Ontario announced new restrictions as part of a’ modified stage 2 ‘for Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa amid rising coronavirus cases
The new measures, which are expected to take effect on Saturday at 12:01 a.m., include the closure of the food and beverage service inside restaurants, bars and nightclubs, as well as the closure of indoor gymnasiums, casinos, cinemas and performing arts centers
Personal care departments where masks are to be removed should also cease operations Interactive exhibits in places like galleries or museums should close
Collection limits at organized public events, real estate open houses, meeting and event spaces, tour and guide services and in-person teaching events will be limited to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors Team sports will be limited to training sessions only
Unsupervised social gatherings continue to be limited to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors where physical distance can be maintained
« All trends are going in the wrong direction If nothing is done, we risk the worst case scenarios first seen in Italy and New York, » Prime Minister Doug Ford said at a conference press friday
« If current trends continue, ICU (intensive care unit) admissions in Ontario are expected to more than triple in less than 30 days Our hospitals will be overwhelmed and we cannot let this happen »
« The curve continues to increase in terms of slope, » Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, told a press conference at Queen’s Park
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« We are seeing a dramatic increase in the percentage of positive tests…
« At this point in the growth of the epidemic curve, there is no possibility of testing more or contacting trace more as a means of controlling or suppressing the epidemic At this point, there really needs to be interventions of public health to break this chain of transmission and allow the numbers to come down «
Brown said that, according to figures from Toronto, the weakest source of outbreaks was in fact in schools and said transmission of the coronavirus in schools « remains relatively under control »
Officials said a significant number of outbreaks have occurred in workplaces and community settings such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs and gyms
Hospitalizations have increased by 250% in the past three weeks, with a total of 225 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday
Officials said the province’s health care system is on track to surpass the threshold where it can maintain regular services like scheduled surgeries, even in best-case scenarios
Cases begin to spread to older populations after the initial growth spurt seen in people aged 20-29, officials added
Dr. David Williams, the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, calls on all Ontarians to limit travel outside of their homes except for essential purposes, including school, grocery shopping , medical appointments and outdoor physical activities
« In addition, travel to other parts of the province, especially areas of higher transmission to areas of low transmission, should only be for essential purposes, » a government statement says. / p>
Williams said that « these kinds of public health steps and actions would not have been necessary » if all Ontarians had followed public health guidelines
Other areas of the GTA ‘evolve’ and the new restrictions could be imposed elsewhere as well, Williams said
The new restrictions emerged a week after Toronto Public Health’s Dr Eileen de Villa called for the temporary closure of restaurants and indoor gyms in the city, among other measures Williams said earlier this week that he was still considering the request
When asked what has changed since de Villa’s initial request, Williams said the province had recently received more data and observed a higher daily case count Ford echoed comments from Williams
Ontario reported a record 939 new coronavirus cases on Friday, up from the previous record of 797 on Thursday Friday’s report said 336 new cases were recorded in Toronto, 150 in Peel Region and 126 in Ottawa
« I can’t stress this enough – how difficult and painful it is to make this decision, » said Ford
« My heart is breaking for these people and I understand what this decision means for each of you and I can tell you that I did not sleep last night Believe me it is weighing me down to have made this decision «
Ford said he had ordered his finance minister to release $ 300 million to support small businesses for 28 days, including cutting provincial and municipal property tax bills as well as electricity bills and natural gas
Provincial officials have said they hope the targeted measures will help prevent further restrictions from being implemented in the future
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News from the world – CA – Coronavirus: Indoor catering, gyms closed in Toronto, Peel region and Ottawa
