The Region of Peel is imposing new rules, many of which take effect today, in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The regulations, announced over the weekend, are stricter than the "Red-Control" zone rules put in by the province.
"It is time to shrink our lives to stop COVID-19 from growing completely out of control. These directives are strict, but they are what is needed to keep people in Peel working and learning, and able to access food, medical care and the basics of everyday life. Together, the actions and sacrifices of Peel residents and businesses will stop the spread of COVID-19, help avoid a lockdown and ultimately save lives. We must take aggressive action now to get the pandemic under control in Peel," Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel's Medical Officer of Health, said in a news release.
The region says the new restrictions will be in place until further notice and will be re-evaluated every 14 days.
These new restrictions go above and beyond and province's "Red-Control" rules which includes a 10-person limit for indoor dining at restaurants, a maximum of 10 people for indoor gyms and fitness classes, and 25 for outdoor classes, and the closure of indoor cinemas.
Here's a list of the additional measures imposed by the Region of Peel:
- Social gatherings celebrating holidays and life events in business establishments are not allowed, starting at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 13, 2020.
- Wedding receptions and associated gatherings are not allowed, starting at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 13 until at least Jan. 7, 2021.
- Religious services, rites or ceremonies should be virtual. When not possible, in-person religious events, including weddings and funerals, must:
- Reduce indoor capacity to 30% capacity to a maximum 50 people per facility.
- Seat households and essential supports together, at least 2 metres from other groups.
- Bars, restaurants and other food establishments must restrict seating to people from the same household, or their essential supports. No mixed seating is permitted.
- Workplaces must prohibit all non-essential visitors and make work-from-home options available, as much as possible.
- Gyms and fitness centres must make sure all fitness class participants pre-register and provide accurate contact information to help with contact tracing if there is an exposure. No walk-in participation is allowed.
- Meeting and event spaces, including banquet halls, must close.
- Residents of Peel must restrict their contact to members of their household and essential supports only. Those that live alone may join one designated household.
- Residents of Peel should not visit any other household or allow visitors to their homes or yards, except for emergency reasons, including medical and repairs, renovations or construction, deliveries and one-on-one tutoring. Proper precautions must always be used in these situations, including mask wearing, distancing, hand hygiene, and isolating if sick.