Video and photos have emerged on social media of a popular Toronto island beach packed with party-goers this past weekend despite calls from health officials urging people to keep physical distance even when outdoors.
The photos and video posted onto Twitter show what appears to be hundreds of people on Hanlan's Point Beach not wearing masks and not keeping physical distance.
“We had quite a discussion about [this issue] at our sort of emergency command table,” Mayor John Tory told reporters at a news conference on Monday. “We are on top of it. We are going to use the marine unit and other resources at our disposal to better address some of these crowd scenes on the beaches.”
It’s not the first time that beaches in Toronto, and across the province, have been packed with people not physical distancing. Ontario Premier Doug Ford previously warned young people to stop partying in order to avoid spikes in cases.
Recently, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of new cases involving younger people between the ages of 20 and 39 ever since the Ontario governments began to slowly reopen the province.
Mayor Tory said on Monday that the city is continuing with its educational approach to dealing with the issue. He said bylaw officers, as well as city and park officials are trying to educate people on these beaches on health protocols.
“If we find that we are not getting the kind of cooperation from this educational approach then more tickets I’m sure will be issued by the enforcement authorities,” Tory said.
“We will [also] take other steps as needed to make sure these types of crowd scenes are not reported over and over again.”
The mayor said he was also adamant about not closing down beaches despite the overcrowding issues.
“To me, to close down any of these beaches is an admission of defeat and it’s an admission that we are going to let the behaviour of a few who don’t consider these rules to be important … interfere with the enjoyment of the many who are trying to enjoy the summer as best they can,” Tory said.
"At the moment, what we want to do is try to really educate people … I guess we just want to say to people what we have been saying all along, which is that you should avoid crowd scenes [and to] avoid scenes where it’s almost impossible to physically distance yourself.”
Tory said that the city has seen some success in limiting crowds by closing down parking lots earlier, limiting island ferry sales and decreasing water taxi traffic.
“I can assure you we assess this every day,” Tory said. “I don’t want to announce the closure of beaches or a heavy hand but as we watch the situation, we’ve seen I think fairly good cooperation over the last few weeks.”
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's medical officer of health, told reporters on Monday that people need to remember to keep physical distance not only when indoors.
“Certainly outdoor spaces are safer but we cannot say that they are completely safe,” she said. “That’s why we continue to remind people that it is important to watch your distance.”
