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4/5 The shutdown, which went into effect last Saturday, did not include a stay-at-home order -- contrary to a recommendation from Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table released last week. It also allowed all retail businesses to remain open for in-person shopping, although with reduced capacities. There was widespread criticism the shutdown did not go far enough, compounded after reports that large crowds gathered at malls over the Easter long weekend. Earlier this week, the medical officers of health for Toronto, Ottawa, and Peel -- three of the regions with the highest daily case counts -- called on the government to impose a stay-at-home order. Over the past seven days, Ontario has averaged almost 3,000 new cases each day, including 3,215 new cases today. More than half of the infections are in people under the age of 39. There are now almost 1,400 Ontarians hospitalized with COVID-19, including more than 500 people in intensive care units -- the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic. COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario over the past four weeks. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com) This story has been updated with additional information about the provincial state of emergency. https://kawarthanow.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ontario-covid-19-hospitalizations-march-7-to-april-6-2021.png