O. Reg. 11/21 – Stay-At-Home Order

Description

  • This emergency order required individuals remain at home, except for specified purposes in the emergency order, to reduce the transmission of COVID‑19, preserve public health system capacity and safeguard vulnerable populations.
  • This emergency order came into effect January 13, 2021.

Why the emergency order was needed

  • Prior to making this emergency order, daily case numbers in the province were increasing at an accelerating rate and key public health system capacity indicators had also reached concerning levels.
  • Escalating case counts led to increasing hospitalization rates and Intensive Care Unit occupancy, resulting in disruptions to scheduled surgeries and procedures.
  • Without action taken, the health care and public health system would have become completely overwhelmed and unstainable, resulting in more deaths and illness.
  • Evidence from other jurisdictions suggested that with new, more infectious VOCs detected in Ontario, reducing rates of transmission could become even more challenging.

Amendments

  • The emergency order was amended on February 8, 2021 to apply only to individuals residing in a PHU region with a specific Stay-At-Home Order.
  • This amendment allowed public health and workplace measures to continue to apply in targeted PHU regions with unfavourable public health trends, resulting in 31 PHU specific Stay-At-Home orders below.

Revocation/continuation under the EMCPA

  • The emergency order was continued after the termination of the second declared emergency.
  • The emergency order was revoked on March 8, 2021 as it was no longer necessary once the emergency orders that applied the terms of this emergency order to individual PHU regions were revoked.

Emergency orders made that applied the terms of O. Reg. 11/21 (Stay-At-Home Order) to individual PHU regions

Description

  • There were 31 emergency orders made that applied the terms of O. Reg. 11/21 – Stay-At-Home Order to the individual PHUs specified in the emergency order. The 31 emergency orders were:
    1. O. Reg. 93/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Brant County Health Unit)
    2. O. Reg. 92/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Chatham-Kent Health Unit)
    3. O. Reg. 91/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (City of Hamilton Health Unit)
    4. O. Reg. 90/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (City of Ottawa Health Unit)
    5. O. Reg. 89/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (City of Toronto Health Unit)
    6. O. Reg. 88/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (The District of Algoma Health Unit)
    7. O. Reg. 87/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Durham Regional Health Unit) 
    8. O. Reg. 86/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (The Eastern Ontario Health Unit)
    9. O. Reg. 85/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Grey Bruce Health Unit)
    10. O. Reg. 84/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit)
    11. O. Reg. 83/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit)
    12. O. Reg. 82/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Halton Regional Health Unit)
    13. O. Reg. 81/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Huron Perth Health Unit)
    14. O. Reg. 80/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Lambton Health Unit)
    15. O. Reg. 79/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit)
    16. O. Reg. 78/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Middlesex-London Health Unit)
    17. O. Reg. 77/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Niagara Regional Area Health Unit)
    18. O. Reg. 76/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit)
    19. O. Reg. 75/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Northwestern Health Unit)
    20. O. Reg. 74/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Oxford Elgin St. Thomas Health Unit)
    21. O. Reg. 73/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Peel Regional Health Unit)
    22. O. Reg. 72/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Peterborough County — City Health Unit)
    23. O. Reg. 71/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Porcupine Health Unit)
    24. O. Reg. 70/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit)
    25. O. Reg. 69/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Sudbury and District Health Unit)
    26. O. Reg. 68/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Thunder Bay District Health Unit)
    27. O. Reg. 67/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Timiskaming Health Unit)
    28. O. Reg. 66/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Waterloo Health Unit)
    29. O. Reg. 65/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit)
    30. O. Reg. 64/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (Windsor-Essex County Health Unit)
    31. O. Reg. 63/21 – Stay-At-Home Order (York Regional Health Unit)
  • These emergency orders came into effect on February 8, 2021.

Why the emergency orders were needed

  • Once a provincial emergency declared under section 7.0.1 of the EMCPA is terminated, new emergency orders cannot be made. Any emergency orders made during the declared emergency can be extended, where necessary, but can no longer be amended.
  • Given this limitation, these emergency orders were needed to enable a gradual return to a regional approach under the provincial framework, following the termination of the second declared provincial emergency.
  • Specifically, making these 31 individual emergency orders allowed for the targeted lifting of the restrictions in O. Reg.11/21 (Stay-At-Home Order) following the termination of the second declared provincial emergency. This was based on a review of local PHU trends and public health indicators and in consultation with the local Medical Officer of Health for that PHU region.
  • A PHU-specific Stay-At-Home emergency order was not made for three PHUs as the emergency order was no longer considered necessary for those PHUs at that time. The terms of O. Reg. 11/21 (Stay-at-Home Order) no longer applied to the following PHUs starting February 10, 2021:
    1. Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit
    2. Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit
    3. Renfrew County District Health Unit

Amendments

  • These emergency orders were not amended.

Revocation/continuation under the EMCPA

  • These emergency orders were continued after the termination of the second declared emergency.
  • By March 8, 2021, these emergency orders had all been revoked as they were no longer necessary based on a general improvement in trends of key public health indicators in all PHU regions.