Article content

Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency across the province Tuesday, invoking a little-used statute to grant his government broad powers to cope with the spreading COVID-19 outbreak.

In a rare early morning press conference at Queen’s Park, Ford ordered recreation centres, public libraries, private schools, daycares, bars, restaurants, theatres, concert venues and cinemas to close immediately and remain closed until March 31 at the earliest.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or COVID-19: Ontario Premier Doug Ford declares state of emergency, $300-million relief fund Back to video

“Right now we need to do everything we can to slow the spread of COVID-19,” an ashen-looking Ford said. “We must act decisively. We must not delay.”

Ford’s order Tuesday was the latest in an unprecedented and increasingly broad public effort aimed at minimizing and delaying the peak of the outbreak. The goal is to slow transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 and avoid the kind of spike in cases that has swamped hospitals in northern Italy, leading to untold numbers of preventable deaths. As of Tuesday, there are 180 cases of the novel coronavirus in Ontario — the most in any province. Nationally, cases have surpassed 420 with four deaths in B.C.