Ontario on Thursday will begin a four-week stay-at-home order and close in-store shopping for non-essential retailers, Premier Doug Ford said on Wednesday, as the Canadian province battles a surge of COVID-19 cases.
"The situation is extremely serious. We need to hunker down right now," Ford said at a briefing in Toronto.
"What we do until we start achieving mass immunization will be the difference between life and death for thousands of people," he said.
The order requires people in Canada's most populous province to stay in their residences except for essential reasons, including exercise, vaccination appointments or grocery trips.
Last week, Ontario shuttered all indoor and outdoor dining, a move that fell short of what the government's expert advisory panel said was necessary to avoid catastrophically high COVID-19 case numbers.
As of Thursday, all retailers except grocery stores, pharmacies and sellers of gardening supplies will close for four weeks, although curbside pickup will be allowed. Big box stores can remain open, but with capacity limits and only certain products including groceries, pharmacy and gardening materials available for in-store purchase. Industry groups had criticized Ford for allowing big box stores to remain open during past lockdowns while shutting small businesses.
Retailers considered essential can open for in-store shopping by appointment only. These include medical device supply and repair shops, optical stores and auto mechanics.
