Tougher COVID-19 restrictions come into effect Monday in three regions of Ontario. They come as the province broke through another record over the weekend for the number of daily cases.
Provincial officials are ratcheting up restrictions in London, Thunder Bay and the Haliburton area in response to COVID-19 numbers continuing to trend upward. The health minister said the aim is to be proactive now in a bid to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus and avoid broader closures.
Toronto and the Peel region to the west are the only areas under lockdown.
On Sunday, Ontario recorded 1,924 cases, the highest single-day number since the beginning of the pandemic.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also unveiled his COVID-19 vaccine task force, which has until mid-December to be prepared for an eventual vaccine rollout.
"We will be ready. We have a phenomenal team. We’re ready, we’re organized," said Ford, "and as soon as they land on our soil, they’ll be shipped out right across the province.”
The team is led by retired general Rick Hillier and includes Toronto’s former police chief, a bio ethicist, a trauma surgeon, an infectious disease specialist and a First Nations chief. The task force will determine who will get the vaccine, after healthcare workers and people in long-term care homes.
