Limited outdoor dining to be allowed in Ontario’s Grey-Lockdown zones

The Ontario government is allowing limited outdoor dining for regions in the “Grey-Lockdown” zone while adjusting restrictions on indoor dining in some of the other areas of the province’s colour-coded framework.

Restaurants, bars and other food and drink establishments in regions in the “Red-Control” category will be able to increase capacity to a maximum of 50 people indoors, up from the previous limit of 10.

Establishments operating in “Orange-Restrict” zones will be able to have 100 people indoors, from a previous limit of 50.

Patio dining at restaurants and bars in the “Grey-Lockdown” zone will only be permitted with members of the same household.

The changes go into effect Saturday, March 20 at 12:01 a.m.

Public health officials in Toronto and Peel Region had recommended they remain in the lockdown zone due to concerns over COVID variants spreading but with modified restrictions that would permit outdoor dining and events as the weather improves.

“The government will continue to work with the local medical officers of health to determine what targeted adjustments to public health measures may be made to allow for some outdoor activities where the risk of transmission is minimized,” read a statement released late Friday by the Ford government.

Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie said she was thankful the province adjusted its framework to allow restaurants to open.

“We know the incredible toll these lockdowns have had on our restaurant industry and I hope these new measures provide immediate relief of our small business owners,” she said in a statement. “I also hope these new measures provide some relief to residents, as we know that even the small things, like being able to grab a bite to eat on a patio with your immediate household, are so important to overall wellbeing.”

Toronto mayor John Tory also cautiously applauded the modified measures while Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s Medical Officer of Health agreed with the “modest steps forward.”

“Given that we are seeing an increase in our case counts and in variants of concern, this cautious approach recognizes the lower risk of transmission in outdoor spaces while supporting the mental health and well-being,” she said.

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The changes come after Ontario reported 1,745 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and 10 more related deaths. More than 300 people were in intensive care and 759 hospitalized in total a day after Dr. David Williams officially declared a third wave had begun.

More contagious variants linked to severe waves of infection around the world now make up about 40 per cent of cases in the province.

Dr. Nathan Stall, a physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said while officials have to balance difficult considerations when it comes to restrictions, it’s risky to loosen things up with variants spreading, hospitals under pressure and vaccinations not happening quickly enough to protect the most vulnerable.

“These kinds of moves … end up promoting people being mobile and gathering and having opportunities to transmit COVID-19. We’ve seen it before,” Stall said in an interview.

“This leads to predictable rise in cases and then predictable downstream impacts on our health-care system, which ultimately then lead to blunter and lengthier lockdowns.”

The government also announced that the following eight public health regions would be moving into new levels of the framework, effective Monday, March 22 at 12:01 a.m.:

Red-Control
• Brant County Health Unit
• Chatham-Kent Public Health
• Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

Orange-Restrict
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health

Yellow-Protect
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health
• North Bay Parry Sound District
• Porcupine Health Unit
• Timiskaming Health Unit

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report