"I'm doing everything I can to make sure that we get back to normal, get them back on their feet", Ford said at a news conference Wednesday while confirming that a portal for the government's long-awaited Small Business Support Grant - which was first announced in December of past year - will be launched on Friday.

The province has also announced new restrictions for the construction industry.

Opposition parties at Queen's Park responded to the announcement with dismay.

Effective Thursday, a stay-at-home order will come into effect and enforcement measures will be bolstered to catch violators, Ford said. The outdoor gathering limit was also reduced to five people.

On Tuesday, Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I. chief public health officer, said health authorities plan to fully vaccinate residents and staff within all of the Island's long-term care and community care homes by February 16.

Wearing a mask is also now recommended outdoors when physical distancing is hard.

The government has also restricted hours of operation for non-essential retailers now offering delivery and curbside pick up to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., and a five-person cap on outdoor social gatherings. 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.

"Walk around the block".

The premier said that "enforcement and inspections will increase" and that "bad actors" will get fined. "Urgent action is required to break this deadly trend of transmission, ensure people stay home, and save lives". By Jan. 20, Ontario's chief medical officer of health will provide recommendations for in-class learning for the remaining regions.

"We have looked, certainly, at the measures put in place in other jurisdictions, other countries, and curfews have been put in place with multiple other measures", Yaffe said.

Fortin says weekly deliveries will grow to one million each from both companies by April. Ford said that while his "heart breaks" for affected small businesses, "health trumps that right now". "They're having coffee, they're obviously not wearing a mask".

The latest COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern): 1:30 p.m. Quebec's health minister says the province plans to wait up to 90 days before administering booster shots to patients who have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Some Ontario officials, including Toronto Mayor John Tory, have called the instructions confusing.

Ford said the number of cases and deaths related to COVID-19 are at the highest since the start of the pandemic last spring.

A province-wide shutdown has been in place since December 26.

One-quarter of Ontario hospitals have no ICU beds available while another quarter has only one to two beds free.

Projections from the province show that under current restrictions, daily deaths from the virus will double from 50 to 100 between now and the end of February.

Public Health Ontario has reported more than 3,000 new cases of the virus almost every day this year so far.