Ontario has announced new police powers to implement an extended stay-at-home order, in the latest sign that officials in Canada’s most populous province have lost control of the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
With a record number of new cases, there is a growing concern among experts that the already tense health system is still being pushed one step further.
“We are losing the battle between variants and vaccines,” Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford said Friday as he announced the new measures. “We are on our heels. If we dig, we stay steady, we can turn this around. “
Ontario police will now have the power to stop drivers or pedestrians and ask them for their address and why they are out. Residents could receive fines of up to $ 750 ($ 600) for refusing to comply. Checkpoints will be established at the provincial borders with Manitoba and Quebec to stop non-essential travel – but not at the US border.
The measures provoked an immediate and angry reaction.
“The general power of the police to stop such vehicles undermines our constitutional freedoms too much and will cause a racial eruption,” Michael Bryant of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said in a statement.
Ford has also announced restrictions on playgrounds, camping and outdoor sports.
And while most current cases involve front-line workers and essential workers, the prime minister did not mention any payment for the disease – a policy of health experts says it would help slow the spread of the virus.
The restrictions came as new modeling predicts more than 15,000 new cases a day in Ontario by June, if the current growth continues – even with vaccinations. If measures are weakened prematurely, the province could see more than 30,000 a day. Ontario announced a record 4,812 new cases on Friday.
The new modeling also projects that up to 1,800 residents could be in the intensive care unit by the end of May.
“[Our hospitals] they broke out at the seams, we set up field hospitals, ”Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the province’s scientific board, told reporters. “Our children’s hospitals admit adults. This has never happened before in Ontario. It has never happened in Canada before. ”
Ontario estimates that it will need more than 4,000 additional nurses in the coming months and has requested 620 nurses from all provinces and territories – especially those with experience in intensive care – as soon as possible.
Brown said that while the increase in the next two weeks is actually “ripe”, strong measures, including extending the home stay order and increasing vaccinations, could help limit the worst the third wave becomes.