Stay at home, Ford tells Ontarians
Province reports another record-breaking tally of new cases
TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford implored Ontarians to stay home, avoid gatherings and follow other pandemic public health measures — “the best and only defence” available against COVID-19 in the absence of universal vaccine access — and warned that if they continue to be ignored, the ongoing provincewide shutdown won’t end as scheduled at the end of January, and Ontario will have to consider more extreme measures.
The province reported another record-breaking tally of new COVID-19 cases on Friday. While the 24-hour total of 4,249 infections includes approximately 450 cases attributed to a data upload delay at Toronto Public Health, it would still easily surpass the previous record high (3,519 cases, reported Thursday), if those Toronto cases were removed from the total.
There are 1,446 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the province (down 26 from the previous day), with 369 in ICU (up six) and 250 on ventilators (up eight). Twentysix additional COVID-19 deaths were registered Friday.
Speaking at a Friday morning press conference, Ford said Ontario has ramped up its rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and is quickly running out of doses. The whole province will be out of Pfizer vaccines by the end of next week, he said, and some hospitals, including The Ottawa Hospital, have said they’ll exhaust their vaccine supply by the end of this one.
‘We’re all hopeful the federal government will get us more vaccines,” the premier said. “Without them, hospitals will have to start cancelling appointments and all the progress we’ve made, getting our daily vaccine numbers up, will be lost, as clinics stand by waiting for vaccines from the feds.”
He said he spoke with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday night “about the need for more reliable vaccine supply to meet our rapidlygrowing capacity.”
However, Ford noted that Ontario has a long way to go before there are enough doses to vaccinate everybody.
“Until then, the best and only defence against this terrible enemy are the public health measures.”
Staying home, avoiding gatherings with non-household members, physical distancing, mask-wearing, hand-washing — this protects you and your loved ones, said Ford.
“If these basic measures continue to be ignored, the consequences will be more dire. The shutdown won’t end at the end of January, and we will have to look at more extreme measures. In the meantime, more people will get sick, our hospitals will become overwhelmed. So please, I’m asking all Ontarians, please stay home and save lives.”