The hot weather being forecast for next week is raising questions about the potential for crowds at beaches and parks in the Kawarthas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, Environment Canada is forecasting a high of 29°C (with the humidex making it feel like 34°C), followed by two days of 30°C temperatures on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
Along with the many municipally operated parks, there are almost 100 public beaches across the Kawarthas. This will be the first time during pandemic that we’ve experienced several days in a row of hot weather, raising concerns that crowds of people may flood parks and beaches to find relief from the heat — especially since municipal splash pads and wading pools remain closed.
That’s what happened on Saturday (May 23) at Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto, when an estimated 10,000 people packed themselves into the park after it was reopened to the public.
Almost everyone in the crowd was ignoring physical distancing guidelines and there were many individual groupings of more than five people, breaking the province’s emergency order that prohibits such gatherings. And, contrary to the recent recommendations of both the federal and provincial governments, there was not a face covering in sight.
“People were engaging in just incredibly disappointing behaviour,” says Toronto mayor John Tory, who said he will considering closing the park to the public if flagrant violations of public safety directives continue.
Trinity Bellwoods Park today, May 23rd #Toronto #Ontario #COVID?19 pic.twitter.com/cBCwWuHchd
— Peter Svidler (@SvidlerP) May 23, 2020
While police officers were at Trinity Bellwoods Park, they did not issue any tickets as they felt they could not safely navigate the crowds to do so.
In Peterborough, the popular beaches at Beavermead Park and Roger’s Cove remain closed, as do splash pads and wading pools in parks. However, picnic areas and shelters at parks have reopened.
The parking lots at Beavermead Park and Roger’s Cove were filled with cars on Saturday (May 23). Although most people appeared to be adhering to physical distancing directives, there were some small gatherings of people fishing and having picnics.
In Kawartha Lakes, all outdoor recreational amenities remain closed, including all beaches.
In Cobourg in Northumberland County, while splash pads and wading pools in parks remain closed, the municipality has reopened its popular Victoria Beach.
Town council decided on May 11th to keep the beach open and enforce physical distancing guidelines, rather than to close the beach and erect fencing and barriers while the province’s state of emergency continues.
On the Victoria Day long weekend, hundreds of people were on the beach according to deputy mayor Suzanne Seguin. Some councillors expressed particular concerns about out-of-town visitors coming to the beach, and agreed to revisit the issue at its next meeting on June 1st.
In the interim, by-law officers will be monitoring Victoria Beach to enforce the restriction on gatherings of more than five people.
After 12 days of daily increases of less than 400 for new COVID-19 cases in the province, Ontario has seen four straight days of increases of over 410 cases, leading some people to speculate whether warmer weather earlier in May has increased the spread of the virus. On Sunday (May 24), there were 460 new cases — the highest daily increase since May 7th.
The story has been updated with the latest COVID-19 case count from Ontario Public Health.
