Toronto park sees big crowds

The premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, expressed shock on Sunday over a large crowd enjoying a sunny day at a Toronto park, warning locals about the risk of another COVID-19 outbreak.

“I thought it was a rock concert when I went out there. I was shocked. It’s just too many people, too close,” Doug Ford, the provincial premier, said in a televised statement.

He was referring to the thousands of people who gathered Saturday at Trinity Bellwoods to enjoy a sunny, summery day at the popular Toronto park.

The city government also issued a statement decrying the absence of social distancing evident in images of the gathering, calling it “unacceptable” and warning it risked setting back the city’s efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

While saying he understood people’s desire to go out on a beautiful day, Ford warned the virus could “still spread like wildfire.”

“So we have to stay on guard and the key, our best defense right now, is to ramp up testing,” he said, urging people to get tested if they have been exposed or show symptoms of the disease.

On Saturday, Ontario’s health services performed 11,383 tests, fewer than their target of 16,000 tests a day.

Calls grew louder over the weekend for the legalization of refugees or migrants working in residential facilities for the elderly, who account for 80 percent of the virus deaths in Canada.

Several dozen people protested Saturday outside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s constituency office in Montreal to demand that asylum-seekers risking their health and even lives by working in such establishments be granted permanent residency.