New as of March 17

The Province of Ontario Enacts Declaration of Emergency to Protect the Public

Significantly Enhanced Measures will Help Contain Spread of COVID-19

Today, the Government of Ontario announced that it is taking decisive action by making an order declaring an emergency. In doing so, Ontario is using every power possible to continue to protect the health and safety of all individuals and families.

As a result of this declaration and its associated orders, the following establishments are legally required to close immediately:

• All facilities providing indoor recreational programs;
• All public libraries;
• All private schools as defined in the Education Act;
• All licensed child care centres;
• All bars and restaurants, except to the extent that such facilities provide takeout food and delivery;
• All theatres including those offering live performances of music, dance, and other art forms, as well as cinemas that show movies; and
• Concert venues.

Further, all organized public events of over fifty people are also prohibited, including parades and events and communal services within places of worship. These orders will remain in place until March 31, 2020, at which point they will be reassessed and considered for extension, unless this order is terminated earlier.

Ontario is also investing up to $304 million to enhance the province’s response to COVID-19 by providing the following:

• $100 million for increased capacity in hospitals to assist with the effective treatment of COVID-19 patients both in critical care and medicine beds.
• $50 million for more testing and screening through public health, including additional funding to support extraordinary costs incurred to monitor, detect and contain COVID-19 in the province. This includes contact tracing, increased laboratory testing capacity and home testing.
• $50 million to further protect frontline workers, first responders and patients by increasing the supply of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies and equipment to protect them.
• $25 million to support frontline workers working in COVID-19 assessment centres, including the creation of a new fund to provide respite care, child care services and other supports as they are needed.
• $50 million for long-term care homes to support 24/7 screening, additional staffing to support infection control and additional supplies.
• $20 million for residential facilities in developmental services, gender-based services and protective care for children and youth to support additional staffing, respite for caregivers impacted by school closures, personal protective equipment and supplies and transportation costs to minimize client exposure and to support social distancing, as well as additional cleaning costs.
• $5 million to protect seniors in retirement homes through increased infection control and active screening procedures.
• $4 million for Indigenous communities to support transportation costs for health care professionals and the distribution of critical supplies.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or need mental health advice, please call the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region: https://www.dcottawa.on.ca/ or 
Distress: 613-238-3311  
Crisis: 613-722-6914 or 1-866-996-0991.

Ottawa Public Health
For the latest updates, please click here.

Government of Ontario
Every day at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.  ET, the Province of Ontario’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) web page will be updated with the most up-to-date information including the status of cases in Ontario.

Government of Canada
Please note: As of March 16, Canada will deny entry to non-citizens and non-permanent residents, with an exception for U.S. citizens, air crews, diplomats, and immediate family members of Canadians.
As of March 18, international flights will be permitted to land only at the international airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, in order to enhance screening. Incoming domestic flights, and those from the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean and from St. Pierre et Miquelon, can still land at other airports. Airlines will  prohibit individuals who are showing symptoms from boarding aircraft destined for Canada. 
The Government of Canada has issued a Global Travel Advisory. They are advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada until further notice. Learn more here.