Coronavirus: London mayor urges people not to gather for Super Bowl Sunday to fight COVID-19

London, Ont., Mayor Ed Holder is asking people to ‘take one for the team’ by not gathering to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Case numbers in London have been low this week, with the Middlesex-London Health Unit reporting just 31 cases Friday.

Despite low numbers, officials are warning against people thinking it’s safe to gather just yet.

“After all the sacrifices made to get the virus back under control, especially recently, it would be so disappointing to see it all undone because of someone’s Super Bowl party,” Holder said.

“The desire to maintain your annual tradition shouldn’t supersede your desire to save lives, keep our kids in school and hopefully get countless numbers of small businesses up and running again across our broad community.”

Due to COVID-19 cases reaching record highs in December and January, Premier Doug Ford issued a stay-at-home order and state of emergency and banned all gatherings. Both are expected to last at least until next week.

As of Friday, 5,808 cases have been reported in the Middlesex-London region, of which 3,849 people have recovered and 177 had died.

Almost half of all cases were reported in January, the region’s deadliest month to date, with at least 2,322 cases and 69 deaths.

“Assuming that current trends persist, I don’t see a reason why we wouldn’t be able to be amongst the first to lead the province and safely restarting our local economy,” Holder said.

During the Thursday COVID-19 update, Middlesex County Ward Cathy Burghardt-Jesson echoed Holder’s sentiments about staying home.

Burghardt-Jesson spoke about how the recent announcement of a second vaccine clinic is an important step forward to fighting the pandemic.

“We have to look ahead and little by little we are getting closer to that touchdown,” said.