Premier Doug Ford enacted a provincial state of emergency Wednesday afternoon and has announced a province-wide, four-week stay-at-home order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
With rising COVID-19 cases and more young people hospitalized, the order went into effect this morning at 12:01 a.m.
“The COVID-19 situation is at a critical stage, and we must act quickly and decisively to stay ahead of these deadly new variants,” says Premier Ford. “By imposing these strict new measures, we will keep people safe while allowing our vaccination program to reach more people, starting with our high-risk population and identified hot spots”
Non-essential retail outlets are restricted to curbside pick-up, with big-box stores will be restricted to essential aisles only. This includes pharmaceutical, health care and personal care items, groceries, household cleaning supplies and pet care supplies.
While tighter restrictions will be in place for retail stores, schools and daycares remain open for in-person care and learning where allowed by local health units.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones says the stay-at-home order will be enforced.
Premier Ford says they expect to have upwards of 40 per cent of all adults in the province vaccinated by the end of the stay-at-home order.
The Premier adds anyone calling for paid sick days from the province is just playing politics. He says Ottawa already has a program in place.
Here what the stay-at-home order means for you;
Retail
- Limiting the majority of non-essential retailers to only operate for curbside pick-up and delivery, via appointment, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., with delivery of goods to patrons permitted between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., and other restrictions;
- Restricting access to shopping malls to limited specified purposes, including access for curbside pick-up and delivery, via appointment, with one single designated location inside the shopping mall, and any number of designated locations outside the shopping mall, along with other restrictions;
- Restricting discount and big box stores in-person retail sales to grocery items, pet care supplies, household cleaning supplies, pharmaceutical items, health care items, and personal care items only;
- Permitting the following stores to operate for in-person retail by appointment only and subject to a 25 per cent capacity limit and restricting allowable hours of operation to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. with the delivery of goods to patrons permitted between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.:
- * Safety supply stores;
- * Businesses that primarily sell, rent or repair assistive devices, aids or supplies, mobility devices, aids or supplies or medical devices, aids or supplies;
- * Rental and leasing services including automobile, commercial and light industrial machinery and equipment rental;
- * Optical stores that sell prescription eyewear to the public;
- * Businesses that sell motor vehicles, boats and other watercraft;
- * Vehicle and equipment repair and essential maintenance and vehicle and equipment rental services; and
- * Retail stores operated by a telecommunications provider or service which may only permit members of the public to enter the premises to purchase a cellphone or for repairs or technical support.
- * Permitting outdoor garden centres and plant nurseries and indoor greenhouses that engage in sales to the public to operate with a 25 per cent capacity limit and a restriction on hours of operation to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Education
Schools and child care will remain open for in-person care and learning in public health regions where it is permitted, with strict safety measures in place.
Beginning next week, education workers who provide direct support to students with special education needs across the province and all education workers in select hot spot areas will be eligible to register for vaccination.
They will start in priority areas in Toronto and Peel, rolling out to other hot spot areas before expanding across the province as supplies allow.
Vaccinations
People living in regions with the highest rates of transmission will be prioritized to receive a vaccine, starting with the most at-risk in the Peel and Toronto public health regions.
Friday, the government will extend bookings for vaccination appointments to more age groups through its provincial booking system for public health regions with highly impacted areas.
Booking eligibility will be extended to include individuals aged 50 and over living in high-risk areas as identified by postal code.
Workplace Inspections
Health and safety inspectors and provincial offences officers will increase inspections and enforcement at essential businesses in regional hot zones to continue protecting essential workers while on the job.
There have been 19,500 COVID-related workplace inspections and investigations across the province since the beginning of this year.
Over 450 tickets and 14,446 work orders have been issued, including 24 stop-work orders.
Rapid Testing
Approximately 5.4 million rapid antigen tests have been sent to over 1,150 workplaces, including 100 essential industry sites, under the Provincial Antigen Screening Program.
To encourage the use of these tests, additional outreach will occur to employers in regions with the highest rates of transmission to increase access to testing, and the process for enrollment in the screening program will be streamlined to allow for quick access to these supports.
(With files from Stuart Walter/89.5 The Lake and Sarah McCarthy/CKDR)
