Indoor dining, gyms to be closed and students pivot to remote learning in Mississauga, Hamilton, Oshawa and the rest of Ontario

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Published January 3, 2022 at 11:51 am

Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Get ready to bunker down one more time as the Ford government tries to get a handle on record-breaking COVID-19 cases that have dominated the headlines in the past few weeks.

You can say no to indoor dining and any indoor gathering (not in your bubble) greater than five for at least three weeks as capacity restrictions return to Ontario retailers, starting Wednesday.

Essential business will be limited to 50 per cent capacity and non-essential retailers will have to make do with just 25 per cent as the government takes another crack at stemming the time of the Omicron variant.

“We face a tsunami of new cases in the days and weeks to come and now we’re bracing for impact,” Ford said as he declared Ontario would return to a “modified” Stage 2 of the pandemic protocols starting Wednesday. “About one per cent of people who get the Omicron variant are expected to end up in hospital. That might not seem like much but one per cent of hundreds of thousands is too many. And the problem will only get worse.”

Ford called the pandemic the “greatest challenge” to our generation and promised that 2022 is the year “we will get through this.”

Theatres, museums, indoor sports and recreation, gyms and personal care businesses will be closed. Non-emergency surgeries will be “paused” as well.

The new/old protocols will be in place until January 26, at which point they will be re-assessed.

The Premier also said expanded financial support for small business will be forthcoming.

Students will have to pivot to at-home learning again until January 17, forcing parents to quickly make the necessary adjustments.

“We need to prioritize the safety of our kids and our staff,” Ford explained.

Absenteeism in both the schools and in hospitals and among emergency workers will soon become “unsustainable” without changes to the pandemic protocols, he added.

“This will be a bump in the road, A pretty big bump.”

This all starts at 12:01 a.m Wednesday January 5, 2022.

Here’s what’s closing in the City of Mississauga due to provincial COVID-19 restrictions.

 

 

 

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