Ontario Premier Doug Ford is scheduled to make an announcement at Queen's Park at 4 p.m. ET. Ford's office says he will be joined by the ministers of health and labour, the solicitor general and the chief medical officer of health
Ontario will step up enforcement powers for police and extend its stay-at-home order to a minimum of six weeks in a bid to stem the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases, but won't institute paid sick days — despite modelling showing that cases will remain high through the summer without additional support for essential workers.
Speaking at a news conference that was twice delayed-on Friday, Premier Doug Ford also announced that non-essential construction will be shut down and outdoor amenities like golf and playgrounds will be restricted.
Outdoor gatherings with people outside a person's household will be prohibited, effective 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Police will also have the authority to ask anyone outside their residence to indicate their purpose for leaving home and provide their address. That includes stopping vehicles and potentially issuing tickets up to $750.
"I've never shied away from telling you the brutal, honest truth," Ford said. "We're losing the battle between the variants and vaccines ... We're on our heels."
Ford and his cabinet met again Friday morning to consider further COVID-19 restrictions to combat a worsening third wave that is pushing the province's health-care system to the breaking point.
The meeting came ahead of a scheduled briefing from the province's COVID-19 science advisory table containing stark new forecasts for the weeks ahead.
Revised modelling suggests Ontario could see more than 10,000 cases per day by the end of May with the current measures in place and 100,000 vaccinations per day.
A six-week stay-at-home order with an average of 100,000 vaccinations per day "is the only way to flatten the curve," the modelling shows.
Additional public health measures could lower cases to about 2,000 cases per day, but that best-case scenario would require considerably stronger measures and increasing vaccinations to 300,000 per day."Without stronger system-level measures and immediate support for essential workers and high-risk communities, high case rates will persist through the summer," the science advisory table said
Ontario will step up enforcement powers for police and extend its stay-at-home order to a minimum of six weeks in a bid to stem the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases, but won't institute paid sick days — despite modelling showing that cases will remain high through the summer without additional support for essential workers.
Speaking at a news conference that was twice delayed-on Friday, Premier Doug Ford also announced that non-essential construction will be shut down and outdoor amenities like golf and playgrounds will be restricted.
Outdoor gatherings with people outside a person's household will be prohibited, effective 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Police will also have the authority to ask anyone outside their residence to indicate their purpose for leaving home and provide their address. That includes stopping vehicles and potentially issuing tickets up to $750.
"I've never shied away from telling you the brutal, honest truth," Ford said. "We're losing the battle between the variants and vaccines ... We're on our heels."
Ford and his cabinet met again Friday morning to consider further COVID-19 restrictions to combat a worsening third wave that is pushing the province's health-care system to the breaking point.
The meeting came ahead of a scheduled briefing from the province's COVID-19 science advisory table containing stark new forecasts for the weeks ahead.
Revised modelling suggests Ontario could see more than 10,000 cases per day by the end of May with the current measures in place and 100,000 vaccinations per day.
A six-week stay-at-home order with an average of 100,000 vaccinations per day "is the only way to flatten the curve," the modelling shows.
Additional public health measures could lower cases to about 2,000 cases per day, but that best-case scenario would require considerably stronger measures and increasing vaccinations to 300,000 per day."Without stronger system-level measures and immediate support for essential workers and high-risk communities, high case rates will persist through the summer," the science advisory table said
WOW!
