Hamilton restaurants can host up to 50 guests inside after Ontario increases indoor dining limits

Starting Saturday, bars and restaurants in Hamilton will be able to welcome more customers into their indoor dining rooms.

Late Friday, the province announced that it would be adjusting dining capacity limits at restaurants and bars for regions under the red and orange levels in the province's colour-coded framework.

That includes Hamilton as well as Halton - which on the same day announced a restaurant outbreak in Oakville connected to a COVID-19 variant of concern.

The change comes days after Ontario's chief medical officer of health admitted the province had entered the third wave" of the pandemic, with increasing variants putting the province into a precarious position."

Under the new rules, eateries and bars in red zones will now be allowed to fill up to 50 per cent of their indoor dining rooms, but the limit will be capped at 50 patrons. That's up from 10 patrons under the previous red zone rules.

Alongside the increase, businesses are expected to limit tables for both indoor and outdoor dining to members of the same household, with exemptions for those who live alone and caregivers and signage stating the maximum capacity of the dining room must be posted and made visible to the public.

Establishments will also have to ensure all tables are properly distanced, customers wear masks at all times aside from when they are eating and drinking and information for contact tracing is collected.

Restaurants and bars are still required to close by 10 p.m., alcohol cannot be served after 9 p.m. and no one can consume alcohol after 10 p.m. Buffets, dancing, singing and live music are not permitted.

In orange zones - the level below red - 100 diners will be allowed indoors if the establishment is large enough.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com