Provincewide stay-at-home order expected as Hamilton battles third COVID wave

Hamiltonians can expect to find themselves under a stay-at-home order, along with the rest of the province, as Ontario tries to control a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, sources tell The Canadian Press.

Premier Doug Ford is expected to make the announcement at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. Sources say the order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning and last for four weeks.

The looming order comes as Hamiltonians barely had a chance to catch their breath in the grey zone, let alone the shutdown phase. Just over one week ago, the city was bumped up from the red zone into the more restrictive grey zone as our COVID cases continued to climb. Then, on Thursday, Ford announced the entire province would move into a shutdown" phase on Saturday.

Now, just four days into that shutdown, the stay-at-home order will require further recalibration.

Under a stay-at-home order, only stores selling essential goods will be allowed to remain open during the four-week period. The key differences between the grey zone and shutdown included the closure of patio dining, the limit of people allowed to gather outdoors dropping from 10 to five, and businesses such as hair salons and tattoo shops that were set to reopen April 12 required to remain closed.

A provincewide stay-at-home order was last imposed on Boxing Day. It lasted longer than a month.

The Spectator will have an update after today's 2 p.m. announcement with more information about what the order means locally.

Hamilton's medical officer of health called for a provincewide stay-at-home order on Tuesday to stop the spread of COVID variants that are threatening to shut down schools and overwhelm the health-care system.

- With files from the Canadian Press.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com