By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Canada's most-populous province, Ontario, said it would introduce new restrictions to contain spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, among them delaying the start of in-class school instruction until Jan. 17.
Ontario said it would order bars, restaurants, gyms and museums to close for a three-week period, until Jan. 26. Retail outlets would be limited to 50% capacity. More important, the reopening of the schools is now delayed until Jan. 17, and in the meantime students will participate in online learning starting on Wednesday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province faced a "tsunami" of new Covid-19 cases in the weeks ahead, and the province's hospitals are recording a sharp rise in new admissions.
"This is a problem that will only get worse as we confront that looming wave of Omicron," Mr. Ford said. "We must do everything to protect our hospitals." Ontario is also instructing hospitals to delay all non-urgent surgeries.
Ontario joins Quebec and British Columbia in introducing widespread economic and social restrictions as Canada deals with a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. The three provinces account for about 74% of the Canadian population. Case counts in Canada are roughly three-quarters of what they are in the U.S. on a per capita basis, according to University of Oxford's Our World in Data. Late last month, Quebec ordered bars and restaurants closed and imposed a curfew requiring most residents to stay in their homes between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-03-22 1227ET
