Published Thursday, September 17, 2020 7:33AM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, September 17, 2020 4:24PM EDT
The new restrictions will not apply in "staffed businesses," including restaurants, movie theatres, banquet halls and gyms, Ford says, and will not impact weddings so long as festivities occur in a business such as a banquet hall.
The new measures include a $10,000 fine for "organizers of illegal social gatherings," as well as the current $750 fine for those who attend those gatherings that do not respect emergency rules.
The new rules take effect in Ottawa, Toronto and Peel Region on Friday at 12:01 a.m.
The new restrictions also won't apply in parks, sports fields or places of worship provided existing mandated physical distancing measures are maintained.
The legislation is written in a way that it will also prevent people from hosting a "hybrid" indoor and outdoor event with 25 people outside and 10 people inside.
Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday that members of his cabinet were scheduled to meet yesterday to discuss reducing the number of people who are allowed to gather in private settings in the three COVID-19 hotspots.
Ontario recorded 315 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest daily count of infections reported since early June. In Toronto, 85 new cases were confirmed on Thursday, along with 63 in Peel Region, and 39 in Ottawa.
Ford said the new measure is meant to target those "free-for-all" parties occurring in these locales where attendees are "hugging, drinking, kissing, spitting and everything else you can think of in the world."
Currently under Stage 3 of the province’s reopening plan, 100 people are permitted to gather outdoors and 50 can gather indoors.
That will remain the case in all other public health regions of Ontario, but Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams said it would be prudent if people elsewhere in the province kept gatherings small as well.
"You may want to go down to those levels even if it is not required in your area, just to be on the safe side," he said.
Speaking to CP24 on Thursday morning, infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said he believes further restricting the size of gatherings will likely be “warmly received” by most people.
“I like that it is a regional approach and it certainly targets areas where there is a greater burden of COVID-19. So that's certainly one positive,” he said.
“Quite frankly, it is the right time to do it. We've had a couple of days where cases have been over 300. We've seen a consistent rise in cases across the province mainly driven by those three areas. It's time to act.”