TORONTO, Canada: Due to a record number of COVID-19 infections fueled by the ultra-contagious Omicron variant, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that all schools in Canada’s most populous province will close and return to online learning.

He also announced the closure of indoor dining, gyms and cinemas, while hospitals must postpone all non-urgent surgeries.

Ford highlighted projections showing the total number of patients in the province’s hospitals would exceed capacity within a few weeks, as Omicron is expected to surge.

“We are bracing for impact,” Ford said, stressing he is expecting a “tsunami” of cases and noting just one percent of 100,000 new cases a day could overwhelm hospitals.

Ontario has a population of more than 14.7 million people.

Regarding the lockdown, Dr. Andrew Morris of Sinai-University Health Network said, “They had no choice,” as quoted by the Associated Press.

“It was going to be brutal, one way or the other. Show me who is not facing these realities? Anywhere?” he added, noting that the U.S. has a much higher hospital capacity than Canada.

Dr. Chaim Bell, a hospital-based general internist at Sinai Health in Toronto, said Canada has one of the lowest number of hospital beds per capita in the developed world, with hospitals having little extra capacity for surges.

“How does one add hospital capacity? You need to add physicians and nurses, etc. They do not just appear,” Morris said.

Last week, the province’s government announced that schools would open on 5th January, but has now been delayed until at least 17th January.

Retail stores will also be limited to 50 percent capacity and indoor social gatherings will be capped at five people.

These new measures began on 5th January.