{"id":58498,"date":"2020-04-02T17:44:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T21:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/?p=58498"},"modified":"2020-04-02T17:44:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T21:44:19","slug":"still-standing-within-2-metres-of-each-other-that-could-cost-you-5k-under-a-new-bylaw-tory-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/local\/gta\/still-standing-within-2-metres-of-each-other-that-could-cost-you-5k-under-a-new-bylaw-tory-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Still standing within 2 metres of each other? That could cost you $5K under a new bylaw, Tory says"},"content":{"rendered":"
In Toronto’s bid to stop the spread of COVID-19, city officials announced a new bylaw Thursday that prohibits people from standing within two metres of each other in some parts of the city\u00a0\u2014 and\u00a0failing to comply could mean\u00a0a fine of up to $5,000.<\/p>\n
Mayor John Tory, joined by Toronto’s medical officer of health and fire chief, announced the change at\u00a0their\u00a0daily\u00a0news conference on the city’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The bylaw is limited to interactions in city parks and squares. That’s where\u00a0city officials say they are\u00a0seeing the most problem with crowding.<\/p>\n “Lives are potentially at stake and we’ll turn up the heat,” Tory said.<\/p>\n “We will continue\u00a0to do everything we can as a municipal government\u00a0to lock down the city to save lives.”<\/p>\n Despite the new bylaw, questions remain around where people should and shouldn’t go in the city.<\/p>\n Can Torontonians go for a jog, walk the dog, or stroll through the park during the COVID-19 pandemic?<\/p>\n According to public health officials and elected leaders, the answer for now appears to be: it depends how many other people are doing the same thing.<\/p>\n The enhanced restrictions and recommendations released by Toronto Public Health on Wednesday advise people to limit their time outdoors to essential trips, but the guidelines still allow for walking pets or getting daily exercise so long as physical distancing of two metres is possible.<\/p>\n Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa described those non-essential outings as “reasonable things to do while trying to stay home as much as possible.”<\/p>\n But Tory pointed to crowded parks, singling out Sunnyside Park on the lakefront, to suggest that some residents are not taking the rules seriously enough.<\/p>\n “It’s not saying you can’t go outside, it’s just saying that in places where people congregate, they can’t do that right now,” Tory said on\u00a0Metro Morning<\/em>.<\/p>\n