Hamilton moving back to ‘grey-lockdown’ zone of province’s COVID-19 framework

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Published March 26, 2021 at 5:42 pm

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The City of Hamilton is headed back to the grey-lockdown zone as part of the colour-coded Provincial COVID-19 Response Framework, starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday (Mar. 29).

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement Friday (Mar. 26).

He also announced modifications to the grey zone, which will allow personal care services (hair salons, nail salons, body art) to operated at 25 per cent capacity and on a by-appointment basis.

The amended grey zone rules go into effect on Apr. 12.

Outdoor fitness classes and personal training for team and individual sports will also be permitted for up to 10 people.

Food or drink establishments will be allowed to operate for outdoor dining.

The move comes days after Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, told City Council she didn’t believe a lockdown would have a “significant impact” in decreasing the infection rate.

Premier Ford said the decision to move Hamilton back into lockdown comes after the city’s positive COVID-19 case rate increased by 37.6 per cent, to 109.4 cases per 100,000 people from Mar. 15 to 22.

More than a third (321) of Hamilton’s 823 new cases in the last 10 days involve people under the age of 29.

Hamilton reported 65 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and two more deaths.

Public Health says the deceased were in their 70s.

There have now been 12,164 total coronavirus cases since the pandemic began last year.

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