Ontario, Canada's largest province to impose holiday lockdown to avoid 'catastrophic' Covid fallout

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Tue, 2020-12-22 11:15 — mike kraft

Canada's largest province to impose holiday lockdown to avoid 'catastrophic' Covid fallout The province is home to nearly 39 percent of all Canadians. Andy Blatchford POLITICO

OTTAWA — Canada's holiday season will be even quieter this year as Ontario, by far the country’s most-populous province, announces weeks of stricter coronavirus lock-downs starting Dec. 26.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement Monday as his province — and much of Canada — deals with a stubborn resurgence of Covid-19. The province is home to nearly 39 percent of all Canadians.

"We've seen in other jurisdictions what out-of-control caseloads and deaths look like," Ford told reporters. "Thousands of lives are at stake right now. If we fail to take action now the consequences could be catastrophic."

Ford spoke hours after a top provincial health official warned Ontario’s ability to control Covid-19's spread was still “very precarious.”

Following Quebec's lead: Ontario followed neighboring Quebec, which reintroduced tougher measures at the start of the holiday season. Quebec, which is the country’s second-most populous province, is cracking down on private gatherings for the vast majority of Quebecers between Dec. 17 and Jan. 10.

The Ontario's shutdowns: The new restrictions will be in place for four weeks in the province's much more densely populated south, which includes cities like Toronto and Ottawa. In the smaller cities and communities of northern Ontario, containment measures will apply for two weeks. The measures go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Dec. 26.

They include shutting down in-person shopping at most retail stores, prohibiting indoor and outdoor dining, restricting indoor access to shopping malls and limiting gatherings to members of the same household. ...

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