Town of Oakville moves to Red-Control level

Wed, 17 Feb 2021

Town facilities begin to reopen with health and safety measures in place

Effective February 16, Oakville, as part of Halton Region, is in the Red-Control level of the Government of Ontario's revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework. The town is assessing programs and services, and opportunities to safely reopen under provincial direction.

“While this is good news for all of us, we must not let our guard down. We remain committed to working with Halton’s Medical Officer of Health and all levels of government to ensure Halton’s numbers remain low,” said Mayor Rob Burton. “We must all do our part to further improve our case numbers and maintain our hospital capacity. I am confident that Oakville residents and businesses will remain on the path forward if we continue to follow public health guidelines.”

Here’s what being in Red-Control means to Oakville residents.

Gatherings

• Indoors: 5 people
• Outside: 25 people
• Limit close contact to your household (the people you live with) and stay at least 2 metres apart from everyone else

Masks

• Individuals are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of businesses or organizations that are open. Wearing a mask or face covering is also recommended outdoors when you can't physically distance more than two metres. The town strongly encourages residents to wear a mask while participating in outdoor activities, such as skating at rinks.

Oakville Transit:

• Oakville Transit will return to pre-lockdown service levels effective March 1. This will result in increased frequency on some routes and during specific periods of time. Please refer to the Oakville Transit website for updated schedule information on your route.
• Care-A-van will be providing service for essential trips only, which includes trips for medical appointments, pharmacy, grocery, banking, work and some day programs.
• Several school specials have already been reinstated with the balance returning effective March 1.
• SPLIT Passes are still available for purchase at the Oakville Transit office and can be purchased with cash, debit or credit.

Indoor recreation

• Fitness centres, gymnasiums, arenas and culture studios will begin to reopen with reduced hours on February 22. Residents can pre-book on February 18 for activities starting February 22. We are not accepting new rental requests at this time.
• Pools will begin to reopen on February 25. Residents can pre-book on February 18 for swims starting February 25 (Glen Abbey Pool continues to be closed for maintenance).
• Participation limited to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors.
• No spectators, except for one parent or guardian per child, and must be included in the maximum capacity.
• Stay 3 metres apart in classes or areas with weights or exercise equipment and 2 metres apart everywhere else.
• 90-minute time limit for classes and working out.
• Team sports must not be practiced or played except for training (no games or scrimmage).

Outdoor recreation

The town continues to offer a variety of opportunities for families, youth and adults to get outside and stay active while practising physical distancing.

• Team sports must not be practiced or played except for training (no games or scrimmage.
• Outdoor skating rinks – 25 people maximum. No nets or shooting targets allowed.
• Outdoor courts – singles play only.

“We’re excited to reopen our facilities and return some of our programs as soon as we can safely do so. We’re working to reassemble our teams and prepare our facilities following public health guidelines,” said Julie Mitchell, director, recreation and culture. “Please be patient as we work through the logistics to safely restart our programs and amenities under the provincial directions.”

Although the stay-at-home order is no longer in effect, residents are strongly advised to still follow all public health advice. This means you should:

• stay at home as much as possible — only leave the house for essential trips such as food, medication, medical appointments, or supporting vulnerable community members
• stay at home when ill, even with mild symptoms
• avoid social gatherings
• work from home if you can
• avoid non-essential travel

The Province is also introducing an "emergency brake" to allow for immediate action if a public health unit region experiences rapid acceleration in COVID-19 transmission or if its health care system risks becoming overwhelmed.  If this occurs, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, in consultation with the local medical officer of health, may advise immediately moving a region into Grey-Lockdown to interrupt community COVID-19 transmission.

Additional details of changes to any town programs and services as a result of moving to the Red zone will be posted on our COVID-19 Information page and Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts as they become available..

The town offers a wide variety of programs and services online. While the ServiceOakville counter at Town Hall is open for some services that are not online, residents are urged to not visit unless necessary. There are many options to pay property taxes. Please call ServiceOakville at 905-845-6601 or visit our COVID-19 Information page and check out the Find Town Services page.