Covid-19: More restrictions in Canada as the virus continues rampaging

Ottawa - Canada on Wednesday afternoon reported 4,800 new cases of Covid-19.

As Covid-19 cases rise due to more transmissible variants spreading across Canada, populous provinces in the country are reinstating public health restrictions to stem the pandemic.

Canada on Wednesday afternoon reported 4,800 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the cumulative total to 1,025,693, including 23,170 deaths, according to CTV.

Ontario province declared its third state of emergency Wednesday afternoon since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic last year and is to impose a provincewide stay-at-home order that will go into effect at 12.01 a.m. Thursday and will last 28 days, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I can't stress this enough. Things are extremely, extremely serious right now. And I'm extremely concerned," Ontario Premier Doug Ford told a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

"The situation is evolving rapidly, hour by hour. And as things change, as we learn more about these deadly new variants, as we see new problems arise," Ford said. "We need to adapt. We need to move quickly and decisively. And right now, above all else, our plan is to get needles in the arms and protect our hospitals. That's why, today, on the advice of the chief medical officer of health I'm declaring a state of emergency."

Under the order, all non-essential retailers will close to in-person shopping, in-person dining will be prohibited, and gyms and personal care services will be shuttered. Big box stores will be allowed to remain open only to sell essential goods.

In neighbouring Quebec, Premier Francois Legault also announced more restrictions.

Gyms in red zones, which include Montreal, will close Thursday and places of worship will be limited to 25 people at a time. As well, beginning next week, high school students in Secondary 3, 4 and 5 will again attend class on alternating schedules while extracurricular activities will be stopped as some have proven to be the sources of transmission.

Legault said a 9.30 pm curfew currently in place in the Montreal area will not change, but the government may decide to move it back to 8 p.m. if the situation doesn't improve.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks announced that the ice hockey team's 21 players and four staff members had tested positive for Covid-19 and that the source infection was a variant.

It's unclear which Covid-19 variant started the outbreak, but the Canucks said genome sequencing was being performed by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.

"An ongoing investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health and club contact tracing staff attributes the source infection to a single individual obtained in a community setting, which has since been identified by public health as a public exposure location," the team said.

"This is a stark reminder of how quickly the virus can spread and its serious impact, even among healthy, young athletes," it added.