Shutdown extended to June 2-updated

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Thursday, May 13, that the province-wide COVID-19 shutdown would be extended by at least two weeks. It will now end by June 2 at the earliest.

“We’ve made some extremely hard choices in order to protect the hospitals. We’ve all made great sacrifices to stop the rampant spread of COVID-19 variants.

“Today, I can say they’re working. The situation is slowly trending in the right direction. We’re not out of the woods yet. Our hospitals are still under immense pressure,” fuelled by variants considered more contagious or creating more severe symptoms than the original strain of COVID-19.

Premier Ford said his goal now was to have the most normal July and August possible for Ontarians, but that wouldn’t include large sporting events or concerts.

Explaining the extension of the shutdown, he said they were needed to drive down the number of new cases and ease the pressure on hospitals.

“These are precious weeks we won’t put to waste.” Over 130,000 residents a week were now being vaccinated, and by June 2 he expected outdoor recreational facilities would be allowed to re-open, but that couldn’t be rushed.

Premier Ford said some doctors were calling for the re-opening of in-person learning in schools, but unions representing teachers disagreed.

The two sides needed to sit down and come up with a consensus on how to proceed, he said.

Starting May 31, he added, children 12 through 17 and any un-immunized members of their families would become eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.

That would be the best tool to ensure a safe and healthy return to in-person learning, he asserted.