The City of Toronto continues to respond to COVID-19. Today, Mayor John Tory, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, and Toronto Fire Chief and General Manager of the Office of Emergency Management, Matthew Pegg, provided an update on the City’s measures to combat the resurgence of the virus in Toronto.
There are 54,009 cases of COVID-19 in the city, an increase of 646 new cases today. There are 300 people hospitalized. In total, 46,378 people have recovered from COVID-19. To date, there have been 1,800 COVID-19 deaths in Toronto. Case status data can be found on the City’s reporting platform.
The City supports all efforts to reduce and eliminate the transmission of COVID-19 in the city to protect the healthcare system and save lives. Toronto entered the Grey – Lockdown category of the Province of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework on November 23 (the “Lockdown Regulation”). The lockdown restrictions include prohibiting indoor and outdoor dining, closing retail stores and malls except for essential businesses, limiting capacity of essential businesses, closing gyms and recreation programs and closing personal service settings like salons and tattoo parlours.
Announced today, the Province will be extending the lockdown to all of Ontario effective Boxing Day, Saturday, December 26, at 12:01 a.m. The extension will be in place for 28 days across Southern Ontario, including in Toronto. As part of these extended measures, there will be some amendments to the current Lockdown Regulation. City staff are reviewing today’s announcement to determine impacts to City services. Any updates to City services will be listed on the toronto.ca COVID-19: Changes to City Services webpage. Details of today’s provincial announcement can be found in the Province’s news release.
During this holiday season, all people in the city are urged to stay home as much as possible to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect our health care system. Only celebrate in-person with the people that you live with and celebrate virtually with all others.
Under the current Lockdown Regulation, having family or friends who are not members of your household in your home for a social visit is prohibited, as is organizing or attending any other kind of indoor social gathering or organized public event. Having essential support workers and emergency repairpersons in your home are exempt. Persons who live alone are permitted to have one person from outside their household in their home. No gatherings are permitted indoors with the exception wedding, funeral, or religious services or ceremonies, which are limited to 10 persons. Outdoor organized public events and social gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people. However, gathering with anyone not from your household anywhere, including outside, is discouraged. Non-essential travel outside of one’s own community is also strongly discouraged.
By reducing the number of people who are out in the community, we reduce the number of potential contacts and exposures to COVID-19, which will reduce daily case counts. To avoid future or prolonged restrictions following the strict measures announced today, it is important that Torontonians follow the advice and orders of public health experts to protect the healthcare system and to save lives. The City acknowledges how challenging and difficult this is for individuals, families, businesses, and the mental and economic health of the city.
The City’s website is updated daily with the latest health advice and information about City services, social supports and economic recovery measures. Check https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/ for answers to common questions before contacting the Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Hotline or 311.
Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City’s website or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.