Ontario Premier Doug Ford (Canadian Press)

By Justin Goulet

Stay-at-Home order issued in Ontario, in effect Thursday

Jan 12, 2021 | 11:57 AM

TORONTO, ON – Ontario has issued a stay-at-home order amid surging COVID-19 cases.

New modelling from the province shows its health-care system is on the verge of being overwhelmed. 25 per cent of the province’s hospitals now have no available intensive care unit beds and another quarter have only one or two beds free.

The stay-at-home order will be in effect as of 12:01 a-m Thursday. All provincial offences officers will be able to issue tickets to anyone disobeying the rules.

It will require everyone to stay at home with exceptions for essential services like going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work.

Additionally, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced new measures to curb the spread of the virus.

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• Outdoor organized public gatherings and social gatherings are further restricted to a limit of five people with limited exceptions.
• People are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of businesses or organizations that are open. Wearing a mask or face covering is now recommended outdoors when you can’t physically distance more than two metres.
• All non-essential retail stores, including hardware stores, alcohol retailers and those offering curbside pickup or delivery, must open no earlier than 7 a.m. and close no later than 8 p.m.
• The restricted hours of operation do not apply to stores that primarily sell food, pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants for takeout or delivery.
• Non-essential construction is further restricted, including below-grade construction, exempting survey.

On Tuesday, Ontario reported 2,903 new cases of COVID-19 and 41 new deaths linked to the virus.

Officials are projecting deaths could double to 100 per day by the end of next month.