For Immediate Release
February 19, 2021
STATEMENT: Mayor Crombie Responds to Government of Ontario Maintaining Lockdown in Peel Region
“Today the Government of Ontario announced that it is maintaining the lockdown, the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health measures in Peel Region for an additional two weeks, along with Toronto and North Bay-Parry Sound District.
The decision was made after Peel Region’s Medical Officer of Health (MOH) and Toronto’s MOH sent a joint letter to Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health recommending that current measures should be maintained due to the increase in the number of variant cases in our regions.
We have listened to the recommendations of our public health experts throughout the course of the pandemic and I thank the Government of Ontario for listening to the advice of our MOH.
I am extremely disappointed for the small businesses that were anticipating to open for in-person shopping this coming Monday but I do believe this was the necessary action to take.
While Mississauga has made huge progress in reducing COVID-19 case counts – down this week to 81 cases per 100,000, compared to 211 cases per 100,000 just over a month ago – we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of variant cases, which we know are much more transmissible.
As of Friday, Peel Region had 60 confirmed variant cases and another 248 that have been screened as variants.
While this is a small percentage of our total case counts, we have seen from the experience of cities in Europe that the variants can result in an explosion of cases.
Students in Peel also just went back to in-class learning this past Wednesday, so it will be another 7 to 14 days until we can asses the impact the school reopening will have on rates of transmission.
I realize this is incredibly hard news for many in Mississauga, in particular our small business community. I also know how hard this is on residents.
All of you have made incredible sacrifices for the collective good, and I sincerely thank you for continuing to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
As hard as this news is, I believe this action is necessary to help avoid a third wave and an even longer lockdown. My priorities have always been ensuring schools are safe and remain open, protecting our seniors, that our hospitals can maintain capacity, and that when small businesses open, they stay open.”
– Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga
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