Ontario Premier Doug Ford is declaring a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I want to be very clear about what this means and what this doesn't mean. This is not a provincial shut down. I repeat, this is not a provincial shut down. The vast majority of businesses, including those most vital to day-to-day life will not be affected by this order," he says. "The first order under this declaration will be the prohibition of organized public events of over 50 people including parades, events, and services within places of worship until March 31.
The following establishments are being ordered to close, effective immediately, until March 31:
• All facilities providing indoor recreational programs.
• All public libraries
• All private schools as defined in the Education Act.
• All licensed child care centres
• All bars and restaurants (except for takeout and delivery)
• All theatres, including those offering live performances of music, dance, other art forms, cinemas, and concert venues
Ford also announced the province's first phase of its COVID-19 relief plan, worth $300 million. "We're going to bring 75 more critical beds online, 500 post-acute beds, and help hospitals set up 25 more COVID-19 assessment centres. We're backing up our front line public health workers with more resources for monitoring and testing and we're purchasing more personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, and surgical gowns for our nurses, doctors and personal support, as well as more ventilators."
Long term care homes will be provided 24/7 health screening support for staff and visitors, additional staff for infection control and cleaning supplies. "We're supporting our health professionals. We're providing funding to backfill 1,000 nurses and 1,000 personal support workers to support capacity during the outbreak. We're also providing funds for 50 physicians to cover emergency departments, urgent care, and primary care in indigenous, rural, and remote communities."
Mayor Tory's statement on the province of Ontario declaring a State of Emergency
“Today, the Government of Ontario announced it was declaring a province-wide State of Emergency as part of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This declaration will help the province and all cities, including Toronto, protect the health of our residents and further prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In my conversations with Premier Doug Ford, Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark, and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones this morning, I thanked them for taking this decisive action and told them I fully support this declaration.
The declaration legally requires all bars and restaurants, except to the extent that such facilities provide takeout food and delivery; all theatres; all facilities providing indoor recreational programs; all public libraries; all private schools as defined in the Education Act; and all licensed child care centres to close immediately.
All organized public events of over fifty people are also prohibited, including parades and events and communal services within places of worship.
This follows the City of Toronto Medical Officer of Health's strong recommendation on Monday for dine-in restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and theatres to temporarily close to fight COVID-19 and the closure of all City facilities, including libraries and recreation centres, which was announced on Friday.
Governments are working together and taking unprecedented action to save lives and protect the success of our city, our province and our country.
I hope the seriousness of this declaration will make it clear to every resident how important their personal actions will be in the coming days. If people can stay home then stay home and limit your interactions with other people. We know from our medical professionals that engaging in social distancing will protect people's health and the health of their family and their neighbours.
Our public health experts have been clear that every opportunity to avoid interactions with others helps to prevent the spread of this virus. Every interaction that people avoid helps to flatten the curve.
We will continue to follow the advice of our public health professionals to make sure we are doing everything possible to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and protect our residents and our city.
I continue to thank our frontline workers – including our public health nurses and all those working in our hospitals 24/7 – for the important service they are doing helping people and responding to this pandemic. It is their efforts that will ensure we get through this pandemic and come out stronger than ever. And I am confident that will get through this pandemic because of all the preparation we have done ahead of time and all the hard work being done by so many people right now."