Face masks are on display in a store in Montreal, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
ROB GILLIES
Mon, September 28, 2020, 6:23 PM EDT
TORONTO (AP) — Quebec is returning to a stepped-up lockdown in two of its biggest cities and the premier of Canada’s most populous province said he’s looking at all options after Ontario reported a record number of new cases on Monday.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said the two biggest cities in the Canadian province are returning to the highest COVID-19 alert level. Montreal and Quebec City are included in the “red zone” lockdown. Legault said there should be no guests in homes with a few exceptions for help. He also said restaurants and bars will close except for delivery.
He also said outdoor gatherings require two meters of spacing. He said the objective is to protect schools from closing again. Quebec reported 896 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the province’s highest single-day tally in months.
“This situation has become critical,” Legault said. “We must act strongly right now.”
The measures will last from Oct. 1 to Oct. 28. Legault said there is a lot of community spread right now.
Both Legault and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the provinces are in a second wave. Ford called the 700 new daily cases in his province extremely troubling. Of Monday’s cases, 344 were reported in Toronto,
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said Ontario must work to flatten the curve of the virus again to allow hospitals to respond without being overwhelmed.
Williams said people became too casual as virus numbers improved and restrictions were relaxed in late August, and he urged them to now be more vigilant. The latest figures prompted Ontario’s hospitals to call on the government to reinstate restrictions.
The Ontario Hospital Association said the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa should move back to Stage Two of the province’s pandemic response, which saw restrictions on non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters.
Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting.
ROB GILLIES
Mon, September 28, 2020, 6:23 PM EDT
TORONTO (AP) — Quebec is returning to a stepped-up lockdown in two of its biggest cities and the premier of Canada’s most populous province said he’s looking at all options after Ontario reported a record number of new cases on Monday.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said the two biggest cities in the Canadian province are returning to the highest COVID-19 alert level. Montreal and Quebec City are included in the “red zone” lockdown. Legault said there should be no guests in homes with a few exceptions for help. He also said restaurants and bars will close except for delivery.
He also said outdoor gatherings require two meters of spacing. He said the objective is to protect schools from closing again. Quebec reported 896 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the province’s highest single-day tally in months.
“This situation has become critical,” Legault said. “We must act strongly right now.”
The measures will last from Oct. 1 to Oct. 28. Legault said there is a lot of community spread right now.
Both Legault and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the provinces are in a second wave. Ford called the 700 new daily cases in his province extremely troubling. Of Monday’s cases, 344 were reported in Toronto,
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said Ontario must work to flatten the curve of the virus again to allow hospitals to respond without being overwhelmed.
Williams said people became too casual as virus numbers improved and restrictions were relaxed in late August, and he urged them to now be more vigilant. The latest figures prompted Ontario’s hospitals to call on the government to reinstate restrictions.
The Ontario Hospital Association said the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa should move back to Stage Two of the province’s pandemic response, which saw restrictions on non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and movie theaters.
Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting.
Ontario in grip of second Covid-19 wave that will be 'worse than first', officials say
Leyland Cecco in Toronto
September 28, 2020, 3:46 PM
Photograph: Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Ontario has set a new record for daily coronavirus cases, as the province officially entered its second wave of Covid-19, and officials warned that it will be “worse than the first”.
Related: Trudeau pledges tax on 'extreme wealth inequality' to fund Covid spending plan
Ontario logged 700 new Covid-19 infections on Monday – well above the previous highest daily total of 640 on 24 April – as the premier, Doug Ford, warned residents to expect a “more complex” and “more complicated” surge of the virus in the coming weeks.
“We know it will be worse than the first wave, but we don’t know how bad the second wave will be,” said Ford. “Our collective actions will determine if we face a wave or a tsunami.”
Ford called Monday’s numbers in Canada’s most populous province “deeply concerning” and pleaded for residents to download the country’s Covid-19 alert application.
New modeling from health officials suggests the province will hit a peak around mid-October, with new cases likely to exceed 1,000 a day, unless drastic action is taken by local and provincial governments.
The surge is a bitter turn for the province, which was able to get new daily infections below 100 earlier in the summer. But a gradual reopening – which eased restrictions on social gatherings and permitted indoor dining and drinking – has eroded many of the hard-won gains.
On Monday, Ontario also reported 36 new cases in schools, 27 infections among students. Of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools, officials have reported infections at 224 locations.
As public health officials grappled with the grim new figures, the president of Ontario’s hospital association called on the government to move swiftly in implementing new restrictions, including closing non-essential locations like gyms and movie theatres.
“We can no longer retain a false sense of security and belief that this will not happen to us,” Anthony Dale said in a statement. “At this rate, Ontario hospitals are facing a direct threat to their ability to continue to delivering the highest quality of care to Ontarians.”
Last week, Ontario reduced operating hours for bars and restaurants and ordered all strip clubs closed after a string of outbreaks.
“The numbers you will see this week were predictable, were predicted, and could have been prevented. It is very important to remember how we got here,” tweeted epidemiologist Dr David Fisman, calling on the Ford government to take new measures.
In neighbouring Quebec, the province recorded 750 new cases. The health minister, Christian Dube, called the situation in urban centres “very worrying” and warned that both Montreal and Quebec City would be designated as “red zones” later on Monday – the province’s highest alert level.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party has urged parliament to swiftly pass its Covid-19 relief bill, which promises income support and paid sick leave for residents. Opposition parties balked at the request, pointing out that it was the prime minister’s decision to prorogue parliament which prevented debate for nearly two months.
“What we have today is a government who wants 4.5 hours of debate for $50bn in taxpayer dollars,” the Conservative house leader, Gerard Deltell, said on Monday, calling the Liberals’ plan to fast-track legislation a “joke”.
Parliament is probably due to vote on the measures later in the week. With support from the leftwing New Democratic party, the Liberals are likely to avoid a fall election.
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