York Region targeting manufacturing plants, gyms, hookah bars to avoid new lockdown

'I don't think ... lockdowns necessarily bring down case numbers,' says medical officer of health. 'We have excellent case management, and we know where the outbreaks are arising from.'

Newmarkettoday.ca
March 26, 2021

UPDATE, Use of hookahs banned indoors and on patios at businesses: York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji has issued a section 22 class order prohibiting the use of hookahs inside premises and outdoors on patios at businesses currently permitted to be open, according to York Region spokesperson Patrick Casey.

Effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday, March 26, the order prohibits the inhaling or exhaling of smoke from a hookah and/or holding an activated hookah and applies to owners, operators, patrons and employees, Casey said.

Violators face a fine of up to $5,000 for a person or $25,000 for a corporation for every day or part of each day on which the offence occurs or continues.

York Region will be cracking down on certain industries to head off another lockdown   --  something that is becoming increasingly likely as infection numbers creep upward again, according to the medical officer of health.

Businesses from manufacturing to hookah lounges are becoming significant spreaders of COVID-19, Dr. Karim Kurji told regional council at its meeting today.

Kurji is hopeful the province will follow his advice to keep York Region in the red-control zone, but if things don't improve, there will be significant pressure to send it back into lockdown.

"I have been advocating again to the chief medical officer of health that we remain in the red zone for now. I believe he will heed those recommendations as he has been listening in the past. So hopefully, we will be able to stay in the red zone," said Kurj.

"As the number of cases rises, there are increasing calls for another lockdown, perhaps for the entire Golden Horseshoe (Area). I, for one, am totally opposed to having more lockdowns. I don't think ... lockdowns necessarily bring down case numbers.

"We have excellent case management, and we know where the outbreaks are arising from."

One of the sources of outbreaks said Kurji, is the manufacturing sector, where employees get infected while at work and then bring the virus home to infect others in their households via close contact.

Kurji said the health unit plans to work with manufacturing plants to try to cut down on the spread of COVID-19 by promoting PPE use and launching a testing program. The unit has also asked the Ministry of Labour to increase inspections of those facilities.

"The reason we are concerned about manufacturing plants is that (they) are the ones generating the most variant cases. In the grand scheme of things, it's only about 10 per cent of the variants, but these workers then take them into their home," he said.

"By getting into these manufacturing plants, we may be able to slow the rise of the variants. Manufacturing plants won't shut down regardless of whatever zone we are in, so a lockdown will not help in this particular area."

Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti voiced his support for this approach, saying that it is important to protect the health of factory workers and their families.

"I would absolutely make it a priority to protect people who have to go into work every day and be exposed to others every single day. There is a significant portion of the population that doesn't have the choice to work from home where they are safe from others," said Scarpitti.

Another industry of concern to the health unit is personal training and fitness. A select number of gyms have been the source of outbreaks, mostly from interactions between personal trainers and their clients.

One of the root causes of the problem, said Kurji, is the improper use of masks, the wearing of masks with valves on them that do not provide adequate protection, or not wearing them at all.

The funeral industry is also an area of concern, but not because of anything funeral homes are doing. Although public health measures are being followed at funeral homes themselves, many people end up gathering at private homes once the service is over. Kurji said the health unit is asking funeral homes to discourage such plans.

Hookah bars have become a big enough problem provincewide that Kurji said he is planning to issue an order under section 22 of the Health Promotion and Protection Act, which would compel the bars to follow health unit instructions.

Kurji did not say what specific instructions would be mandated for hookah bars but said their operations, where people gather together to smoke from large communal pipes called hookahs, are an outbreak risk.

"We are following the chief medical officer of health's recommendation that health units consider a section 22 order on hookah lounges because they are generally thought to present risks for COVID-19 transmission because of the use of hookah apparatus.