Region moved to orange status amid virus surge

With just over a month to Christmas, Ontario's Ford government on Friday ordered Toronto and Peel Region to move into Grey-lockdown status on Monday, with other regions, including Windsor-essex County, similarly required to downgrade in Ontario's COVID-19 colour-coded system.

“Advancing to Orange-restrict further underscores the need for Windsor residents to take these messages to heart and follow the advice of public health experts,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a statement following the province's afternoon announcement.

“If we want to have any hope of seeing friends and family over the holidays, then we need to take steps today to stop the spread and bend the second wave's curve,” Dilkens added.

With COVID-19 numbers on the rise, particularly in Toronto and two other provincial hot spots, and health authorities expressing concern, Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet met Friday to consider new measures after Ontario's chief medical officer of health submitted recommendations a day earlier. The tougher new public health measures were announced later in the day.

“We're seeing concerning trends, our hospital ICU beds are in jeopardy and our long-term care homes are at risk,” Ford said on Thursday. “We have some difficult, but necessary decisions to make.”

Dilkens said he perceived last week's move of the local region from Green-prevent into Yellow-protect on the five-level scale as “a wake-up call for this community.”

HEFTY FINES THREATENED

The mayor urged local residents to “avoid social gatherings with those outside your own household and limit your interactions to the greatest extent possible.” Dilkens repeated an earlier announcement of stepped-up enforcement: “We will not hesitate to lay hefty fines on those individuals and businesses behaving irresponsibly.”

One of the biggest differences between the yellow and orange categories is that, as of Monday, licensed establishments in Windsor and Essex County will have to close an hour earlier, at 10 p.m., with last call for drinks at bars and restaurants at 9 p.m.

The new measures beginning Monday come as Ontario reported 1,418 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with eight new deaths related to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said there were 400 new cases in Peel Region, 393 in Toronto and 168 in York Region.

Meanwhile, York Region's top municipal official and chief medical officer of health wrote to the province asking that their community not be placed in full lockdown.

Regional chairman Wayne Emerson and medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji said in a letter to Ford that the area's local infection numbers were expected to come down since it had recently been placed in the red zone of the province's COVID-19 restrictions system.

They said York's three local hospitals have also reported they are not suffering the same capacity strain other regions are seeing.

“It is our position that good case, contact and outbreak control management continues to be our most effective means of reducing new cases in the community,” they said.

As of Friday, Ontario had 518 people in hospital with COVID-19.

In the province's long-term care homes, 558 residents currently have COVID-19 and four new deaths were reported Friday.

The province said 102 of its 626 long-term care homes are experiencing an outbreak.

The government also moved Friday to extend orders under the Reopening Ontario Act, ensuring they will remain in force until Dec. 21.