Most Niagara mayors support possible move to Red level of restriction system

Almost all of Niagara's mayors support the idea of moving the region to the Red tier of the province's colour-coded COVID-19 restriction system.

We expect to learn if the region will move from the strictest level of the system, Grey, into one of the lower tiers tomorrow.

In a joint letter, 11 of Niagara's 12 mayors state they believe Niagara is ready to move to the Red level as the vaccination of long-term and high-risk retirement home residents continues.

However, the second wave of COVID-19 has proved to be more deadly than the first one: Niagara Region Public Health reports 369 deaths throughout the course of the pandemic.

The mayors write a balanced approach is needed to protect the health of community members while reopening the economy.

The only mayor who did not sign the letter is Niagara-On-The-Lake Lord Mayor Betty Disero.

Earlier this week Niagara's Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji said Niagara could be ready for the move if nothing drastically changed but he noted he was still concerned with the potential spread of variant cases.

After that discussion, six possible variant cases were identified in the region, but conclusive lab testing has not yet been completed.