Stay at Home Orders Extended for Toronto, Peel and North Bay

Friday, 19 February 2021 at 13:17

The Province has also introduced what they are calling an "emergency brake" that will allow the Chief Medical Officer of Health to immediately move regions into lockdown.

TORONTO - The stay at home orders have been extended until March 8th for Toronto, Peel and the North Bay-Parry Sound district.

York Region will be allowed to transition out of the shutdown and into the revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework. Deputy Premier Christine Elliott made the announcement at 1:00 pm today.

"Our government's number one priority is the safety of all individuals and families, and that's why we are taking a gradual, cautious approach to returning regions to the Framework. These are difficult but necessary decisions, in order to protect against COVID-19 variants and maintain the progress we have all made together. Until vaccines are widely available, we continue to urge all Ontarians to follow public health advice and measures, and stay home, stay safe, and save lives."

Toronto, Peel and North Bay are staying in lockdown because of concerns over COVID-19 variants and high transmission rates.

Lambton Public Health region meanwhile is moving from the Orange-Restrict level to the Red-Control level as a result worsening public health trends in the region over the past week. Every other region is staying at the same level for at least another week, including Southwester Public Health.

Public health regions may be moved to a higher level within the two-week window, if necessary, based on the set indicators and thresholds outlined in the Framework. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams says Ontario has introduced an "emergency brake" to allow the Chief Medical Officer of Health, in consultation with the local medical officer of health, to immediately advise moving a region into Grey-Lockdown to interrupt transmission.

"While the health indicators have improved enough to allow us to return an additional region to the Framework, we are not yet at the point where we can safely transition back the remainder of the province. Everyone is strongly advised to continue staying at home, avoid social gatherings, only travel between regions for essential purposes, and limit close contacts to your household or those you live with regardless of which level of the Framework you are in."