Could York Region's rollback into Stage 2 mean Peel's rollback is extended?

 

News that the province is rolling back York Region into a modified Stage 2 raises questions about what this means for Peel Region, which was rolled back last week.

At a press conference today, Premier Doug Ford announced that York Region (Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Whitechurch-Stouffville, East Gwillimbury, Aurora, Georgina and King) would be rolled back to a modified Stage 2 due to a “concerning” rise in cases and possible negative impacts on hospital capacity.

York’s rollback is effective Monday, October 19 and is expected to last at least 28 days.

The news comes one week after the province rolled Toronto, Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Ottawa back in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases.

The province also urged residents in hotspot communities, such as Peel, to avoid businesses in Stage 3 regions.

Questions have been raised on whether or not York’s rollback could end up extending Peel’s, based on how likely (or unlikely) it is that the province would decide to reopen Peel before York.

In a recent interview with Patrick Brown, the Brampton mayor couldn’t say whether he could see Peel reopening before York, but stated that he didn’t agree with the province’s reasoning behind Peel’s rollback.

“Who knows? Frankly the logic of this didn’t make a lot of sense,” Brown said. “They were saying people in Toronto could’ve gone dining in Brampton and Mississauga, and that’s why they added us in — well they could just as likely have gone dining in Vaughan or Durham.”

He mentioned that both he and Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie were disappointed at restaurants and gyms in Peel having to close down.

The restrictions in Peel are in place for at least 28 days, meaning the rollback is expected to end by Monday, November 9 unless it is extended by the province.

York’s rollback is expected to end by Monday, November 16 unless extended by the province.