As March break week begins, Ontario’s top doctor has warned residents against leaving the country unless absolutely necessary and recommended the “immediate suspension” of all events with more than 250 people to fight COVID-19.

Chief medical officer Dr. David Williams also called on colleges and universities Friday to consider putting classes online, which the University of Toronto, York University and others have since announced.

“As the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to evolve globally, I am asking all Ontarians to immediately take a number of enhanced measures over the coming weeks,” he said in a statement.

Ontario announced another surge in cases Friday morning, an increase of 20 to a total of 74, on top of a surge of 17 Thursday. Details of several cases were not revealed, so it is not known if they were travel-related or if community person-to-person spread is beginning.

Williams urged residents “to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada” as the new coronavirus that originated in China takes deeper hold in a number of countries, including the U.S., where at least four of Friday’s new cases had travelled recently.

Two others involved travel to Egypt and one, case number 66, is a woman in her 40s who travelled to England — a description that fits Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is ill and self-quarantining in Ottawa while her husband is in self-isolation.

Williams escalated his previous day’s warning about large gatherings, lowering the threshold of concern to 250 people from 1,000 because of “the risk of attending public gatherings” and calling on residents to keep their distance from others “to manage the spread of illness.”

He urged licensed child-care centres to “actively screen” children, parents, staff and visitors for any novel coronavirus symptoms and travel history that may be related to areas hit by COVID-19.

“It is critical that we keep COVID-19 out of our child-care spaces,” Williams added.

He noted most people who contract the virus will have mild illnesses but it remains important to stay home from work and school if sick to limit the spread, particularly to the elderly and others of any age at increased risk of serious illness because of underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and lung problems.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission warned employers have a duty to accommodate employee needs related to COVID-19.

“An employer may not discipline or terminate an employee who is unable to come to work because medical or health officials have quarantined them or have advised them to self-isolate and stay home,” the commission said in a statement.

“Employers should be sensitive to other factors such as any particular vulnerability an employee may have (for example, if they have a compromised immune system).

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