COVID19 Ottawa/Xinhua: COVID-19 cases continued to spike on Friday in Canada with the two populous provinces Ontario and Quebec reported the largest single-day increase respectively.
The Ontario government confirmed 732 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the provincial total to 52,980. The previous single-day high was reported on Monday when 700 cases were confirmed.
Ontario Premier Dough Ford announced a provincewide mask policy and new restrictions targeting "hotspot areas."
Masks will now be mandatory throughout the province in all indoor public areas, on transit, and in workplaces where physical distancing isn't possible. The measure will be effective at 12:01 am Saturday.
Ford also announced restrictions targeting "hotspot areas" - Toronto, Ottawa, and Peel Region.
He said bars and restaurants will be limited to a capacity of 100 people and no more than six people will be allowed at each table.
Banquet halls will be limited to a capacity of 50 people and no more than six people per table while gyms will also have new restrictions on capacity, including limiting classes to 10.
Meanwhile, Ford advised Ontarians to limit close contact with anyone outside of their household and said all assessment centers will move to an appointment-only policy.
According to the COVID-19 modelling released by the Ontario government on Wednesday, the number of new cases in Ontario is now doubling every 10 to 12 days. Ontario could record 1,000 new cases per day by mid-October.
The Quebec government also announced on Friday that 1,052 more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours for a total of 76,273, the largest single-day increase since May 3.
Police set up checkpoints on Friday to limit travel between regions in hopes of curbing the spread in the province.
As of Friday afternoon, there have been 162,320 cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including 9,402 deaths, according to CTV.
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