A sombre Premier Doug Ford is warning that a mandatory “stay home” order across Ontario may be necessary to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chiding Ontarians for not following health officials’ recommendations to remain in their homes, the premier emphasized Monday he may have no choice but to impose more restrictions during the crisis.

“Everything’s on the table. If I get advice from our chief medical officer and our (virus) command table, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on that,” he said.

To that end, Ford announced Monday night the government is closing “all communal or shared, public or private, outdoor recreational amenities everywhere in Ontario, including … playgrounds, sports fields, basketball and tennis courts, off-leash dog parks, beaches, skateboard and BMX parks, picnic areas, outdoor community gardens, park shelters, outdoor exercise equipment, condo parks and gardens.”

Parks, trails, ravines, and conservation areas will remain open for walk-through access only but people must remain at least two metres apart. Scofflaws could face cash fines.

Ford, who extended Ontario’s state of emergency for another two weeks, said it was “shocking” to see so many people out and about in Toronto over the weekend.

“It was a beautiful weekend, the sun was shining and it was nearly 20C out — and from what I saw … the streets were packed,” the premier told a Queen’s Park teleconference.

“And that’s unacceptable,” he said, adding any such moves forcing people to stay home would be done in conjunction with the federal government.

Imploring people to do their part by co-operating with officials, Ford indicated that he does not want to see martial law or nightly curfews in Ontario.

“We don’t have enough police in this province to monitor 14.5-million people,” he said, reiterating that “we need every person in this province to take a hard look at their habits” and behave responsibly.

“Because as I’ve always said, every option is on the table. We’re prepared to take further action if we do not see the spread of this virus slow down in the coming days.”

While Ontario has already decreed that only “essential” services can remain open — such as supermarkets, pharmacies, LCBO stores, among other retailers — Ford stressed more limits may be necessary.

“It’s easy to turn on the TV and think what’s happening in Europe can’t happen here. But it can happen anywhere. Our story in Ontario can be different that Italy’s and Spain’s, but only if we all take this seriously.”

Ford said if Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, recommends more sweeping measures to contain the virus, he will “immediately” act.

“When they gave us the advice about (closing) the schools, we acted within an hour — similar to the emergency shutdowns. We’ll be discussing that today. Everything is on the table right now — absolutely everything.”

Indeed, schools were supposed to reopen next Monday, which Ford said is not realistic. It is expected students could be out of classes for many more weeks for their own safety and that of their teachers.

The premier said he sympathized with people feeling “squirrelly and stuffy” being cooped up at home during isolation.

“I understand. It’s warm, spring is in the air, and people want to get out,” he said. “But right at this time, the more we can reduce the spread of this virus the quicker we can get through this.”

Ford’s comments followed a statement earlier Monday from Williams urging Ontarians to “do more” to fight the coronavirus.

The premier’s concern is that Ontario hospitals could be overwhelmed if COVID-19 is not contained.

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“If there’s a massive surge of people coming into our hospitals in the next two weeks, our supply lines will be seriously challenged,” said Ford.

“So, every week, every day, every hour we can push back that surge is another week, another day, another hour that we have to prepare,” he said.

“The hard truth is the more time we have, the more lives we can save. If we push that surge as far away from today as possible, we will save lives. And we can’t do this without your full support.

“Every day we’ve stood here and told you how you can stop the spread of this virus. If you can, please, please stay home.”

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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