As bars and restaurants begin to reopen across Ontario and other provinces continue to see a significant rise in COVID-19 cases traced back to indoor eateries, some health experts say easing up on public drinking laws may not be such a bad idea.
As bars and restaurants begin to reopen across Ontario and other provinces continue to see a significant rise in COVID-19 cases traced back to indoor eateries, some infectious disease experts say easing up on public drinking laws may not be such a bad idea.
Earlier this month, the City of Toronto reminded its residents that public drinking will not be tolerated at any beaches or parks and will, in fact, come with a fine of up to $300 for anybody caught doing so.
Following that, Torontonians took to Twitter last weekend to comment about the “heavy police presence and ticketing” they noticed at parks, including Trinity Bellwoods, west of the downtown.
Toronto lawyer Ryan O’Connor, who has an interest in public policy, said that with regulations in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, the city needs to reconsider its alcohol-consumption rules.
“Treat adults like adults,” O’Connor said.
“If it’s legal for me to have a drink on a patio, why isn’t it legal for me to to share a bottle of wine with my wife in a park while we’re having a picnic.”
Drinking among friends in sprawling green spaces — where there’s much more room to physically distance — can keep people away from dangerously crowded indoor gatherings, said Dr. Zain Chagla, an associate professor at McMaster University in Hamilton who studies infectious diseases.
It would be wonderful if the City of Toronto could take a more mature, reasonable approach to public drinking like so many other cities and municipalities. All the behaviours that are associated with the atypical problematic public drinking are illegal already.
“There’s all these reports of transmission in bars and house parties. So why don’t we mitigate that risk?” Chagla said. “Let’s use the outdoors rather than forcing people indoors for their gatherings.”
Toronto moved into Stage 3 of Ontario’s reopening plan on Friday, allowing bars and restaurants to resume serving patrons indoors under strict physical-distancing regulations.
But indoor eateries have proven to be risky environments for the novel coronavirus to spread, especially in British Columbia, where a sudden surge in cases led the province to announce stricter measures for restaurant operators.
Equity needs to be considered
O’Connor said it’s not only a matter of personal freedom, it also comes down to equity .
“This is not an issue for someone who has a big backyar