Curfew not on the table as Ontario cabinet debates COVID strategy
Published January 11, 2021 at 5:38 pm
A curfew for residents in Ontario, such as the one in Quebec, is not on the table for consideration by government leaders here.
While Ontario’s cabinet will be debating new measures today (January 11) on how to fight skyrocketing rates of COVID-19, government sources say an overnight curfew was not recommended by public health officials.
This past weekend Quebec introduced a curfew that bans people from going out between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for special circumstances.
The discussion over additional restrictions in Ontario is to take place as the province recorded more than 5,000 deaths from the virus.
Premier Doug Ford said residents can expect an announcement on new measures on Tuesday.
“We worked all weekend … right until late hours last night,” he said as he arrived at the legislature ahead of tonight’s cabinet meeting.
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“We’ll be going to cabinet with recommendations,” Ford said.
The premier said Friday that the current province-wide lockdown could extend past January, along with new public health measures to respond to rising infections.
Officials in government and health-care have warned that surging cases are putting great strain on the health-care system.
The province reported 29 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Monday – along with 3,338 new cases –which brings the total number of deaths reported to 5,012 since the start of the pandemic.
The government said 1,563 people are currently hospitalized with the virus, with 387 people in intensive care and 268 on ventilators.
Peel Region is reporting 531 new cases today. Toronto has 931 new cases and York Region is reporting 241.
-with files from The Canadian Press
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