Ontario establishes checkpoints, closes construction in the fight against viruses

Photographer: Galit Rodan / Bloomberg

In an attempt by Ave Maria to control a third wave of Covid-19, Ontario revealed it the strictest measures to date to restrict human movement, establishing checkpoints with neighboring Quebec and Manitoba for the first time in a pandemic.

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

“My friends, we are losing the battle between variants and 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 the daily vaccination rate to about 300,000 a day, it would significantly improve the chances of controlling the virus, health officials said on Friday, Ford said. “Until we have more vaccines, we need stricter measures.”

The province is left without new steps and begs residents to take restrictions seriously.

Ontario reported 4,812 new cases in 24 hours, more than half of Canada’s total and a record for the region that hosts nearly 40% of its residents. This week, Canada passed the US for the first time in the number of new cases Covid-19 per capita.

“The biggest problem we face now may be that we are too tired to notice,” Adalsteinn Brown, a physician who is co-chair of the Covid-19 Scientific Advisory Board in Ontario, said in a news briefing on Friday. before. Daily cases will exceed 15,000 a day in June, with no major efforts to slow the spread, the advisory group said.

Ontario needs to be “laser-focused” on vaccinating people in the worst-affected areas and ensuring the safety of essential jobs, Brown said. Even with increased vigilance, the province’s intensive care units will have more than 1,000 virus patients in the coming weeks, based on current cases, he said.

About 22% of Canadians have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, compared with 38% in the US and 49% in the UK, according to Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. Ensuring sufficient supply was a problem of operation. This week, some vaccination clinics in Toronto had to stop because they ran out of doses.

Modern Cuts

Friday, Moderna Inc. informed Justin Trudeau’s vaccine tsar that Canada would receive only half of the Covid-19 fires that were to arrive by the end of April, due to a slower-than-expected start to planned production growth. Deliveries to Britain and other countries have also been cut.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Friday’s deliveries this month will now contain 650,000 doses instead of the planned 1.2 million doses. The manufacturer has also warned that up to 2 million of the 12.3 million photos scheduled for delivery by the end of June will be delivered in return by the end of September.

However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced an agreement to purchase another 8 million Pfizer Inc.—Doses of BioNTech SE. Four million are expected to arrive in May, with 2 million each in June and July.

“State of crisis”

The Canadian Medical Association has called for urgent action to address the “crisis in several provinces”. Healthcare resources, including vaccines, must be moved across provincial and territorial borders to areas where the system is overwhelmed, the association said.