PROVINCE SHUTS DOWN AGAIN

Premier Doug Ford made another tough call today, setting in place the province's third state of emergency since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and implementing a province-wide stay-at-home order.

The stay-at home order will go into effect at 12:01am Thursday and will last 28 days.

"I can't stress this enough. Things are extremely, extremely serious right now. And I'm extremely concerned," Ford said. “The situation is evolving rapidly, hour by hour. And as things change, as we learn more about these deadly new variants, as we see new problems arise, we need to adapt. We need to move quickly and decisively. And right now, above all else, our plan is to get needles in the arms and protect our hospitals. That's why, today, on the advice of the chief medical officer of health I'm declaring a state of emergency."

During this time, all non-essential retailers will close to in-person shopping, in-person dining will be prohibited and gyms and personal care services will be shuttered. Big box stores will be allowed to remain open only to sell essential goods.

People are being asked to stay at home except for essential reasons such as work, school, trips to a grocery store or pharmacy and for health-care reasons.

The province will not be closing schools and child-care facilities throughout the stay-at-home order.

In the meantime, vaccination clinics continue to be set up across the province. Premier Ford has promised that those who work in our education system will be prioritized to receive their vaccines, and residents who are over the age of 60 are now eligible to receive the vaccine.