would be delayed. second stay-at-home order (january 14 – march 8, 2021) on january 12, 2021, citing models forecasting that ontario's health care system will be "overwhelmed" with cases and mortality exceeding those of the first wave unless actions are taken, premier ford declared a second provincial state of emergency and announced stricter province-wide measures, to take effect on january 14, 2021, at 12:01 a.m. et and last through at least february 11. these measures upgraded the province-wide shutdown to a stay-at-home order; all ontario residents were required to remain at their homes unless conducting an activity deemed essential. essential activities include shopping at grocery stores or pharmacies, receiving health care, exercise, or conducing essential work that cannot be performed remotely. remote work was mandated where possible. the province states that what is considered "essential work" is based on " best judgement and common sense of employers". performing arts facilities were required to cease all operations, even for virtual streaming concerts. all other restrictions enacted under the province-wide shutdown remained in force, and the colour-coded response framework was officially considered "paused" due to the declaration of emergency. certain businesses, such as liquor stores, hardware stores, and stores offering delivery or curbside pickup services, were required to close from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. nightly. non-essential construction activity was also suspended. outdoor gatherings were limited to five people, and guidance now recommends masks be worn outside (in addition to the existing indoor mandate) if social distancing is not possible. the closure of schools in hamilton, peel, toronto, windsor-essex, and york was extended further to february 10. the ontario provincial police (opp), municipal police departments, bylaw officers, and provincial workspace inspectors, had the authority to issue tickets to enforce the stay-at-home order and mask mandate, however they will not have the authority to stop drivers or pedestrians for questioning. premier ford stated plans for a compliance "blitz" of retail store inspections beginning the weekend of january 15. results of the inspection "blitz" revealed 36 of 110 stores visited in violation of covid-19 measures, or 70 percent compliance rate. the measures faced criticism for disproportionately favouring big box retailers, by not restricting the times of day in which they may offer curbside pickup or delivery services, or preventing them from selling non-essential goods. it also does not include funding to cover paid sick leave for essential and low-wage workers. on february 8, 2021, premier ford announced that the declaration of emergency would expire, but that the stay-at-home order would be extended in the majority of health regions to allow a gradual reinstatement of the response framework. the order was first lifted on february 10 in eastern ontario's hastings prince edward public health unit, the kingston, frontenac and lennox & addington health unit, and the renfrew county and district health unit. the stay-at-home order was expected to be lifted in most of ontario on february 16, excluding peel, toronto, and york (expected to occur on february 22), and any other area where the province believes it is not yet safe to lift the order. this was later amended to exclude york and include north bay-parry sound. even as the restriction is lifted, the province still encourages residents to stay at home whenever possible, and discourages social gatherings and non-essential travel (including travel between regions with different levels on the response framework). on february 19, 2021, york region was announced to be moving to red (control) on february 22 while toronto, peel and north bay-parry sound were to remain in a stay-at-home order until at least march 8. on march 5, 2021, the provincial government announced these last three regions would be moving to the response framework on march 8, officially ending stay-at-home orders originally in effect since january 14, 2021. response framework ontario covid-19 response framework tier criteria description 1 prevent weekly incidence rate per-capita (100,000) below 10 test positivity under 0.5% basic reproduction number(rt) less than 1 "stable" level of community transmission focused on promotion and education of indefinite stage 3 health measures until effective treatment or vaccine is widely available. 2 protect weekly incidence rate per-capita between 10 and 24.9. test positivity between 0.5 and 1.2%, rt approximately 1 "repeated" outbreaks across sectors, or an increasing number of larger outbreaks. targeted enforcement and education is used to control increasing spread. 3 restrict weekly incidence rate per-capita between 25 and 39.9 test positivity between 1.3 and 2.4%, rt approximately 1 and 1.1, "repeated" outbreaks across sectors and an increasing number of larger outbreaks and community transmission. contact tracing and hospital capacity "at risk of being overwhelmed" enhanced compliance measures are enforced to mitigate a heightened risk of infection. 4 control weekly incidence rate per-capita is 40 or higher test positivity above 2.5% rt is 1.2 or higher increased community transmission contact tracing and hospital capacity "at risk or being overwhelmed" broader public health measures are employed to mitigate a severe risk of infection. 5 lockdown trends continue to worsen after measures from control level are implemented. wide-scale public health measures, including business and organizational closures, are employed as a last resort to control worsened spread. 6 shutdown an "emergency brake". at the discretion of the government of ontario. similar to lockdown category, with restrictions on certain amenities. use during the second wave from november 7 – december 26, 2020 on november 3, 2020, premier ford stated that future modifications of restrictions during the second wave will be performed regionally using a colour-coded "response framework". the framework went into place on november 7. on november 11, it was reported by the toronto star that the ford government had allegedly ignored recommendations by public health ontario regarding the metrics used for the advisory system — which were four times narrower than what was actually implemented by the government. two days later, premier ford announced that the thresholds for each level would be decreased: for example, the criterion for the "control" (red) level was reduced from a weekly incidence rate of 100 or more per-capita, to 40 or more. regions included in each tier were adjusted to match the new thresholds effective november 16. ford stated that the original criterion was based on earlier models that had anticipated only 950–1,250 new cases per day by the time it was implemented and that he would not have used them if case numbers had reached the point they had on november 10. use during the third wave beginning february 8, 2021 due to the declaration of emergency and a stay-at-home order issued, the response framework was officially considered paused from december 26, 2020, to february 9, 2021. on february 8, 2021, premier ford announced that the response framework would be gradually reinstated to replace the stay-at-home order, beginning with the hastings prince edward public health unit, the kingston, frontenac and lennox & addington health unit, and the renfrew county and district health unit on february 10 (which reopened into the "prevent" tier). unlike the earlier revision, the "lockdown" tier will allow for non-essential retail with capacity limits (unless the region is subject to a stay-at-home order). the framework is now subject to an "emergency brake", where regions may immediately be placed back in the "lockdown" tier as a circuit breaker if health officials believe that the incidence rate is increasing too rapidly and the healthcare system is at a severe risk of being overwhelmed. as of march 26, health officials may impose a stricter lockdown (equivalent to the earlier province-wide shutdown) under the emergency brake as well. on march 20, further amendments to the response framework were implemented for restaurants; outdoor dining is now permitted in regions in the "lockdown" tier, and capacity limits for restaurants in the "control" and "restrict" tiers were increased from 10 and 50 customers respectively to 50 and 100, or 50 percent capacity, whichever is lower. additional modifications were announced on march 26; as of march 29, the "lockdown" category began to allow outdoor fitness classes of up to 10 people. personal care services were to be allowed operate by-appointment only at 25 percent capacity/5 people (whichever is fewer) in "lockdown" regions beginning april 12. in addition, subject to physical distancing, capacity limits were removed for outdoor religious services (including funerals and weddings) in all regions. third province-wide shutdown and stay-at-home order (april 3 – june 2, 2021) on april 1, 2021, amid rising new infections, particularly exacerbated by variants of concern and preceding the easter weekend, premier ford announced a third province-wide shutdown beginning april 3. all regions were moved to a new sixth level of the response framework, "shutdown" (white), re-imposing measures that were introduced during the first province-wide shutdown. this includes prohibiting all indoor organized events and gatherings, limiting outdoor gatherings to five people, capacity limits for retail (50% for essential retail, 25% for all other stores), and ordering the closure of all in-person dining (regardless of setting), daycamps, personal care services, sports and recreation facilities, meeting and event spaces, and cinemas, and capping capacity of religious services to 15 percent. all performing arts facilities must close, even for internet streaming events. the response framework is paused. premier ford faced criticism over the new shutdown (which resulted in only minor changes for health regions already in the "lockdown" tier), with leader of the opposition andrea horwath arguing that it was "a too little too late response by this government to what we knew was coming". on april 4, the medical officers of ottawa, peel region, and toronto sent a letter to the government requesting that a stay-at-home order be issued. on april 7, 2021, premier ford declared a third state of emergency and announced that a third stay-at-home order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. et on april 8, and last for four weeks. all ontario residents must remain at their homes unless conducting an activity deemed essential. essential activities include shopping at grocery stores or pharmacies, receiving health care, exercise, school, or conducting essential work that cannot be performed remotely. remote work was mandated where possible. ford explained that "the situation is evolving rapidly, hour by hour. and as things change, as we learn more about these deadly new variants, as we see new problems arise, we need to adapt. we need to move quickly and decisively. and right now, above all else, our plan is to get needles in the arms and protect our hospitals." all shutdown restrictions and all other restrictions from the previous stay-at-home order apply. furthermore, essential retail stores are only allowed to sell food, pharmacy items, and cleaning supplies, and all other non-essential goods are prohibited from being displayed or sold to in-store customers. in addition, retailers of assistive devices, automotive and equipment rental services, motor vehicle and boat dealers, vehicle and equipment repair services, prescription eyewear, safety supplies, and telecom services may operate at 25 percent capacity by appointment only. following criticism of photos showing displays of cloth masks blocked by local walmart stores, representatives of the government clarified that they were considered an essential good. the order does not include paid sick leave; premier ford accused those advocating for paid sick leave of "playing politics", and not directing people to the canadian recovery sickness benefit (crsb) instead (which is a retroactive payment), which he deemed sufficient. extension of the stay-at-home order and further restrictions on april 16, 2021, premier ford announced that due to record high hospitalizations and cases, the stay-at-home order had been extended through at least may 20, and that several additional restrictions will also be imposed. effective april 17, outdoor gatherings with anyone from outside of the immediate household are prohibited, all outdoor recreation amenities must close, allowable "big box" retail stores are restricted to 25 percent capacity, and all non-essential construction projects must be suspended. beginning april 19, land travel into ontario is restricted at the provincial border to essential purposes (transport of goods, medical care, work, and exercising treaty rights) only, and indoor places of worship are limited to 10 people. furthermore, solicitor general sylvia jones announced that police would receive enhanced authority to enforce the stay-at-home order, including being able to perform random stops of individuals they suspect are travelling in violation of the stay-at-home order. they could compel individuals to state their home address and purpose of travel; failure to comply with a