Peel officials warn residents to avoid Diwali gatherings

In the wake of record daily COVID-19 infections, Peel Region officials and resident advocates are pleading for people to avoid gatherings outside of their immediate household during this weekend’s Diwali celebrations.

Local politicians and the region’s chief medical official have spent the past few days warning residents of the dire straits facing Peel, which is racking up the highest number of daily cases seen since the start of the pandemic, if residents aren’t vigilant about abiding by restrictions. These include keeping social gatherings to immediate households and only going out for essential reasons.

Peel reported a record 466 cases on Thursday.

“Regrettably, that does mean celebrating Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas” — a Sikh holiday coinciding with Diwali — “only with the people you live with and connecting virtually, even with other family members, if they live at another address,” said Peel’s medical officer of health, Dr. Lawrence Loh, during a press conference Thursday.

Loh, who said household transmission of the virus has long fuelled the region’s local epidemic, hammered home that point, saying the region is at a precipice where “contract-tracing is becoming increasingly fraught,” and hospitals are bursting at the seams. He cautioned residents to avoid all gatherings outside the immediate household for the next two to four weeks.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is marked by the sharing of boxes of delectable sweets. The main festival is Saturday.

It will be a bittersweet occasion this year for “one of the biggest events in the Indo-Canadian community,” said Jotvinder Sodhi of the Homeowners Welfare Association and Concerned Residents of Brampton, who added that he will be marking the festivities at home.

To date, Peel has recorded 18,649 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, with Brampton accounting for 11,447 of those. Brampton has accounted for 99 of the 339 deaths in Peel Region. Jason Miller is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering crime and justice in the Peel Region. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic

BRYON JOHNSON TORSTAR FILE PHOTO Anita Dhillon, second from right, of Anita the Baker, and her staff marked Diwali last year at the Diwali Market at Square One. This year, Peel’s medical officer of health is asking residents to avoid gatherings outside the immediate household.