Mayor In Durham Region's Red Zone Begs Outsiders To Stay Away

A city in Durham Region is asking non-residents to stay away — at least for now.

Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan took to Twitter to share a statement asking those who do not live in Pickering to avoid zone-hopping and stay home.

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"Under normal circumstances, our doors would be wide open to tourists and visitors looking to experience the local shops and restaurants of Pickering," said the mayor in his statement.

"But not now during the pandemic. We need to protect our community," he continued.

In an interview with CP24, Ryan said that he was "very concerned" about residents of Toronto flocking to Pickering to escape the city's ongoing restrictions.

Both Ford and mayor Tory have indicated that it's likely that Toronto will transition back into the grey-lockdown zone next week.

The Region of Durham is currently in the red zone, meaning limited indoor dining is permitted, gyms are once again open, and ten people are permitted to gather indoors.

On Tuesday, Ford rejected the idea of using OPP roadblocks to prevent zone-hopping in an interview with CTV's Your Morning. 

"We can't be putting roadblocks up on Highway 11 and stopping [...] people from moving from Point A to Point B," he said.

"It's hard to police an area with close to 15 million people —  the size of California and Texas."

Mayor Ryan also notes that while there are no official measures in place to prevent people from travelling between zones, he asks "everyone to do their part."