TORONTO — Premier Doug Ford is expected to announce today whether Ontario will impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions on two Toronto-area regions.
Ford said Friday that the experts would look at the caseload in Halton and Durham regions over the weekend to determine whether they need to roll back to a modified Stage 2 of the province’s pandemic recovery plan.
Ottawa, Toronto, Peel and York regions have all seen the restrictions reimposed over the last several weeks as cases of the novel coronavirus soar within their borders.
But politicians in Halton urged the province not to lump them in with neighbouring Peel Region, saying there aren’t as many COVID-19 cases in the area as elsewhere in the province.
Halton Public Health recorded 34 new confirmed cases on Saturday, and 31 on Sunday, while Durham recorded 41 cases on Saturday and 52 on Sunday.
Peel Region, which has a population roughly twice as large as Durham’s and 2.5 times bigger than Halton’s, recorded 289 new cases on Sunday.
The province broke its record for the most daily COVID-19 cases both days this weekend, recording 978 cases on Saturday and 1,042 on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2020.
The Canadian Press
