Brampton ‘ready to go’ when COVID-19 restrictions ease on Monday: Mayor Brown
Published January 28, 2022 at 3:26 pm
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says the city is ready to reopen as the province prepares to ease COVID-19 restrictions across Ontario on Monday.
“We’re going to have all our facilities ready to go,” Brown said in an interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura. “We obviously felt it was long overdue to have our facilities open, so we’re happy that the provincial government has given us permission to reopen.”
Starting Monday, Ontario restaurants, gyms, theatres and retailers will reopen at 50 per cent capacity following weeks of modified Step 2 restrictions.
The province will begin a gradual loosening of restrictions throughout the month of February, with Ford pushing for a full province-wide reopening in March.
Brown has been critical of the latest lockdown, especially in regard to the impact on local businesses.
He said Brampton restaurants have been feeling the impact of the restrictions and encouraged residents to support local eateries when the lockdown lifts on Monday.
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“They’ve been beat up with his lockdown, and I don’t think you can make up for the loss they’ve suffered,” Brown said.
The city says its recreation facilities will be open Monday for registered and drop-in programming. Capacity limits will be reduced to fifty per cent according to the provincial regulations.
Pre-registration is not required for visits to recreation centres, but the city is recommending visitors purchase services online in advance of their visit as all services are first-come, first-served.
Available programs can be viewed online by visiting www.brampton.ca/registerforprograms.
Visitors 12 years of age and older entering City of Brampton recreation centres are required to show proof of vaccination status.
All Brampton Library branches are open daily for in-branch services, except Mount Pleasant Village, which offers daily curbside pickup service only.
Indoor City of Brampton performing arts facilities are available for rehearsals and recorded performances, with in-person audience performances set to resume in March.
Movie theatres in Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton and Ontario will be allowed to sell popcorn when they reopen on Monday.
Here’s a breakdown of the reopening guidelines for Monday:
January 31, 2022
Setting capacity limits at 50 per cent in indoor public settings, including but not limited to:
- Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments
- Retailers (including grocery stores and pharmacies), shopping malls.
- Non-spectator areas of sports and recreational fitness facilities, including gyms.
- Cinemas.
- Meeting and event spaces.
- Recreational amenities and amusement parks, including water parks.
- Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos and similar attractions.
- Casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments.
- Religious services, rites, or ceremonies.
- Increasing social gathering limits to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
- Allowing spectator areas of facilities such as sporting events, concert venues and theatres to operate at 50 per cent seated capacity or 500 people, whichever is less.