Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) The U.S. Canada border remains closed and Western New Yorkers have not been able to cross for over a year, but this still hits close to home. The entire province of Ontario is going into a month long shutdown starting Saturday.
Canada is in the grips of a third wave of Covid, due to surging case numbers and hospitalizations, and a slow rollout of the vaccine.
"This is a shutdown. It doesn't include a stay-at-home order, said Tiffany Hendsbee with CTV news in Toronto. "They want people to be able to get outside." The measures ban indoor public events and gatherings except for retail and grocery stores. Schools will also remain open.
"There will be no in-person dining at restaurants, gyms are closed, no haircuts," said Hendsbee. She said it's not quite as restrictive as it was over the Winter months.
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"We had over 2500 new cases in Ontario yesterday. The eighth straight day of over 2-thousand new cases. The big issue here has been variants. The UK variant now makes up a majority of cases here. Intensive Care Units are filling up again and doctors say they're starting to see younger patients in the ICUs."
Hendsbee said, personally, this is not a big change. "Toronto for example, has essentially been in lockdown since November. The only difference now is that we can't sit down at a patio [restaurant or bar]."
The big issue is the slow vaccine rollout. "It's not happening nearly as quickly as people want it to." As a comparison, New Yorkers 16 and older can schedule a vaccine starting Tuesday, April 6. "We're not even near that point," said Hendsbee. "The entire vaccine rollout has been plagued by delays in
delivery. Most of our vaccine doses are coming from Europe.Some are coming from the U.S. Ontario has over 14 million people and 2.2 million doses have been administered.
At this point, only people over 60 are eligible for the vaccine in Ontario. People over 55 can go to a pharmacy for the AstraZeneca shot.
None of this bodes well for a reopening of the U.S. Canada border. "It's not even on the radar at this point," said Hendsbee. "A couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister said he knows that people are itching to travel again, but now is not the time. It's not high on the priority list."