No new COVID restrictions for Halton, Premier calls out local hockey players
Published October 16, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Halton Region has been spared from further COVID-19 restrictions…for now.
Halton Region has been spared from further COVID-19 restrictions…for now.
Today, Premier Doug Ford steered away from new sanctions for Halton, buoyed by the latest figures that show the number of active cases across the region have actually declined in the past day.
Halton Public Health reports there are 214 active cases today, down nine from the day before. During a press conference today the Premier announced that York Region was facing the tougher sanctions because of increased COVID numbers.
Ford addressed the situation here saying it wasn’t time to move Halton into “modified stage 2” which would place restrictions on restaurants, gyms, weddings and funerals. But he was quick to add that residents have to follow the rules or tougher sanctions will follow.
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“I am begging the people of Halton, please, help me out here,” Ford said. “I don’t want to have to make that decision for Halton (further sanctions). Please follow the guidelines to the best of your ability and just help us out.”
The Premier specifically called out hockey players, who he said were responsible for an outbreak in Burlington.
“I heard out in Halton Region, because there is pick-up hockey, and I know what happens,” said Ford. “It’s not the skating…it’s the guys who grab a case of beer, they go into a little dressing room and they have a couple of cold ones. They are stacked beside each other, and all of a sudden 12 people out of 24 players has got COVID. Things like that we just can’t do.”
Ford also acknowledged that people from Peel Region and Toronto have been travelling to Oakville and Milton to go to restaurants and fitness centres
Again, the Premier warned people to stay away from areas that aren’t in the midst of tougher sanctions.
“Just don’t do it people,” Ford said. “Just stay away.”
Meanwhile, Halton Public Health indicates there were 23 new cases in the region today: 11 in Burlington, 10 in Oakville, and two in Milton. No new recorded cases in Halton Hills.
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