City needs ‘a little more time’ in Stage 2
Toronto will be able to reopen gyms, restaurants one week after Peel, York
Toronto will remain in modified Stage 2, even as gyms and restaurants in other regions of the province reopen for business, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday.
Ford said the decision to keep Toronto closed for another week was made at the request of Toronto Mayor John Tory and the city’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa.
“Mayor Tory has asked us for a little more time in Toronto and as always I will support him,” said Ford, after announcing that Ottawa, Peel and York Region will reopen as of Saturday.
Ford said Toronto will follow on Nov. 14, although a press release from Tory’s office, issued after Tuesday’s provincial press conference, was more equivocal.
“I have been clear throughout that I want restaurants and gyms to open safely and stay open safely — safely being the key word,” reads Tory’s statement. “I continue to hope that will be possible in the days ahead.”
Tory’s statement goes on to say that the city is working closely with Toronto Public Health (TPH) to determine what needs to be done in order to reopen safely.
In a response to questions from the Star, de Villa said TPH bases its recommendations on local current circumstances and the latest scientific data.
“Given the current situation in Toronto we made this recommendation to request additional time to observe the impact of the current public health measures and to continue to monitor our local indicators,” she said. Toronto gyms have been closed and a ban on indoor dining at bars and restaurants in place since Oct. 10, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.
Figures from the province on Tuesday pegged the number of new cases in Ontario at 1,050, including 408 in Toronto.
James Rilett, a spokesperson for Restaurants Canada, said he was surprised Toronto wasn’t one of the jurisdictions permitted to reopen. He said the organization is trying to get the data from the city that is supporting the restrictions, and work on any underlying problems.
“We’ll just have to live with the week’s delay. Hopefully it doesn’t stretch from that,” said Rilett, whose organization represents 40,000 restaurants.
Ford introduced new provincial guidelines on Tuesday for deciding when to implement protective measures, including a full lockdown like the one instituted in the spring.
A new focus has been placed on taking preventative measures earlier to prevent more widespread closures later.
The guidelines establish five categories of public health measures that can be scaled up or down, level by level, based on data that includes weekly incidence rates, per cent positivity rates, reproductive rates, number of outbreaks and hospital and ICU capacity.
Ford said eastern Ontario will be moved into the new orange
“restrict” level to address what he described as concerning trends.
Brant, Durham, Halton and Hamilton will be moved into the yellow “protect” level, which includes enhanced targeted enforcement, fines and enhanced education.
The province also released some details of how a previously announced $300-million care package for businesses required to close or restrict services due to COVID-19 will work: Beginning Nov. 16, eligible businesses will be able to apply for temporary property tax and energy cost rebates directly to the province through a single online portal. The rebate will cover costs beyond those covered by the new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS).
Countries across Europe are retreating into lockdown mode, after a summer lull gave way to a tsunami of infections, threatening to overwhelm health care systems.
In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, all restaurants, bars, gyms, pools and theatres have been closed until the end of the month.