Ontario closes strip clubs, cuts hours for bars and restaurants as COVID-19 surge continues

Ontario is closing strip clubs and clamping down on bars and restaurants as COVID-19 cases continue to climb, with 409 new infections reported Friday.

The measures take effect Saturday, with bars and restaurants ordered to stop serving alcohol at 11 p.m. and to shut their doors by midnight, except for takeout and delivery. Staff are also not allowed to drink on the premises after midnight.

“I don’t think it’s the end of the world that people stop drinking at 11 and close at 12,” Premier Doug Ford told a news conference. “We just can’t have these places open until 3 in the morning.”

Health Minister Christine Elliott said outbreak clusters in the establishments, particularly among people in the 20-39 age group that accounts for the majority of new infections, are driving the growth of COVID-19, along with private social gatherings. Some of the transmission has been between staff members.

“It is evident that despite the tremendous efforts of Ontarians, further action is required to prevent the spread of the virus,” Elliott said.

The announcement came as infections have been rising for five weeks amid growing calls from health experts for the province to take firm action to prevent the need for lockdowns later should cases get further out of hand.

“They have been more reactive than proactive,” said Wilfrid Laurier University epidemiologist Todd Coleman, a former public health official with the health unit in Middlesex-London.

In the last seven days, 2,828 Ontarians have tested positive for the virus, up 41 per cent from the previous seven-day period.

Mayor John Tory asked the province to limit bar hours and alcohol sales in July before the region moved to Stage 3 reopenings, fearing people would let their guard down.

“Some modest change to the hours of these establishments, as much as they’re having business challenges, is an appropriate thing to do as part of a tool box of measures you can take to stop these numbers from going the wrong way,” Tory said on CP24.

In Toronto, strip clubs have been the source of documented outbreaks, most recently with seven cases connected to Club Paradise on Bloor St. W. and previously at the Brass Rail on Yonge St., where some patrons gave false names for contact tracing purposes.

Half of the 409 new cases reported in Ontario on Friday were in Toronto, while the 6,351 new infections recorded across the province so far this month are more than double the tally from the entire month of August.

Toronto accounted for 204 infections — up from 151 the previous day — while Peel had 66 and Ottawa 40, making the three areas responsible for 75 per cent of new cases, the Ministry of Health reported based on reports from health units at 4 p.m. the previous day.

It was the second day in a row the province reported 409 cases as a September surge continued with students back in school and Ford now limiting eligibility for tests at assessment centres to alleviate long lines and long waits for test results.

“We have to be nimble,” Ford said of the change in policy, which steers most people without symptoms to pharmacies for testing by appointment. Another 18 will be open in Niagara and southwestern Ontario starting Tuesday.

That leaves assessment centres mainly for people with symptoms or who have had close contact with a confirmed case, those who are part of a public health investigation as part of an outbreak or who have been notified of an exposure by the COVID Alert smartphone app, and those who are in contact with people in long-term care.

Elliott said the province is adding 139 critical care beds and 1,349 hospital beds across the province to get ready for a second wave, as well as extending MRI and CT hours to help ease waits that built up when procedures were cancelled in case hospitals were overwhelmed in the first wave. Almost $284 million is earmarked to clear a backlog of surgeries and a centralized waiting list is being created for operating rooms to maximize their use.

Regional health units in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area accounted for 329 or 80 per cent of the new cases Friday and 12 of the 34 health units across the province had no new cases, a proportion about one-third lower than a month ago as the virus spreads more widely.

There were 29 new infections reported among students, teachers and staff in schools. Twenty more schools reported outbreaks, bringing the total to 198.

The number of patients in hospital for COVID-19 fell slightly to 88, with 25 patients requiring intensive care. Thirteen ICU patients were on ventilators, an increase of two from the previous day.

Labs across the province processed 41,865 tests Thursday on the way to a goal of 50,000 daily in early October, with officials hoping to double that capacity in the coming months.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro and David Rider

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: