Ontario extends stay-at-home order to June 2 as COVID-19 cases trend down

TORONTO: Ontario will extend its stay-at-home order for an additional two weeks to June 2, as COVID-19 cases finally begin to trend downwards in one of Canada's hardest hit provinces, Premier Doug Ford said on Thursday.

Hospitals in Canada's most populous province were close to being overwhelmed in the latest pandemic wave due to a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by more easily transmitted coronavirus variants and a reopening that many health experts said happened too soon. Ford said that children ages 12 to 15 and their families will be able to book vaccine appointments as of May 31, although he did not say when schools in the province would return to in-person learning.