Toronto will have ‘no hesitation’ reverting from Stage 3 if rule-breaking risks COVID-19 spike, Tory says

Thestar.com
July 30, 2020

More than four months after being plunged into an unprecedented economic and social lockdown, Toronto is on the brink of a shocking return to near-normalcy.

But the city’s ability to continue keeping a lid on COVID-19 infections after Friday, when bars reopen, indoor dining resumes, fitness clubs unlock doors and tape comes off playgrounds, rests squarely on the shoulders of Torontonians.

“The hard work really begins now,” Mayor John Tory said Wednesday after the Ontario government announced Toronto and Peel Region are ready to join municipalities already in Stage 3 of reopening, leaving only Windsor-Essex behind.

Almost all businesses and public spaces are set to reopen, albeit with restrictions.

“Most of this is going to rely on personal responsibility … and I think people are ready for that. They don’t want to go backwards” to Stage 2 restrictions, Tory said.

Not satisfied with provincial rules for the new phase, which will also see the reopening of nail salons, theatres and amateur sports leagues, city council imposed some additional rules recommended by city public health chief Dr. Eileen de Villa.

They include no wandering or mingling by bar patrons, and residents of apartments and condominiums having to cover their faces in common areas, including lobbies and laundry rooms.

Tory said he has been eager for this day since first ordering lockdown measures in March.

But the mayor warned that if Torontonians celebrate loosened rules at big backyard parties and crowded beaches, or otherwise ignore physical distancing and other measures that pushed the city to Stage 3, he will act.

“I would have no hesitation in communicating with the premier and saying … we have to go back” to Stage 2 or restore some restrictions, he said, if rule-breaking risks a COVID-19 resurgence like those seen in Ottawa and some other cities.

“No hesitation at all.”

The Ontario government said it will approve some extra rules requested last week by Toronto. But it was unclear Wednesday if they will duplicate the city-imposes rules, or make new ones, such as a midnight closing for bars requested by Tory.

Restaurant owners, meanwhile, reported confusion over the city’s additional rules as they scramble to prepare for indoor guests. They said the city should have imposed the measures earlier, knowing that Stage 3 was looming.

For example, Ontario’s Stage 3 reopening rules impose no cap on the number of people allowed in bars or restaurants as long as people can stay two metres apart. The city imposed a cap of 100 people on indoor businesses, no matter the size.

Council also decreed that restaurants and bars can’t seat more than 10 guests at a table inside or outside, and must have a protocol to screen staff for COVID-19 -- at least a questionnaire -- before they start each shift.

“I just want them to be giving clear rules for all restaurants,” Celina Blanchard, owner of Lambretta Pizzeria in Roncesvalles, told the Star as she moved tables indoors from her makeshift patio.

Industry association Restaurants Canada said it has had a generally good relationship with Toronto Public Health but would have welcomed an invitation from Tory to discuss concerns he raised to Ford in a letter last week.

“Basically, what restaurants are asking for is: Just make it clear what you want from us and we’ll do it,” said James Rilett, the organization’s vice-president for central Canada.

Cinemas are also deciphering city and provincial rules to see if they can reopen.

Cineplex and the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Wednesday were reviewing the rules, unsure if patrons will be allowed to escape the heat and catch a flick on Friday. The Ted Rogers Hot Docs Cinema confirmed it will remain closed to work on a reopening plan.

Coun. Joe Cressy, Toronto’s public health chair, said all the new rules faced by Toronto’s many thousands of affected business should be clear soon.

“All the measures city council adopted today -- the measures for bars and restaurants, the mask bylaw for condos and apartments, the extended physical distancing bylaw -- will now be part of Phase 3,” he said Wednesday.

“What we don’t know yet (and may not for a couple of days), is whether the provincial order will replace any of them.”

Parents like Betsy Moss, a Toronto art historian and mother of three, said she and her kids are thrilled playgrounds are finally reopening.

“I’ve been really looking forward to this for a long time,” she said.

Her 10-year-old son gets outside every day but has still spent much of his time during the lockdown sitting in front of a screen, and Moss said he misses the challenge of being on a playground. Likewise, her three-year-old twins are “drawn like magnets” towards the local play structures in their Annex neighbourhood.

Moss said she set up a slide in the backyard, but it’s not the same.

She thinks the city should have reopened playgrounds sooner because the research suggests the risk of transmission on outside surfaces is low.

Moss feels like children have been “left behind” in Toronto’s recovery plans while the city focused on getting economic drivers like bars and restaurants humming again.

Dorianne Emmerton said it will be a relief to get her son Callum, 8, back on the playgrounds in their neighbourhood on the border between Regent Park and Corktown Common.

The boy has been affected both physically and emotionally “by the months (of) not having an outlet for all of his energy and having to be stuck at home,” she said, adding that without being able to clamber around outside, his pent-up energy has been “coming out in unhelpful ways.”

“His body literally needs to climb and hang upside down and swing back and forth,” she said. Emmerton said she wasn’t worried about Callum’s health on the playground because he understands the importance of not getting too close to other people.

Other Torontonians said they have mixed feelings about Stage 3.

As he biked to an outdoor fitness class, Matthew Weeks, a 27-year-old programmer, told the Star that before the crisis he went to the gym nearly every day to lift weights. He was initially excited when he heard he would be able to start going again but the more he thought about it, the more hesitant he became.

He pictured a room full of people grunting and sweating, and wondered whether gym-goers, who in his experience aren’t always considerate, would be diligent about wearing masks and practising physical distancing.

Then, on Wednesday, he got an email from his gym saying it had requested the government to increase the number of people allowed to work out at the same time.

“That scares the heck out of me,” Weeks said. He’s particularly concerned about contracting COVID-19 and passing it to relatives, some of whom have health problems like asthma.

“I don’t want to get any of my family members sick just because I wanted to go and pump some iron,” he said. “I’m going to give it a shot but I’m going to be pretty careful and if I even get the slightest bit concerned I’m probably not going to continue going.”

Meanwhile, the dangers of reopening are playing out elsewhere. In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is warning he might have to reimpose a March lockdown that has since been lifted.

“We’ve made progress in Illinois, but we’ve also seen that it can be fleeting,” Pritzker told the Chicago Tribune. “I want to remind everyone that it doesn’t take long at all for a trajectory of success to turn into rising hospitalizations and deaths ... And if things don’t change, a reversal is where we’re headed.”

Toronto’s new daily COVID-19 infections plummeted to only one on Tuesday, then jumped Wednesday to 19 confirmed or probable cases. De Villa was unconcerned, saying Toronto’s indicators remain in a long-term downward trend.

Allowing people to gather in more places and get back to near-normal life will almost certainly result in a rise in Toronto’s case count, de Villa said. Public health testing and tracing of contacts of infected people should keep it manageable.

The more Torontonians keep physically distancing, cover their faces and wash their hands, the more likely it is that public health officials can contain the virus until scientists develop vaccines or treatments, de Villa said.

Lockdowns can harm people’s health, including the effects of lost income and reduced social interactions, she said, adding there is no “magic number” of new infections that would trigger more restrictions or eve a retreat back to Stage 2.

“That actually rests with all of us.”