Protests spark super-spreader fears
Police chief urges people to avoid anti-lockdown demonstrations
Anti-lockdown protests have the potential to become superspreader events, warned the police chief on Friday, and he said people should avoid these protests or risk an outbreak.
Another in a series of Saturday rallies has been planned for Confederation Square at noon, despite a new provincial order announced Friday afternoon banning outdoor public events and social gatherings effective at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Peterborough police Chief Scott Gilbert wouldn’t say at a virtual press briefing on Friday how police will enforce the rules if there’s a protest.
But five organizers were ticketed $880 each at last Saturday’s event, which attracted about 250 people — most of them maskless — to Confederation Square.
Gilbert said he’s concerned a protest could spark a large outbreak such as the one seen last month at Severn Court student residence, where 31-year-old Fleming College accounting student Zachary Root died and 56 cases of COVID-19 emerged.
That outbreak likely happened because one person carrying the virus attended the party, Gilbert said, and he thinks that could also happen at a protest. “So follow the rules: that would be my advice,” he said.
Confederation Square — the site of the Citizen’s War Memorial and Wall of Honour — is often used for protests because it’s the only municipal green space where special permission generally isn’t needed for gatherings, said Mayor Diane Therrien at the briefing.
Meanwhile, the city isn’t issuing permits for special events or renting out any parks under the stay-home orders, she added later in an email.
At the briefing, Therrien implored citizens not to go to antilockdown protests.
“We just want everybody to stay home,” she said. “We understand the frustration for sure. But engaging in these kinds of protests contributes to the spreading of COVID — and it’s just keeping us in this situation longer.”
Medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra also discouraged people from protesting — even though they’ve sacrificed and are weary. The pandemic has taken a heavy toll on everyone, she said, “especially our business community.”
“But nonetheless, the public health measures are in place because they make sense. They are based on evidence. And they are what we need to protect us.”