Niagara Falls mayor talks COVID-19, Casino Niagara anniversary

Niagara Falls mayor Jim Diodati joined us for his weekly update on the city, where he talked about the new Omicron variant and the holidays, as well as the 25th anniversary of Casino Niagara.

Ontario reported 1,429 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and the Omicron variant numbers have a doubling time of around every three days. Today’s total is a 54 per cent increase over last Tuesday.

Diodati says the timing of Omicron is “terrible”. He says he hopes Omicron doesn’t impact families on the holidays. 

“Mental health really depends on us getting together,” said Diodati.

He also says the tourism industry in Niagara Falls is doing a great job in making sure people are safe. 

25th Anniversary of Casino Niagara

It is the 25th anniversary of Casino Niagara and Diodati says the falls were illuminated green and gold in celebration. 

He says Casino Niagara has around 700 original employees and has welcomed over 100 million visitors since they opened and that the casino is extremely important to the local economy. 

“They are the number one employer with upwards of 4,000 employees,” said Diodati. “They’re generous with local charity groups and they really helped to change the tourism offering in Niagara Falls.”