UPDATE: Ontario extends stay-at-home order by 14 days

Whitby, Ontario – The Province of Ontario has extensionended the stay-at-home order by an additional 14 days.  

When: The stay-at-home order, which went into effect on January 14, will now expire on February 9, unless further extensionended.

Where: Province-wide, including all eight municipalities in Durham Region.

What:  The stay-at-home order requirements, restrictions and enforcements include, but are not limited to:

• Everyone is to remain at home with exceptions for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work.
• In addition to limiting outings to essential trips, all businesses must ensure that any employee who can work from home, does work from home.

Additional restrictions

• Outdoor organized public gatherings and social gatherings are further restricted to a limit of five people with limited exceptions.
• Individuals are required to wear a mask or face covering in the indoor areas of businesses or organizations that are open.
• Wearing a mask or face covering is now recommended outdoors when you can't physically distance more than six feet. 
• All non-essential retail stores, including hardware stores, alcohol retailers, and those offering curbside pickup or delivery, must open no earlier than 7 a.m. and close no later than 8 p.m. The restricted hours of operation do not apply to stores that primarily sell food, pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores, and restaurants for takeout or delivery.
• Non-essential construction is further restricted, including below-grade construction, exempting survey.

Enforcement

• Ontario Provincial Police, DRPS, Durham Region Health Department public health inspectors, bylaw officers, and provincial workplace inspectors will issue tickets to individuals who do not comply with the stay-at-home-order, or those not wearing a mask or face covering indoors as well as retail operators and companies who do not enforce. 
• All enforcement personnel will have the authority to temporarily close a premise and disperse individuals who are in contravention of an order, and will be able to disperse people who are gathering, regardless whether a premise has been closed or remains open, such as a park or house.

These are just a few examples of the new changes that are now in place for Durham Region. For a full list of changes and for more information, visit ontario.ca.

Note: Stay home, stay safe, save lives. Support local businesses where possible, wash your hands frequently, stay six feet apart, wear your mask, and download the COVID Alert app.

Remember to visit durham.ca/COVIDCases for the latest available case information in Durham Region.

Together we remain #DurhamStrong.

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For media inquiries, please contact Corporate Communications.