The Ontario Government has declared a State of Emergency and issued a formal stay-at-home order for the Province’s residents.
The order is slated to come into effect Thursday (January 14th) at 12:01 AM.
Schools in grey zone urban areas will remain closed to in-person learning until February 10th.
By Wednesday of next week, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health will provide the Government with advice regarding whether schools in the rest of the Province can reopen, or continue with online education.
The Premier says today’s actions are intended to prevent Ontario’s Health Care system from being overrun by COVID-19 cases.
There is a worry that without these steps, our hospitals could be overwhelmed by early February.
Ford says eight new cases of the UK strain of the virus were identified today and still one third of Ontarians are ignoring published guidelines.
To reign in the spread of the virus via community contacts, outdoor gatherings are being restricted to no more than five persons.
Big box stores will be subject to random inspection to ensure premises quotas remain within authorized limits.
(file picture: not from today)
