Susan Clairmont: Hamilton enters red zone; businesses brace for minimum four-week pause
We woke in one reality Friday morning. Monday we will awaken in another.
It doesn't leave much time to adjust.
The province has catapulted Hamilton and Halton up two rungs on the colour-coded COVID restrictions ladder, an acknowledgement that our coronavirus cases are soaring and deaths are on the rise.
The announcement was made Friday and took some by surprise. Not because tighter rules weren't expected, but because we skipped from the yellow zone, right past orange, and into the red.
On Saturday, there were four new COVID deaths reported and by Sunday there was another as the city prepared for the changes that take effect first thing Monday and will stay in place for 28 days.
All the deaths occurred in the past week: a woman in her early 70s died in the community; another in her early 70s was a resident at Baywoods Place Long Term Care Home; a woman in her mid-70s was a resident at Chartwell Willowgrove Long Term Care Residence; a man in his mid 80s was from Hamilton Continuing Care and a man in his late 80s lived at Dundurn Place Care Centre.
The city had 74 new cases reported on the weekend and 18 active outbreaks, not including schools and child-care centres.
At the six worst impacted long-term-care and retirement facilities in the city - Chartwell Willowgrove, Hamilton Continuing Care, Baywoods Place, The Village at Wentworth Heights, St. Joseph's Villa and Idlewyld Manor - 111 residents and 59 staff have tested positive for the virus.
The Willowgrove outbreak, declared Oct. 22, is the city's largest. Nine people have died and it is up to 63 cases: 38 residents and 25 staff.
Health officials are imploring people to stay home unless it is essential for them to go out. Those who must go out to work, school, medical appointments, for exercise or grocery shopping, can.
Everything else is expected to wait.
The extreme measures are hoped to stave off any school closures or a complete lockdown.
Many are applauding the move to the red zone in a noble effort to flatten the curve and slow the spread. But there is no question the impact on local businesses will be crushing.
Within hours of the province's order Friday, The Westdale cinema announced it would follow guidelines and close its doors Monday.
Theatres must close in the red zone, says Neal Miller, director of marketing and development.
While he is disappointed it has come to this, he is neither surprised nor bitter.
We've always been operating under the knowledge we'd have to close back down," he says. We're always going to do the best for the greater good. We trust the science. We want everyone to be safe."
He is concerned for the theatre's 10 staff members, but is confident The Westdale will persevere.
The Westdale has been preparing for this shutdown and has an online film club and other projects ready to go.
We've built a really good online community," Miller says.
There is no online option for Jeff O'Donnell, owner of The Links Golf and Sport Academy in Stoney Creek.
This could crush our business," he says.
The indoor golfing facility is closed in the summer and gears up when cold weather hits.
We're just reaching our peak time," he says. His wife runs the business full time with four part-time staff.
They have complied with all regulations and recommendations, according to O'Donnell, including Plexiglas barriers between the four simulators. Golfers are not required to wear masks while playing, he says.
O'Donnell is not supportive of the move to red. He says the government should take action against scofflaw businesses instead of penalizing those that follow the rules.
Because some are breaking the rules, everyone is suffering."
Starting Monday, Links will have to stop serving alcohol at 9 p.m. instead of 11 and must close at 10 instead of midnight.
That will impact the men's league that O'Donnell counts on.
Links is just starting its third season. The first was rocky as it got its footing. Last season was shattered by the March COVID lockdown. And now ...
If this lasts into Christmas, that would be crippling for us."
Things are already hard for Sam's Cheese and Meats at the Hamilton Farmers' Market.
But the move into the red zone - paired with some social media shaming - has co-owner Pierina Legedza angry and frustrated.
Sam's supplies to a lot of local restaurants, which are about to take a big hit Monday. That will trickle down to her own business, says Pierina.
Just as she was trying to cope with that thought, an antimask sign that she framed a while back showed up on Twitter Saturday afternoon, bringing an avalanche of criticism.
The sign - in a gilded frame - questions the effectiveness of masks and declares mandatory mask wearing as an infringement of human rights.
Pierina says she had four signs like that displayed on her counters at the beginning of COVID, but has since taken them down. Though she admits one may still have been visible to the public.
We were already reprimanded by public health," she says, adding: In all honesty, the sign still makes sense."
Pierina does not believe in the value of masks, though her staff is complying with the law and wearing face shields.
She was livid about the Twitter posting, saying that sort of public shaming is cowardly."
Social media has ruined a lot of businesses," she says. You get shamed. These people are on a mission to destroy people. I feel like I have to answer to everybody."
Susan Clairmont is a Hamilton-based crime, court and social justice columnist at The Spectator. Reach her via email: sclairmont@thespec.com