That Regional Council advocate to the Premier and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, to re-open businesses (Restaurants, Bars, Gyms, and Recreational Facilities) in York Region as soon as possible based on the following modified safe re-opening recommendations of Dr Kurji, York Region Medical Officer of Health:
All Businesses and Organizations
- Compliance with any advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health on screening for COVID-19
- Comprehensive COVID-19 plans in place
- Active screening of staff, maintaining logs for every scheduled shift, and communication with staff regarding COVID activity
- Having active ill staff policy in place
- Implementing natural ventilation (opening windows) or mechanical ventilation to increase the rate of air change and avoid recirculation of air indoors
Bar and Restaurants
- All staff are to wear medical masks at all times, including areas where the public does not have access, for both indoor and outdoor dining, following Ministry of Labour regulations
- All patrons are to wear face coverings or masks at all times, for both indoor and outdoor dining, other than for the purposes of eating or drinking
- Active screening for patrons: patrons entering the facility must have their name, contact information, date and time recorded, including dining, pick-up and take out
- Patrons are to maintain wearing face masks or coverings when interacting with servers and restaurant staff
- Use of scheduled reservations where possible to better control capacity
- Establishing time limits for attending a setting
- Reducing background noise by lowering background music to below the level of conversation
- Reducing hours of operations
Gyms and Recreational Facilities
- Province reintroduce the maximum capacity limit for gyms based on a ratio of the facility’s square footage while adhering to physical distancing measures of at least 2 metres
- All patrons to wear face masks or covering unless engaged in vigorous physical activity
- No drop-ins; all visits must be scheduled to help ensure capacity is maintained at all times
- Active screening for patrons, screening and temperature checks
- All patrons entering the facility must have their names, contact information, date and time recorded
- Not to include more than 1 instructor per class
- Maintain cleaning schedule to ensure disinfectant of fitness equipment, exercise areas and spaces
- Change rooms open for the purpose of using the washroom and store outdoor clothing (boots, coats)
For simultaneous classes, stagger times to ensure entry/exit points and outside areas are not crowded
A recorded vote was:
For: Barrow, Bevilacqua, DiPaola, Emmerson, Ferri, Grossi, Hackson, Hamilton, Jackson, Lovatt, Mrakas, Pellegrini, Quirk, Rosati, Scarpitti, Taylor, Vegh (17)
Against: Perrelli (1)
Absent: Heath, Jones, Li (3)
Carried