Ontario is poised to enter a month-long lockdown to try and curb the rise in COVID-19 cases across the province, several sources tells 680 NEWS.
Posted Apr 01, 2021, 05:22AM EDT
Ontario is poised to enter a month-long lockdown to try and curb the rise in COVID-19 cases across the province, several sources tells 680 NEWS.
WATCH: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/03/31/ontario-poised-to-enter-month-long-lockdown-sources/
Every region of the province will be placed in the Grey-Lockdown zone starting 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning.
Exact details of the lockdown measures are expected to be confirmed on Thursday by Premier Doug Ford.
Six regions are already in Grey-Lockdown, including Toronto, Peel and Hamilton, while another 16 areas are in the Red-Control zone when it comes to provincial restrictions.
Patios, which just reopened in Toronto and Peel Region, will have to close while restaurants and bars can still remain open for takeout and delivery.
Nonessential retail will be allowed to remain open with a 25 per cent capacity limit as is currently permitted in the grey zones.
Some outdoor activities will be allowed such as golf, but team sports will not be allowed.
As well, hair and nail salons along with barbershops that were scheduled to reopen on April 12 under modified Grey-Zone restrictions will now remain closed.
Sources tell 680 NEWS that schools will remain open next week as they prepare to head into the delayed spring break, scheduled to begin April 12. It’s uncertain if students will return to the class following the week-long break.
The province started to reopen its economy earlier this month but implemented an “emergency brake” measure that would allow it to move regions into lockdown if cases spike.
For the seventh day in a row, Ontario reported more than 2,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, while the number of patients in intensive care units (ICU) reached the highest number since the pandemic began last year.
Critical Care Services Ontario, which tracks hospitalizations in the province, stated that 421 patients are currently in the ICU with a COVID-19-related critical illness.
In its daily update, the province said 1,111 people are currently being treated in hospital overall.
The latest report from the province’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table showed that variants of concern (VOC) have sent more Ontarians to the ICU, and that people infected with the variants were more likely to be hospitalized and die.
The advisory group also said in its report that as of March 28, variants comprised 67 per cent of all infections, and the B.1.1.7 variant that was first detected in the United Kingdom made up 90 per cent of variant cases.
