City of Toronto services modified to adhere to new provincial measures

In response to the rapidly-spreading and highly transmissible COVID-19 Omicron variant, the Province of Ontario announced additional measures yesterday, including capacity and social gathering limits.

Those measures include a 50 per cent capacity limit in many indoor public settings, as well as limiting informal social gatherings to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. These restrictions will come into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, December 19, 2021.

More information on the Provincial regulations is available on the Ontario Government’s website at: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/public-health-measures.

The City of Toronto continues to review these regulations to determine operational impacts to City facilities, programs and services, and will continue updating its website with the most current information as quickly as possible. For more information, please visit the Changes to City Services page at https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/affected-city-services/.

Effective 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, December 19, changes for City recreational facilities, including permits, will include:
•       Capacity in indoor sport and recreational fitness facilities, including arenas, fitness centres, weight rooms and community recreation centres, will be reduced to 50 per cent
•       Capacity for social gatherings such as birthday parties and community meetings will be reduced to 10 indoors and 25 outdoors
•       Capacity for drop-in leisure swim will be reduced to 50 per cent
•       Lane swims will be reduced to three people per lane (effective December 24, when current reserved bookings expire)

Following guidance from Toronto Public Health, masks will be required for all indoor activities in City recreational facilities, including while engaging in physical activity, except while swimming or where there is a medical exemption.

There are no impacts to Holiday CampTO which continues to follow provincial day camp guidelines. For more information, please visit: toronto.ca/campTO.

Given the threat posed by the Omicron variant, there is a critical need for all eligible Toronto residents to get their first, second and third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. There is a growing number of Team Toronto vaccine clinics operating across the city for children age five to 11 years old to get their first dose, and for those 12 and older to get their first, second or third dose (when eligible). Vaccine eligibility guidelines are available on the City’s Vaccine Eligibility & Doses webpage: www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-vaccines/covid-19-vaccine-eligibility-doses/.

SOURCE  City of toronto