Ontario enters harder lockdown, police get more powers as COVID cases soar
Source: Reuters
April 16, 2021 5:42 PM EDT
The Canadian province of Ontario expanded and extended a stay at home order on Friday and said police will be given new powers to stop and question people who leave home as expert advisors warned that new cases of COVID-19 will continue to soar, overwhelming hospitals.
Ontario also announced restrictions on non-essential travel from neighbouring provinces starting Monday and said non-essential construction, including building projects at malls, hotels and office towers will shut down as of Saturday to deal with a raging third wave.
"The reality is there are few options left," said Premier Doug Ford. "The difficult truth is, every public health measure we have left comes with a massive cost to people."
New projections published by a provincial advisory group on Friday showed new cases rising above 10,000 per day in June if "moderate" public health measures remain in place for six weeks, and vaccination levels remain roughly flat. Ontario, home to 38% of Canada's population, announced a record 4,812 cases on Friday.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/covid-19-cases-canadas-most-populous-province-could-treble-cbc-2021-04-16/
I was hoping border crossings from the US would be loosened by summer. I guess that's not going to happen.
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Last summer, 2020, was our 20th wedding anniversary.
We had hoped to return to Norther Ontario to Bruce Peninsula where we vacationed in June of 2000 just months before we married in August. My husband proposed to me there.
Sigh, since we are older, we can’t wait until a next round-numbered year to celebrate. But, 2022 has a good ring to it! Maybe by then????
But again, our thoughts go to the good folks in Canada. Our vacation plans take a distant priority to their getting vaccinations and flattening the curve.
...and thus we get to the center of the shrubbery maze as to why our idiot Premier has not taken steps to move the province into lockdown sooner.
Thanks Ford.
This is very worrying for our good northern neighbors. Hope they get thru this latest surge.
Being in Northern New York and only a few miles from Canada, it is disappointing to us because we have missed our frequent trips to Ottawa, QC and Montreal (as well as all the other smaller cities and towns along the St Lawrence River), over the last 12-14 months.
Gosh we need to get vac’s into people’s arms at a faster rate...
Thoughts and prayers to our Canadian friends!
You probably already are doing all that. But, at this point, everybody needs to do this!
Stay safe.
My niece (a doctor and also pregnant) has been taking the subway to her hospital downtown (she usually rides her bike but her ob/gyn put the kibosh on that!). She says half the riders on the Toronto subway are either not wearing masks or else are using them as "chin protectors". No bloody wonder our infection rates have skyrocketed.
I loathe stupid, selfish, ignorant people.
And I loathe former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper for selling Connaught Labs to French pharma. Otherwise, we'd have sufficient supply for every Canadian and more than enough to provide to third world countries.
Conservatives always look back, never ahead.