Hamilton’s mayor says given the holiday season and many taking time off, he’s on board with a potential provincial lockdown in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Region (GTHA) amid rising COVID-19 cases.
During his town hall with Global News Radio 900 CHML’s Bill Kelly on Thursday, Fred Eisenberger said GTHA mayors recently discussed the possibilities of having municipalities across Southern Ontario “on the level playing field.”
“Given the fact that many people would be taking some time off over the holidays it is probably a good opportunity to lockdown, as we were in March, to try and contain the spread of this virus,” Eisenberger said.
On Wednesday, Toronto Mayor John Tory said he and other nearby municipal leaders asked the province for tighter restrictions in the hopes of controlling the rising number of coronavirus cases that could surge after the holidays.
“I think we have to have something that is truly going to apply across the entire region, because I think people are finding it too easy to move back and forth,” said Tory.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she was also on board with the idea over concerns with individuals crossing more restrictive zones of the province’s COVID-19 response framework.
“What is becoming increasingly evident from the aggregate cellphone data that we now have is that people across the region hopping,” said Crombie.
The comments come on the same day Hamilton’s Lime Ridge Mall opted to extend hours to prepare for potentially large crowds coming from lockdown zones to finish up their Christmas shopping in Hamilton.
On Thursday, Hamilton recorded daily highs for new and active COVID-19 cases on Thursday in addition to reporting four more deaths.
The city now has 853 active cases as of Dec.17 after revealing 162 new cases. Hamilton has 127 deaths connected to the coronavirus pandemic.
This week the Ontario Hospital Association made a push to convince the province to implement a four-week lockdown in every public health unit.
“The situation is extremely serious,” the association said in a statement.
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“We are now in the holiday season and if members of the public choose to ignore public health measures and gather outside their households, the consequences risk overwhelming Ontario’s hospitals. Every health care system has its breaking point.”
In an update in Toronto on Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said he would “not hesitate” to do whatever it takes to get the virus under control, however, he also said a “snap decision” would not help the economy and the struggles of small businesses.
“There’s a lot of things to consider,” Ford said.
“The worst thing we could do is rush out there and make a snap decision in a heartbeat. We have to make sure that if we do make this decision is it gonna bet two weeks, three weeks, or is it gonna be 28 days.”
Ontario’s chief medical officer Dr. David Williams said there are “vibrant discussions” with regional medical officers and not just with the GTHA but in the “wider areas” of the province as well.
“As the premier said ‘all things are on the table’ because we do have to take a very sober reflection and decide what we need to do to turn this around,” Williams said.
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Eisenberger didn’t suggest a full-on provincial lockdown during his interview on Thursday, just more restrictions around the Golden Horseshoe since few people would hypothetically drive five hours to shop in a distant region like North Bay.
“I think it’s reasonably safe to say that those areas should be treated somewhat differently,” said Eisenberger.
“But certainly in this large Golden Horseshoe urbanized area, including Kitchener or Waterloo and other places, I think we need a collective lockdown to contain this virus.”
Meanwhile, the chair of Halton Region and mayors from Burlington, Milton, and Oakville issued a statement on Thursday night saying they were “not in support” of a GTHA-wide lockdown.
“We were not consulted nor were any of us a party to any discussions on the topic,” the mayors wrote.
They went on to say that based on advice from the region’s medical officer the area “does not warrant a lockdown.”
“Our businesses have gone above and beyond to ensure their customers and employees are safe and will continue to do so.”
Halton Region reported 76 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and five more deaths.
Halton now has 89 deaths tied to the Coronavirus since the pandemic began.
There are 37 outbreaks, including 18 institutional outbreaks at nine long-term care homes and eight retirement homes.
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