Premier Ford announced a province-wide lockdown starting 12:01am December 26 — two weeks for northern Ontario, four weeks (to January 25) for the south — days before the holidays.
Criticism over the approach
Locking down the whole province rather than hot spots drew complaints from communities with cases under control, as did the post-Christmas start date. Ford countered that no community is immune, hospitals needed relief, and businesses deserved time to prepare — Toronto was already shut.
Why officials called it necessary
Ontario had reported 2,000+ new daily cases for a seventh straight day. Models projected up to 300 ICU patients by end of December and as many as 1,500 by mid-January without drastic change.
What you could still do
Essential services continued — and for households squeezed by the shutdown, unlocking the value in unused gold remained one practical option, handled safely and quickly.
Then and now: quick, safe gold transactions with the evaluation done in front of you.
