Canada's Ontario returns to lockdown to slow coronavirus, report says

The Canadian province of Ontario will return to a lockdown on Saturday, widening restrictions on stores, gyms, restaurants and hair salons for 28 days in an effort to get Covid-19 under control.

According to CBC News, the restrictions would not be as tight as the province-wide lockdown that was imposed in December.

Some regions, including the city of Toronto, are already operating under similar rules.

Canada has recorded more than 982,000 cases of coronavirus as of Wednesday, with nearly 23,000 deaths.

Ontario added 2,333 new cases of Covid-19 on March 30, bringing its total case count to 349,903, according to Public Health Ontario. More than 17,000 residents have been hospitalised because of the disease, and 7,366 have died from it.

The number of patients in intensive care also rose to 421 on Wednesday, equaling the peak reached in January, according to Radio-Canada.

Essential services will remain open with capacity limited to 50 per cent, while non-essential shops will be reduced to 25 per cent.

Gyms and hairdressers will also be closed, although schools are expected to remain open until the week beginning April 12.

Ontario joins a growing number of locations, including France and Italy, that are returning to strict limits on social interactions in an effort to slow the latest surge of the virus.