'COVID sucks': Your Ontario COVID-19 roundup

"I’m not cancelling Halloween"

Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams is recommending that kids in the four COVID-19 hot spot regions — Toronto, Ottawa and Peel and York regions — avoid trick-or-treating this Halloween.

But dressing up is still fair game, according to Williams, who pointed to "high transmission of COVID-19" in the four regions as the reason for this recommendation. He suggested families celebrate in other ways including participating in virtual parties, candy hunts at home, carving pumpkins, decorating front lawns and watching a movie or sharing scary stories.

Williams said those living in stage three regions should only go trick-or-treating with people in their household, avoid lingering at doorsteps and line up two metres away from others.

Both trick-or-treaters and those handing out treats should wear face masks, said Williams, adding that candies or other items shouldn't be left in bowls outside front doors.

"Consider using tongs or other similar tools to hand out treats," he suggested. "It is also critical that families not travel outside of their neighbourhood to celebrate Halloween."

The Halloween guidance elicited many reactions on social media, with one doctor citing what he saw as inconsistencies in the province's messaging.

The problem with the guidance on Hallowe'en is people see the inconsistencies.

It's OK to go to school.
It's OK to eat on a patio.
It's OK to get drive through.

But it's not OK to trick or treat.

That said, it's easy to second guess, and best to follow public health guidance.

— Irfan Dhalla (@IrfanDhalla) October 19, 2020

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist, said trick-or-treating involving masks, separated households and distancing "is about as low risk as it gets," and that the focus should be on finding ways "to do things safely rather than cancel."

This....doesn’t sit right.

The goal should be to find ways to do things safely rather than cancel.

Halloween shouldn’t be too tough to do safely:

Outside, wearing masks, restricted to family units, distant from others - is about as low risk as it gets. https://t.co/rJfPVSoCy5

— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) October 19, 2020

But Premier Doug Ford insisted Halloween was still a go.

"I’m not cancelling Halloween, what we’re asking, please, the kids just don’t go door-to-door in the hot spots," he said. "It’s not safe."

He voiced concerns about crowded apartment lobbies and kids with runny noses digging into candy bowls.

"You think I like doing this? I hate doing this, Halloween’s important to the kids, it means everything ... but we have to do it to keep everyone safe," Ford said. "We all know that this isn’t going to be a regular Halloween and the steps we take now will determine what the holiday season looks like this year."

Some people have posted on social media about alternative ways to hand out candy this year including shooting them through a tube to avoid close contact.

While Williams acknowledged this, he said the "trouble is how is that going to happen consistently everywhere and every place that everybody is going to be notified of."

He added that traditionally children would go trick-or-treating in groups, huddle together once they're done and share their candy with each other.

"There’s a lot of chatter and close contact, and sometimes with adults too at the same time, and in all that enthusiasm, it’s really hard to contain that and control that," Williams said.

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said while not being able to go trick or treating is going to be disappointing for many children, given the numbers in these hot spots, it's "prudent" to avoid typical Halloween activities.

Asked whether the same rules should be applied province-wide for Halloween, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said he supports "targeted measures" of sectors and regions, adding that there are many ways people can celebrate the spooky holiday.

Command table questions

The Ontario Liberals are asking for members of the command table that is advising the premier on COVID-19 to appear at the committee studying the province's emergency orders.

MPP John Fraser wrote to chair MPP Daryl Kramp with the request on Sunday.

Fraser told QP Briefing he wants to question the command table members to better understand why Ontario's actions — in particular, moving some areas into a modified stage two in public health restrictions — appear to be delayed, compared to the calls from some outside public health experts and epidemiologists.

“So I think it would be good for us to understand what advice was given, when it was given, and what backed that up,” said Fraser.

Fraser said the committee has a mandate to hear from the premier or his delegate and the premier should be able to choose the command table members as his delegate. Ivana Yelich, the premier's director of media relations, said no decision has been made.

Dance studios

The premier said he's been working with Williams and the province's health table on the issue of dance studios being ordered shut as part of the move back into a modified stage two for four regions of the province.

"I know cabinet will be discussing this this afternoon, and we’ll have more to say after that, but I’m a big supporter of the dance studios," said Ford during his almost daily press conference.

Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries Lisa MacLeod has been advocating to have dancers be allowed to get back to their studios in Toronto, Ottawa and Peel and York regions.

I have heard from dance studios loud and clear. I am talking to the CMOH, health experts, and the command table looking at options to ensure a safe resumption.

— Lisa MacLeod (@MacLeodLisa) October 18, 2020

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, said she's received several emails and communications outlining how dance studios can implement the required public health measures.

"Assuming those are correct, then I'd be in favour of opening them," Yaffe said of dance studios, adding that ensuring at least two metres of distancing between people would be key.

COVID-19 numbers

Ontario reported 704 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, following daily increases of 805 and 658 this weekend. There have been 19 deaths reported over the last three days.

Ontario schools saw another 74 cases — 48 students, 10 staff and 16 not identified — bringing the total number of cases to 1,310. There are currently four schools closed due to COVID-19, with 483 or 10 per cent of the province's schools facing at least one case.

Yaffe also shared an update on outbreaks, declaring 18 new ones on Monday. She said 13 were in congregate settings like long-term care, retirement and group homes, two were in schools and three were in unnamed workplaces. There have been 117 new outbreaks during the past week and 233 in the past two weeks.

Salary pushback

Asked about people losing their jobs because of indoor dining being stopped in some areas of the province while civil servants continue to receive their salaries, Premier Ford pushed back against the notion that some public employees can't do their jobs from home.

"The public service, they are working," said Ford. "They’re working from home and we tried to bring them back until we hit the second wave again."

The premier said he'd spoken with several restaurant owners and empathized with them.

"Nothing’s better than keeping the doors open to have people sit in there," said Ford. "COVID sucks, what can I say, it’s terrible."

The premier went on to say that both he and the finance minister had given back $10,000 of their MPP salaries, following up by saying it was 10 per cent of his salary.

"I haven’t advertised that, we did it months ago," he said.

Ford and Finance Minister gave back 10 per cent of their salary, not $10,000.

It was due to a law that this government passed that required this if the budget wasn't tabled by a certain date (it was delayed by the pandemic this year — an economic update was delivered). https://t.co/bhSJl1Ko6j

— David Hains (@DavidHains) October 19, 2020

It turns out the premier and the finance minister were obligated by law to give back a portion of their salaries for not tabling the budget by March 31, with the premier's office clarifying to QP Briefing that the 10 per cent applied to the amount the premier makes on top of his MPP salary, which works out to roughly $9,100. The budget has been delayed due to the pandemic, and is expected to be tabled in the coming weeks.

-With files from David Hains and Jessica Smith Cross