Hamilton not moving to COVID-19 lockdown, but has new local restrictions

Hamilton will not go into lockdown following a week that saw daily case numbers range from a record-breaking 108 on Tuesday to just 25 the next day.

But Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the city's medical officer of health, is putting new restrictions in place to curb the spread of the virus, which continues to be transmitted in social settings and workplaces.

The new local regulations, established under the province's Reopening Ontario Act, take effect 12:01 a.m. Saturday for retail outlets and 12:01 a.m. Monday for malls and workplaces.

Those rules include reduced capacity and limits at shopping malls and stores, screening questions outside workplaces, posting capacity limits based on physical distancing requirements, and designating a manager to develop and monitor a safety plan.

More details can be found on the city's website.

Keanin Loomis, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce CEO, described the new regulations as "creative options" to keep small businesses open during the holiday season.

"This respite does elicit a huge sigh of relief for Hamilton's businesses," he said of the city not entering lockdown. "They're counting on a big December. Every day, every week that we can avoid lockdown will be a step to ameliorating a difficult year."

An update from the province Friday afternoon showed three regions will move to different levels of Ontario's COVID-19 framework as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, but not Hamilton.

The city will remain in  the red "control" zone.

No cause for celebration

During a media update Friday, officials stressed that the city not being locked down is not a reason for residents to pat themselves on the back.

"It is no cause for celebration," said Paul Johnson, director of Hamilton's emergency operations centre.

"Every major metric that you would use to determine where you are in terms of the categories of the provincial framework are worse, and many of them by a significant amount, from when we first entered into the red category."

Richardson warned on Monday that the city would "without a doubt" enter a full lockdown if case numbers kept rising.

On Friday, she said provincial officials are also "very concerned," watching the city's case numbers rise this week.

"They're very much wanting us to get this under control and bring those numbers down."

Richardson said the decision to move into lockdown is ultimately up to the province, though it does consult with local medical officers of health.

"I expressed that I definitely wanted to see at least these enhanced measures here in Hamilton at the very minimum, and would be doing that, one way or the other," she said.

The red zone is the second-strictest level of the province's COVID-19 guidelines, with the "grey zone" or lockdown being the most restrictive.

Under a lockdown, no indoor public events or social gatherings are permitted unless they involve people in the same household.

Restaurants and bars are closed for indoor and outdoor eating. Most stores are shuttered except for curbside pickup and personal care services are shut down.

The province says regions will stay at their current level for 28 days while trends in public health data are reviewed to determine if they should remain where they are or be moved to a higher level.

Forty-two new cases were reported in Hamilton Friday. The city has seen 3,402 cases (both probable and confirmed) during the pandemic, of which 537 were active and 2,750 resolved.

Data on the city's website shows that as of Thursday afternoon, 241 people with the virus had been hospitalized and 94 have died.

Twenty-two outbreaks were ongoing.

Haldimand-Norfolk

Forty-four cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Haldimand and Norfolk over the past two weeks.

The counties have tallied 666 confirmed cases as of Friday, including 40 that are active and 589 that are recovered.

Thirty-two deaths are considered COVID-related.

Niagara

The number of people infected with COVID-19 who have died in Niagara rose to 87 Friday.

The region has recorded 2,232 cases over the course of the pandemic — 22 more compared the day before.

Of those, 204 are active and 1,941 resolved.

Eighteen outbreaks are ongoing.

Brant

Seven new cases were reported in Brant and Brantford over the past 24 hours.

The area has reported 538 confirmed cases and five deaths throughout the pandemic.

Sixty-four cases were active Friday, while 469 are resolved.

Eight people with the virus are in hospital.

Halton

The number of COVID-19 cases in Halton jumped by 75 Friday, rising to 3,923.

Statistics on the region's website show 794 of those are active, while 3,062 are resolved.

Twenty of the new cases are in Burlington, which has 160 active cases.

Sixty-seven people in Halton have died.