Ontario is closing schools and returning to virtual classrooms in addition to canceling all elective surgeries in hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Premier Doug Ford unveiled the new strategy on Monday. A plan that also includes several health measures targeting businesses and gatherings in order to contain the highly contagious Omicron variant.
All of these instructions will come into effect on Wednesday. The province’s chief medical officer of health explained that it was necessary to suspend all elective surgery in order to preserve hospital capacity in intensive care units.
Dining rooms in restaurants, training centers and other indoor gathering places will have to close their doors on Wednesday. In the case of personal care services and retail businesses, they will have to limit their reception capacity to 50%. Indoor gatherings will be limited to groups of five people.
In the case of the school closures, the measure is expected to last until at least January 17. Front-line health workers whose children are of school age will be able to benefit from free childcare.
13,578 new cases
Separately, Ontario reported 13,578 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.
Provincial public health has said the number of people infected is likely higher due to recent policy changes that have made screening tests less accessible to the general public.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said 1,232 people are hospitalized with the disease, including 210 in an intensive care unit. She said, however, that not all hospitals provide data on weekends.
The number of patients in intensive care is the average for the past seven days, said Minister Elliott.
The provincial government has not released an update on the number of deaths from COVID-19 due to public holidays.
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