Bustling Toronto braces for partial shutdown

TORONTO, March 18  -- Toronto, the largest city and financial hub of Canada, has been scrambling to get ready for an indefinite period of avoiding gatherings due to the COVID-19 spread.
   Ontario Provincial Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the province, where Toronto is the capital city.
   At grocery store ValueMart in midtown Toronto, there were lines at the checkout on Monday afternoon, which was rarely seen. The shelves of ginger and apples were nearly empty, while bread, meat, milk, juice and other high-demand items remained plentiful.
   "This store is not busy compared with Loblaws down the street," said Catherine Cook, a shopper in her 50s. "I saw a few people there wearing face masks. Here no one is wearing a mask," she added.
   At Drug Mart on Bayview Avenue, a saleswoman said that surgical masks, N95 respirators and "anything that contains alcohol" were sold out, but they had plenty of toilet paper. Just a few days ago, there were hundreds of bottles of hand sanitizer on the shelves.     
   All chairs, sofas and stools were empty at Starbucks on 65 Wicksteed Avenue, in stark contrast with a packed store over the weekend. It was converted to a pick-up only store since Monday. Business hours were also reduced by three hours per day.   
   At a fashion store in Toronto, a salesman said that they normally received about 100 customers on Mondays, compared with the only 25 on March 16. "We will cut the number of salespersons on duty from four to three from tomorrow," he said on condition of anonymity.
   Discount garment chain store Winners also saw much less activity. Long lines at the checkout were no longer seen.
   At the entrance of a SportChek store, a notice reads that operational hours would be shortened by three hours per day, effective on Monday.
   "The parking lot is a bit empty today," said Tyler Tablot, who rushed out of the Longo's grocery in midtown Toronto with two packs of toilet paper under his arms. "I would say there are 80 percent fewer cars compared with last week," he added.
   The book return slot at Leaside Public Library was sealed with a piece of white paper, which served as a temporary closure notice. The once cozy and hectic reading room, full of toddlers, school kids and the elderly, was no longer open.
   Schools, libraries, swimming pools, childcare centers and museums that run by the city government have been shut down since Saturday, in order to protect the elderly and the vulnerable from COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the coronavirus. The closures will remain in effect for at least three weeks.
   A total of seven COVID-19 assessment centers have been set up across Toronto in order to quickly expand screening and ease pressure on hospital emergency departments.
   Toronto's medical officer Eileen de Villa has urged all restaurants and bars to stop having seated customers and instead offer only takeout and delivery to help flatten the growth curve of virus infections.
   "We have recently seen a significant increase in cases of COVID-19, some of which are unlinked, and thus indicate community transmission," the health official told a press conference on Monday.
   She also called on all nightclubs, movie theaters and concert venues to close from Tuesday to help slow the spread of the virus.
   Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Canada's borders are closed to all travellers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents or U.S. citizens. Exceptions apply to airline crew, diplomats and immediate family members of Canadian citizens.
   As of Monday, Canada has reported 424 infections while there were more than 175,000 cases around the world. British Columbia Province in western Canada on Monday confirmed three more deaths at a local long-term care home, bringing the national death toll to four.
   Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam has urged Canadians to avoid any gatherings of 50 people or more, as the virus has killed 6,610 globally as of Monday.
   Non-client-facing employees at Canadian banks have been working from home. A senior manager in the audit department at ScotiaBank told Xinhua that half of his department started working at home last week and all of his department colleagues have been doing so since Monday.
   A back-office financial analyst at a food manufacturing company said it is a good time for the industry as people are scrambling to buy food before a potential shutdown. "However, it meant more workload for me even if I worked from home today," he said.
   A Walmart store in Scarborough set aside 7-8 a.m. on Tuesday as the time slot only for the elderly. Connie Sarvanandan, a mother of two kids, said that she hoped more stores would follow suit to show care for senior members of the society.
   In the seaside neighbourhood Facebook forum, several young people offered to deliver groceries to the living-alone elderly or single mothers.
   "I am pleased to see that our community is pulling together," said Lisa Ballinger, a midtown Torontonian.  Xinhua