After days of speculation, Ontario Premier Doug Ford officially announced on Thursday that he would be putting Ontario back into lockdown.
Ford had suggested on multiple occasions that he would not hesitate to pull the "emergency brake," as the province continues to deal with its third wave. Ontario saw cases well above the 2000 mark again on Thursday, with cases hitting highs not seen since early January.
"As I've said many times, we'll do whatever it takes to protect the people of Ontario," said Ford, announcing another "tough decision" for the province.
Effective Saturday, April 3, 12:01 am, the Ford government will pull the "emergency brake" for the entire province. Ford said all 34 public health regions will shut down for four weeks.
"We're into the third wave of COVID-19. The variants of concern are spreading rapidly. This is a new pandemic. We're not fighting a new enemy. The new variants are far more dangerous than before. They spread faster, and they do more harm than the virus we were fighting last year," said Ford, saying the risk of ICU admissions was 2 times higher than the "old" virus.
Ford again urged those to only gather with their immediate household for Easter.
What does this mean?
This lockdown will:
Prohibit indoor organized public events and social gatherings and limit the capacity for ourdoor organized public events or social gatherings to a 5-person maximum, except for gatherings with members of the same household or gatherings of members of one household and one other person from another household who lives alone.
Restrict in-person shopping in all retail settings, including a 50 percent capacity limit for supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, indoor farmers markets, and other stores that primarily sell food and pharmacies, and 25 percent for all other retail including big box stores along with other public health and workplace safety measures.
Prohibit indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments . (Take-out and delivery only.)
Prohibit the use of facilities for indoor or outdoor sports and recreational fitness (shut down gyms)
Require day camps to close
Limit capacity at weddings, funerals, and religious services.
Modelling shows high cases
Modelling released by the province's medical officers on Thursday showed that variants of concerned would see the province deal with 6,000 new cases a day.
Officers said that the four-week lockdown would see cases drop below the 1,000 mark once again.
Variant infections now make up the majority of cases.
Lockdown measures implemented by the Ford government have received a great deal of opposition in the province, including among key demographics which put Ford in office in 2018. Critics of lockdowns have questioned their efficacy at combatting coronavirus and have noted to the widespread destruction of small businesses which have taken place across the province over the course of the pandemic.
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