Ontario sets up checkpoints, locks construction in virus battle

Photographer: Galit Rodan / Bloomberg

In an attempt by Hail Mary to control a third wave of Covid-19, Ontario reveals the strict measures to restrict the movement of people, and the establishment of checkpoints with neighboring Quebec and Manitoba for the first time in the pandemic.

Prime Minister Doug Ford’s government has said it will extend an emergency home order to six weeks from four. The province is forcing non-essential construction sites to close and close recreational facilities, including golf courses, playgrounds and soccer fields. Important stores such as supermarkets and pharmacies will have to operate at 25% of normal capacity.

“My friends, we are losing the battle between the variants and the vaccines,” Ford told a news conference Friday afternoon. “The reality is that there are few options left.” Schools, restaurants, personal care services and many retailers were already closed.

What is really needed are more vaccines. If the province could triple its daily vaccination rate to about 300,000 a day, it would significantly improve its chances of getting the virus under control, Ford said. “Until we have more vaccines, we need stricter measures.”

The province is taking new steps and urges residents to take restrictions seriously.

Ontario reported 4,812 new cases within 24 hours, more than half of Canada, and a record for the region with nearly 40% of the population. This week, Canada surpassed the US for the first time in the number of new Covid-19 cases per capita.

“The biggest problem we’re dealing with right now is that we’re just too tired to notice it,” Adalsteinn Brown, a physician who co-chairs the Ontario Covid-19 Science Advisory Table, said earlier Friday in a statement. newsletter said. The advisory group says the daily business will exceed 15,000 a day in June with no further efforts to delay distribution.

Ontario needs to be ‘laser-focused’ on vaccinating people in the worst-hit areas and making sure essential jobs are safe. Even with increased vigilance, the province’s intensive care units will have more than 1,000 virus patients in the next few weeks, based on current cases, he said.

About 22% of Canadians have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, compared to 38% in the US and 49% in the UK, according to the Bloomberg vaccine detection. Securing enough stock was an ongoing problem. This week, some vaccination clinics in Toronto had to stop because they no longer had doses.

Modern Cuts

On Friday, Moderna Inc. Justin Trudeau’s vaccination tsar has announced that Canada will receive barely half of the Covid-19 shots expected to arrive in late April, due to a slower-than-expected start to planned production increases. Deliveries to the UK and other countries have also been cut.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Friday’s loads contained 650,000 doses instead of the planned 1.2 million doses. The manufacturer also warned that as many as 2 million of the 12.3 million shots completed at the end of June will be offered by the end of September.

However, Premier Justin Trudeau also announced an agreement to buy 8 million more Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE doses. Four million are expected to arrive in May, with two million each in June and July.

‘State of crisis’

The Canadian Medical Association acted urgently to address the ‘crisis situation in several provinces’. Healthcare resources, including vaccines, must be moved across provincial and territorial boundaries to areas where the system is overwhelmed, the association said.