Here's what being in the province's COVID-19 red zone means for Hamilton

Hamilton returned to the "red-control" zone of the provincial government's COVID-19 framework on Tuesday, as a stay-at-home order came to an end. 

Hamilton entered a "lockdown" with the rest of the province on Dec. 26. The stay-at-home order was added at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14.

Retail shopping and indoor dining are permitted now, with restrictions. In all cases, people still have to stay masked and two metres apart indoors, and everywhere must be closed by 10 p.m. Alcohol can only be served between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., and local businesses and malls will be screening people for symptoms of COVID-19.

"Passive screening," or simply posting a sign with the symptoms outside, isn't enough, the province says. 

Niagara remains in lockdown, which is more stringent than Hamilton, while Brant/Brantford and Haldimand-Norfolk are faring better in the orange zone. 

Here's a list of other rules and restrictions under the red zone:

Gatherings, workplace requirements and face coverings

• The gathering limit for all organized public events and social gatherings is five people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
   
• Religious services, weddings and funerals can only be at 30 per cent capacity indoors, and the indoor maximum is 100 people.

• Workplaces must screen their employees.

• Face coverings are required in indoor workplaces and indoor public spaces, with limited exemptions. When patrons without face coverings are within two metres of workers, workers must use additional protections, including eye protection. 

Restaurants and bars

• Indoor dining is allowed, but the maximum is 10 patrons. Anyone seated has to give their contact information, and no buffet-style service is allowed. 

• Patrons have to be seated with a minimum two-metre distance between the tables.

• Outdoor dining, take out, drive thru, and delivery are still permitted.

• Prohibited: Dancing, singing and the live performance of brass or wind instruments.

• Night clubs can only operate as a restaurant or bar. 

• Venues have to manage line-ups and patrons congregating outside. The people in line need to be two metres apart and wearing masks.

• People can only remove their masks when they're eating or drinking.

• No more than four people can be seated together.

• Music can't be louder than the volume of a normal conversation.

Sports and recreational fitness facilities

• Gyms and fitness studios can have classes with no more than 10 people indoors or 25 people outdoors. For weights and exercise equipment, the indoor maximum is 10 people.

• No spectators are permitted. The only exemption is parents or guardians watching their kids.

• Increase spacing between patrons to three metres for areas of a sport or recreational facility where there are weights or exercise equipment, and in exercise and fitness classes.

• No team sports except for training. That means no games, no scrimmages, and no activities that put people within two metres of each other. 

• Anyone not working at the facility or engaged in sport can only be there for 90 minutes, excluding parents watching their kids. 

• Face coverings are required except when exercising.

• Everyone entering has to give their contact information.

• Reservations are required for entry.

Retail

• Capacity limits: 75 per cent for supermarkets and stores that primarily sell groceries, as well as convenience stores and pharmacies.

• The capacity for retailers is 50 per cent, including discount and big box retailers, liquor stores, hardware stores and garden centres.

• Stores must post the capacity limit publicly.

• Fitting rooms must be limited to non-adjacent stalls.

• For malls: Stores within the malls subject to appropriate retail measures. No more than 10 people can sit in the food court at once. Patrons must be screened at mall entrances.

Personal care services

• Oxygen bars, steam rooms, saunas, whirlpools, bath houses, other adult venues, hot tubs, floating pools and sensory deprivation pods are closed. So are change rooms and showers. 

• Services requiring the removal of face coverings are prohibited.

Transit

Masks are required on HSR, and buses are running on their summer schedule. For DARTS paratransit, reservations can be made 5 days in advance. People making reservations will ask medical screening questions.

Libraries

Hamilton Public Library branches are open for on-demand takeout. Find out more here.

In Brant, curbside pickup will continue for this week, and indoor service will resume on Feb. 22. Norfolk County's library branches have reopened to in-person service, and Haldimand County is in the process of reopening them.

Casinos, bingo halls and gaming establishments

• Limits: 10 people indoors, 25 outdoors.

• No table games.

Cinemas

• Closed, except for drive-ins, rehearsal or performing a recorded or broadcast event.

• No more than 50 people per facility. 

• Singers and players of brass or wind instruments must be separated from any other performers by Plexiglas or another impermeable barrier.

Performing arts facilities

• Closed to spectators.

• Rehearsal or performing a recorded or broadcast event is permitted.

• Performers and employees must maintain two-metre physical distance except for purposes of the performance.

• Drive-in performances are permitted.