up the possibility of more spread.”
McCormick said the fire department was particularly discouraged by the number of vehicles parked illegally on the streets and said it shows a complete lack of respect for residents who might require assistance in an emergency.
“If we have delayed response into the neighbourhood because fire trucks can’t get down the roadways, and there’s a residential fire and people are parked in front of fire hydrants because they want to go to the beach, it’s unacceptable behaviour.”