Sports fields and parks reopen with limitations, but Islands still off limits,
Sports fields and parks reopen with limitations, but Islands still off limits
Soccer fields, baseball diamonds, basketball courts and skateboard parks are among outdoor sites in Toronto being reopened, with limits, as COVID-19 restrictions ease. More than 850 amenities closed in March amid infection fears are opening this week for individual “casual” use, with team play allowed only if everyone is from the same household, Mayor John Tory announced Wednesday.
The list includes BMX and disc golf courses, tennis courts and picnic shelters, plus outdoor badminton, pickleball and ping-pong play. Lawn bowling and outdoor bocce will resume next week.
“While visiting a park, people must continue to practise physical distancing,” with at least two metres between nonhousehold members,” a city news release states.
“If a resident arrives at an amenity that is crowded, they a enough space to physically distance or return at another time.”
Remaining closed for now are amenities rounds, including outdoor city exercise playag equipment, swimming pools, splash pads, Riverdale Farm, High Park Zoo, waterfront parking lots and visitor access to the Toronto Islands.
Permits for soccer, multi-use fields, and baseball diamonds remain cancelled until at least June 29.
The city halted almost all outdoor recreation activities after officials saw dire predictions of possible mass infections and deaths caused by the coronavirus.
Restrictions are lifting in line with Ontario’s reopening plan.
But Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s public health chief, noted the virus continues to spread and kill Torontonians, warning people to avoid mingling so restrictions don’t need to return. COVID-19 spreads mainly via droplets from sneezing, coughing or close contact.
De Villa strongly urged Torontonians to wear a face covering or cloth mask while venturing out where people come close, such as elevators and grocery stores. Children under 2 and those unable to remove a mask shouldn’t wear them.
Sites for outdoor fun are coming back to life as Toronto shakes off an unseasonably cool spring. Environment Canada predicts sunshine and temperatures as high as 24C this weekae nd. But one of the city’s great escapes, Toronto Islands, will remain off-limits to all but those who live there for a while.
Tory told CP24 that Transport Canada rules aimed at limiting virus spread would make the ferries run half full, raising the spectre of big lineups.
Figuring out anti-infection rules for food kiosks and other issues mean “I expect it will be a while yet before (Toronto Island Park) will reopen,” fully, the mayor said.
Centreville Theme Park, the island amusement site, is now grappling rns after with several COVID-19 years of congc disruptive flooding.
Beasley Amusements staff would normally begin readying the site in early April in a sixweek process, company president Bill Beasley told the Star.
Instead, his staff are following a 36-page guide, published by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, on how to reopen safely with “sneeze guards,” anti-crowding and cleaning protocols, and more.
“If (city officials) told me today I could open, I wouldn’t be able to do that until at least the middle of June,” Beasley said, adding snack bars will likely open first. He may open in phases, one or two rides at a time.
His concerns over crowds are tempered by a belief that, even with summer weather coming, hordes of Torontonians won’t be climbing onto a ferry anytime soon.
“There’s going to be a massive amount of people who are afraid to go. So we’ve got to be sure that we can convince ourselves and the public that we can operate safely.”