Ontario imposes new rules on Peel, Toronto, Ottawa

TORONTO — Ontario announced new restrictions for Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa on Friday in an attempt to bring surging COVID-19 infections under control, a move critics said ought to have come days earlier.

Premier Doug Ford, who had repeatedly argued he hadn’t seen enough data to justify stronger measures, said the government had to take action to avert a crisis.

Starting Saturday, indoor dining at restaurants and bars in the three hot spot regions will be prohibited, while gyms, movie theatres and casinos will be closed.

The measures will be in place for at least 28 days.

The government is also asking all Ontarians to leave their homes only for essential purposes. Schools and places of worship remain open across the province.

“All trends are going in the wrong direction,” Ford said. “Left unchecked, we risk worse case scenarios first seen in Italy and New York City.”

The new restrictions come as Ontario marked a record 939 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, most of them in Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa. Those areas have consistently reported the majority of new cases in recent weeks.

Ford said that despite his resistance to further restrictions, the information presented to him by his health advisers on Thursday evening had changed his mind.

“I stood up here for days, fighting, saying we’ve got to keep ( businesses) going, but after the numbers I saw yesterday ... if I didn’t make this decision now, I’d be negligent,” he said, adding that the government has pledged $300 million in relief for impacted businesses.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said the sharp increase in daily cases was very concerning and action was required.

Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, who is advising the province on its pandemic response, said taking the targeted action could mean avoiding broader provincewide restrictions.

“Jurisdictions that are intervening early are getting better control of the pandemic,” he said.

Last week, health officials warned that Ontario could see 1,000 new cases a day by mid-October, and that rising infections among young people were driving the spread of the virus among all demographics.

Groups like the Ontario Hospital Association and Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, as well as Toronto’s medical officer of health had all been calling for targeted restrictions.