Niagara will be COVID-19 orange alert on Monday

A shift by the provincial government to COVID-19 data thresholds more in line with public health and scientific advice means Niagara is moving towards a more restrictive pandemic state on Monday morning.

Starting at 00:01 on Monday, the region will change from its current status of yellow, or “protected”, to the orange “restriction” level, which imposes new restrictions on restaurants, bars, sports and entertainment facilities and meeting places. The region will remain in this zone for at least 28 days.

The new status is more restrictive than a recent Niagara public health order for bars and restaurants, which goes into effect Saturday morning, but does not entirely replace local directives.

The orange alert reduces the maximum occupancy of restaurants and bars, limits the number of people who can sit at a table, reduces operating hours and the length of alcoholic service.

It sets occupancy limits in gyms and users can only stay for 90 minutes.

In both restaurants and gyms, customers must be screened for COVID-19 when they arrive.

The new measures were announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Friday afternoon, the day after the Toronto Star revealed that the provincial government had rejected Ontario public health advice on the four-state COVID-19 control measures.

“We must always be ready to change course as the situation evolves,” Ford said at a press conference on Friday. “We’re staring at the barrel of another block.”

The provincial government has shifted the targets for regional pandemic metrics that would trigger the activation of a new level of restrictions, lowering key thresholds that will push those moved earlier.

When the four-color model was announced, Niagara was placed on yellow alert, which was effectively the status quo for the region since the province moved it into Phase 3 of its economic reopening plan.

But across several key indicators, including the percentage of positive tests, the number of people who can be infected with a person – called the actual reproductive rate – and the number of cases per 100,000 people were either at the maximum thresholds for the yellow code or had overcame them.

On Thursday, Niagara’s medical health officer, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, said Niagara was on the verge of switching to the orange alert and was not surprised that the scrambling of the data thresholds caused a change for Niagara.

Hirji said that while the switch to Orange Alert imposes more restrictions than he was unwilling to impose due to the growing economic hardship it will cause, it remains an open question whether it will be enough to quell Niagara’s COVID-19 infection.

“In the larger municipalities that were actually already at that stage (including Ottawa, Toronto and Peel) it didn’t have the effect of lowering infection rates,” Hirji said Friday.

However, Niagara has more rural communities than those major centers, which could help the region keep the infection rate low.

He warned, however, that if the community does not accept physical distances, the use of masks and hand washing, the rate of infection will continue to accelerate. This could eventually see Niagara move to a more restrictive red alert.

“It’s hard for me to know how the government is making decisions, but they review the data every Friday, so we’ll see what the data says next week,” Hirji said.

The Orange Alert Restrictions will largely work in concert with the measures Hirji ordered on Friday.

Such measures require restaurants and bars to confirm with patrons that they are dining with their family members or no more than one or two people who are an “essential contact”, which includes health care workers or the partner of someone living alone. .

Hirji’s order required no more than six people at a table and did not talk about the hours of operation or the maximum total occupancy of a restaurant.

Orange Alert sets limits of four at a table, closing time at 10pm and prohibits serving alcohol after 9pm

COVID ORANGE ALERT: What it means.

What happened?

On Friday, the government lowered the thresholds for key metrics that determine COVID-19 alert status in a region.

Niagara had reached or exceeded the levels that previously called the yellow alert. With the new system, the data places Niagara exactly in the orange level.

For example, the new yellow alert sets the number of cases for 100,000 people between 10 and 25.9. Niagara fare is currently 42.6, which is still above the maximum orange alert of 39.9.

The percentage of positive tests in Niagara is 2.4, just at the maximum level for the orange code.

In other metrics, including hospital and public health capacities, the data shows Niagara in the yellow or green zones.

What does this mean?

The Orange Alert places new restrictions on various activities, including restaurants and gyms, for 28 days starting Monday.

Restaurants and bars can only have one maximum 50 users, with a maximum four people per table. Those tables must be at least two meters away. Establishments must close by 10pm and stop the alcohol service at 9pm

The gyms also have a maximum capacity of 50 peopleand users can only stay for 90 minutes.

In the case of bars, restaurants and gyms, customers must be screened for COVID-19 upon arrival.

And the public health order?

Niagara’s public health requires restaurants and bars to confirm that patrons are members of their immediate families – until four people on orange alert – or a maximum of two essential contacts. The order takes effect Saturday.