Ottawa lockdown ‘blindsides’ mayor, frustrates businesses
Ottawa #Ottawa
Frustration boiled over in Ottawa on Monday when, after weeks of successfully keeping COVID-19 cases lower than most of the province, residents learned the city would be entering a 28-day lockdown starting Saturday .
Mayor Jim Watson said he was “completely blindsided” by the decision to include Ottawa in the provincewide lockdown, something he learned from media reports Sunday night. He spoke with Premier Doug Ford and members of his cabinet about the decision Monday.
“I think it is patently unfair that we have to be lumped in with areas that are not doing as well,” he said. “The small business owners I have heard from are quite upset. They don’t understand why we would be lumped in with the GTA. The fact is that we are doing better.”
For weeks this fall, Ottawa distinguished itself among large cities in Ontario and across Canada by successfully lowering the curve of COVID-19 cases and keeping case numbers relatively low, getting notice for doing so, including from Ford. As of Monday, there were 31 new cases in the city and no patients in intensive care. Watson said Ottawa has the lowest rates of COVID-19 among large Canadian cities.
Watson said he is often asked what Ottawa is doing right when it comes to COVID-19, which makes being part of a lockdown aimed at containing a worsening situation in the GTA and parts of southern Ontario all the more frustrating.
Ford announced the widely anticipated lockdown Monday. Southern Ontario, including Ottawa, will go into lockdown starting on Boxing Day, leaving only essential businesses open for customers, extending school breaks and restricting gatherings to those who live together. In southern Ontario, the lockdown will last for 28 days. In the North, it will last for two weeks.
“This difficult action is without a doubt necessary to save lives and prevent our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed in the coming weeks,” Ford said. “Make no mistake, thousands of lives are at stake right now. If we take no action, the consequences will be catastrophic. As a premier, it is my duty to act.”
It is something health groups and individuals, including the Ontario Hospital Association, have been calling for.
Some criticized the province for waiting until after Christmas, saying it was an invitation for people to gather in groups over the holidays. Ford said he had to give time to businesses to prepare for the lockdown.
In Ottawa, both Watson and the medical officer of health said they disagreed with the decision. Dr. Vera Etches said she would have preferred a two-week lockdown in Ottawa. But Etches said the public health measures are to better control the virus and bring numbers down “for the protection of all of us,” and should not be seen as a punishment.
During a news conference, Ford acknowledged that some in Ottawa will be angry at being part of the 28-day lockdown.
“I can understand why they are angry. They worked very hard, the numbers were very high at one point, they worked very hard.”
But both Ford and the province’s chief medical officer, Dr. David Williams, said it is necessary to include Ottawa, in part, because of its proximity to Quebec.
“We have seen it before,” said Ford, adding that if Ottawa did not go into lockdown Quebecers would “come in in droves” and numbers would go back up.
Watson said there is no evidence that people are crossing from Quebec in droves or that is an issue when it comes to COVID-19.
Parts of southern Ontario are seeing spiking cases of COVID-19 that are putting critical pressure on hospitals.
New modelling shows that Ontario could see 50 deaths a day from COVID-19 by February without strong action to stop the spread. Without any action, Ontario will have 300 people in intensive care units by the end of this month, said Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, who co-chairs the Ontario COVID-19 science advisory table. With a higher growth rate, there could be 1,500 people in ICU by the end of January, a rate that would overwhelm already pressured hospitals in the hardest hit regions of the province.
With no patients in intensive care and dropping numbers in hospital, Ottawa’s hospitals are not facing that kind of strain.
“I work in three ICUs (intensive care units) in Ottawa. We aren’t in a war zone. Other areas in the province are being hit hard for sure. We should be focusing on problem spots when imposing restrictions/lockdowns. Ottawa isn’t a problem at this time,” tweeted Ottawa critical care and palliative physician Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng.
But Ottawa physician and senior scientist Dr. Doug Manuel said Ottawa residents should take the lockdown seriously and try to reduce case counts further in the city, even to zero. That is especially important because of a new variant of COVID-19 identified in the U.K. that spreads more easily and could make efforts to reduce transmission much more difficult.
“We are maybe not as high as other people, but we are not low,” he said of Ottawa. “This is the card that we have been dealt. You may agree or disagree with it, but let’s make the most of it.”
Monday’s decision, meanwhile, represents a rare public airing of friction between Watson and Ford during the pandemic.
Watson and Ford have maintained a solid working relationship since Ford took power, and although their rapport likely won’t come to an abrupt end over Ottawa’s inclusion in the lockdown, Watson on Monday described a “fundamental disagreement” with the premier.
Ottawa councillors also questioned the local lockdown on social media, with Glen Gower calling for a “more balanced approach” from Ford and Riley Brockington asking the premier for evidence to support a lockdown.
Another councillor who has been working closely with small businesses to help them pull through the pandemic was amazed to hear the city included in the provincial lockdown.
“I’m still trying to digest the logic of it,” Coun. Eli El-Chantiry said in an interview.
El-Chantiry has questioned past decisions by the provincial government to place restrictions on Ottawa, and on Monday he wondered what the point was of developing a regional colour-coded system based on the prevalence of COVID-19 if Ottawa’s numbers are stable.
On the other hand, El-Chantiry said he’s happy to see the premier announce a grant program for small businesses impacted by the upcoming lockdown.
Ford announced “free money” for Ontario small businesses — grants of up to $20,000 to help through the 28-day lockdown.
The provincially ordered closure will be enforced by Ottawa bylaw officers.
Anthony Di Monte, the city’s general manager of emergency and protective services, said officers won’t be knocking on doors checking if people are complying with the orders, “but we will respond to complaints and then enforce the regulations.”