Ottawa health officials are urging residents to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day only with members of their immediate household, be that at home or in a public setting, to avoid a spike in COVID-19 levels.
Keith Egli, chair of the Ottawa Board of Health, closed out Wednesday’s city council meeting with a message to residents ahead of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17.
While the annual Irish celebration is a popular day for drinks and festivities, Egli warned that the novel coronavirus will not be taking the evening off and the threat of transmission is high for anyone gathering with others in their households.
“Do not organize any kind of St. Patrick’s Day party in your home,” he warned Ottawans.
“We know from a year now that most of the times when we have a spike (in coronavirus cases), it comes out of some sort of social event.”
Mayor Jim Watson echoed Egli’s sentiments in a press conference after council on Wednesday.
“Save up that Guinness for 2022,” he said.
Egli encouraged residents to celebrate virtually with friends or, if they choose to visit a bar or restaurant on St. Paddy’s Day, to follow public health protocols.
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Ottawa is currently in the orange-restrict level of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening framework, which allows establishments to open until 10 p.m. with last call for alcohol at 9 p.m.
Restaurants in the orange zone can seat a maximum of 50 people where space allows. Seating limits are four people per table, which must be separated by two metres of space.
Public health advice also encourages residents dine out only with members of their own households.
Asked about reconciling the tension between not gathering at home but visiting bars and restaurants on St. Paddy’s Day, medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches pointed to the COVID-19 protocols in place at local businesses as a layer of protection in transmitting the virus.
She said screening tools aimed at keeping workers at home when they’re sick and mandates to wear masks and distance inside restaurants can make these settings safer than in homes where it’s easier for attention to precautions to slip.
Etches also encouraged residents to support businesses by doing takeout instead of dining in to lower the risk of transmission.
“Some things are permissible, and they’re higher risk, and we can continue to choose the lower risk options that support businesses,” she said.
“You can’t go wrong when you follow the basic principles of limiting your contacts, keep distance between others and wear a mask as much as possible indoors or in crowded situations.”
Anthony Di Monte, the head of Ottawa’s emergency services, said bylaw enforcement will “be staffed up significantly” around St. Patrick’s Day and will step in with fines as needed. But he, too, put the onus on residents to behave responsibly in their celebrations.
“We’ll be playing our part but as I’ve often said, enforcement is a tool. It’s up to each and every one of us to follow Dr. Etches’ and public health’s advice,” Di Monte said.
Ottawa’s St. Patrick’s Day parade was cancelled in 2020, one of the first major events disrupted in the early days of the novel coronavirus pandemic locally.
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