‘Give your head a shake’: Brampton has laid 14 charges for COVID-19 violations, including a large house party, mayor says

Thestar.com
July 16, 2020

Brampton has laid 14 charges for COVID-19 distancing violations over the last week, including for a large house party with at least 40 people, the city’s mayor says.

“Give your head a shake, this is still not the time to have parties,” Mayor Patrick Brown said announcing the charges at a Wednesday news conference.

“We can’t have anyone ignoring the advice of public health and putting everyone else in peril.”

The charges, including cases of large residential gatherings, were laid under the city’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.

Since Friday, when the city made it mandatory for masks to be worn in indoor public spaces, the mayor said there have so far been 51 complaints about people not adhering to the face-covering rules.

In those instances, Brown said, bylaw officers opted for warnings instead of charges while people get used to the new rules.

Of the 14 charges, Brampton officials said 12 people were charged following a complaint that a group of more than 30 were playing cricket and basketball at a Brampton-area school.

For the charges involving the residential gatherings, the city issued fines of $880 each, the officials said.

Brampton has accounted for more than half of the 6,686 COVID-19 cases reported in Peel Region so far, with Mississauga sitting at just above 40 per cent and Caledon at fewer than five per cent.

Nearly 6,000 of the region’s cases have since recovered, according to the Peel Region dashboard.

In total, 312 people have died of COVID-19 in the region, including 88 in Brampton and 223 in Mississauga.

In a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie noted that her city recorded only one new case on Tuesday and zero on Wednesday, a first since the lockdown started.

She said zero tickets have been issued over the same timeframe as the charges in neighbouring Brampton.

“I want to say our people are following the guidelines and complying with rules,” Crombie said.

Earlier, Brown warned he’s not confident the region is ready to enter Stage 3 of reopening.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s medical officer of health, noted Wednesday morning that the average for new infections in Brampton has fallen steadily to about 29 new cases each day.

Looking ahead, he said Stage 3 might be in reach, but there is still work to be done.

“Our own move is on the horizon in Peel if current trends continue,” Loh said.

Still, he cautioned that although Peel’s first day with zero new cases will be a milestone in a long journey, “it will not signify victory, not by a mile.”

Bylaw enforcement officials say they are increasingly hearing complaints about businesses not enforcing the mandatory mask bylaw.

They’re asking people to report rule breaches by calling 311.