Markham mayor says 'tipping point' at York Region hospitals not prescription for lockdown

Switching big box retailers and shopping centres to curbside pickup only along with capacity restrictions in grocery stores should be considered before moving York out of red-control zone

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 11, 2020
Heidi Riedner

Despite York Region hospitals saying they have reached a “tipping point” in COVID-19 admissions, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said that shouldn't push the region into lockdown.

Switching big box retailers and shopping centres to curbside pickup only along with capacity restrictions in grocery stores should be considered before a lockdown of York Region, Scarpitti said on the heels of a statement issued from York’s hospitals saying they have reached a tipping point in COVID-19 admissions.

A joint statement from the CEOs of Markham Stouffville Hospital, Mackenzie Health in Richmond Hill and Newmarket's Southlake Regional Health Centre highlighted a “significant increase” in admissions due to the coronavirus in recent weeks.

They said they were concerned that the trend could impact access to other health care, like scheduled surgeries, and called on residents to wear masks in public and forgo gathering over the holidays in order to protect the community.

That is a stark turnaround from just a week ago when York’s medical officer of health, Dr. Karim Kurji, said the area’s hospitals were managing patient loads.

That was a key factor among the reasons York Region council endorsed Kurji’s recommendation to request the province not put York in lockdown along with Toronto and Peel Region in November.

“This decision was based on a high compliance rate of measures from both the public and businesses, and that our three local hospitals had advised us that they were managing the COVID-19 demand,” Scarpitti said.

The CEOs’ plea to the public to ensure we wear masks when outside the home, physical distance from anyone outside our household and forgo social gatherings serves as a reminder, Scarpitti said, that all health-care needs require resources and staff, not just for COVID-19.

Recent polls, however, suggest 30 to 40 per cent of Canadians intend to spend time over the holidays with people outside their household.

“We cannot afford to take such a risk,” Scarpitti said.

“It will only mean further pressures on front-line workers and hospital capacity. Let us do our part to help our local hospitals,” he added.

Markham company, Scarsin, has been preparing specific modelling scenarios for York Region that provide additional input to help guide decisions at the regional table.

The modelling concluded that there would be minimal value to move York Region from the red-control zone to grey-lockdown, said Scarpitti.

“We continue to monitor the effectiveness of (current) measures, the additional restrictions issued by Dr. Kurji limiting capacity for big box retailers and shopping centres, and our enhanced enforcement initiative,” Scarpitti said.

Restaurants and smaller retailers would continue to operate under current restrictions.  

“As we continue on in this second wave, I urge Markham businesses to adhere to new protocols and ask residents to continue practising physical distancing, wearing masks and adhering to public health protocols,” Scarpitti said.