BARRIE, ONT. -- York Region Public Health is contemplating reducing the number of people who can be in the same place at a time.

Health officials in York Region, Simcoe-Muskoka, and many other pockets of Ontario are concerned about a growing number of cases of COVID-19 associated with parties, weddings and other big get-togethers.

Asked Wednesday whether the provincial government would change limits from 100 people for an outdoor event and 50 indoors, the premier stressed that local health units and municipalities have the power to change rules on their own.

“This is a very hot topic and area of focus,” says Dr. Fareen Karachiwalla, Associate Medical Officer of Health in York Region.

She says the recent spike in cases is a reminder of how quickly coronavirus can spread, and that the number of people allowed in a gathering doesn’t make sense in every circumstance.

“If you have a small condo, let’s say, then you have to be mindful of how many people can safely fit in there, maintaining that two-metre distance,” Karachiwalla says.

The Medical Officer of Health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit shares York Region’s concerns around social gatherings as vectors for transmission.

“We are calling upon people to maintain close contact with only those in their chosen social circle of up to 10 people and to maintain physical distancing of two meters with all others. Hand hygiene, self-monitoring and self-isolation and testing if ill, and using a face covering when in indoor public places and when unable to physically distance,” says Dr. Charles Gardner.

“It may be that further control measures will be needed in the near future, depending if the incidence of COVID-19 continues to rise,” Gardner continues.

York Region’s top doctor is expected to report to regional council on the possibility of reducing social gatherings in a few weeks.

“I want more information, but I favour the concept of perhaps tightening up on house parties and the numbers of people that can attend something like that,” says Newmarket Mayor John Taylor.

For now, there’s less worry about the role restaurants, bars, and nightclubs may be playing in an increase in cases, but it’s something Taylor says he’s watching.

“I’m not out to shut anything down or to limit anyone’s ability to run a business. That’s the last thing we want to do,” Taylor says.

He does feel that elected leaders have a responsibility to keep people safe and that there are lessons to be learned from COVID-19 hotspots in the U.S.

“It happens slowly over time, and all of a sudden, you find yourself there. And you might have to take some unpopular decisions earlier to circumvent or avoid that. And we may have to do that.”