#Covid lockdown ontario canada full

The Quebec government has provided more specific guidance. WATCH | COVID-19 surge prompts new restrictions:ĭuration 6:31 Featured VideoOntario and Quebec introduced a number of stricter public health measures this week after record numbers of coronavirus cases in the provinces.ĬBC News asked de Villa to clarify the 'flexibility' for people alone she had mentioned in her letter to the province, but she did not answer the question directly, repeating that it was important for people to restrict their contacts with others as much as possible. 'If you live alone, the safest option is to join with others virtually.' 'Please limit your Thanksgiving dinner to the people you live with,' de Villa said in a news briefing on Monday. That flexibility also doesn't appear to apply to Thanksgiving. 'Individuals who live alone may consider having close contact with another household,' the release said. The Ontario government also made reference to people living alone in a news release issued on Oct. David Williams.īut she also included a line suggesting 'flexibility for up to two individuals from outside their household to provide social support if an individual lives alone.' 'I recommend that individuals only leave their homes for essential activities, such as work, education, fitness, health-care appointments, and to purchase food,' de Villa wrote in a letter dated Oct. 2 to Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. ' sense of 'Oof, here we go again,'' Belding said.īut it appears that Toronto Public Health has taken notice of the hardship the spring lockdown had on people who were alone in isolation and may be prepared to make exceptions. More than a quarter of Canadians - and almost one-third of Torontonians - lives alone, according to the most recent data available from Statistics Canada. For many of them, retreating from in-person contact with friends and family and going back to a social life dominated by Zoom calls is a particularly daunting prospect. Her two-person social bubble with a friend who lives alone in the same building has provided a significant boost to her emotional well-being during COVID-19. Stephanie Belding, pictured near her downtown apartment, is one of many Toronto residents who live alone. 'Fighting COVID-19 demands we limit contact with people we don't live with.'ĭe Villa said that it's essential to stay two metres away from anyone outside a person's household. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's medical officer of health, in a news briefing on Sept. 'The concept of the bubble, or the social circle, no longer reflects the circumstances in which we live,' said Dr.

#Covid lockdown ontario canada full

Like so many others, Belding enjoyed a brief reprieve from isolation when the COVID-19 curve flattened during the summer and public health restrictions eased. The 49-year-old actor and trainer lives alone in a downtown apartment, but over the last couple of months there were plenty of opportunities to meet up with friends outside, where the risk of coronavirus transmission is considered lower.īut as COVID-19 cases, particularly in Ontario and Quebec, surged in recent weeks to alarming levels not seen since the spring, public health officials have been trying to reduce as much person-to-person contact as possible, while keeping schools open and avoiding another full lockdown. Stephanie Belding felt 'a sense of loss' when Toronto Public Health recently urged people to limit contact with others to within their own household.