What Ontario residents have been fearing was indeed confirmed this afternoon: The province is pulling the emergency brake and going into a full shutdown for four weeks, starting this weekend.

As of 12:01 a.m. on April 3, the majority of businesses in all regions, regardless of the coloured reropening zone they're currently in, will have to cease in-person operations, including bars and restaurants, hair and nail salons, gaming establishments, meeting and event venues, cinemas, and gyms.

Grey zone areas like Toronto and Peel will lose outdoor dining, which we just got back less than two weeks ago, along with the hope to access personal care services again, which were due to resume on April 12 after 20 weeks of salons being forcibly shuttered.

For more open regions, such as the two presently in green, the three in orange or the 16 in red, more liberties will be revoked, including things like indoor dining and gym access, which some parts of the province have been enjoying since emerging from our last provincial shutdown.

All of Ontario will now be put into shutdown mode, which is indeed scary, but still permits some activities, thankfully.

Still open are:

• Essential retail stores such as supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience stores, which can operate at 50 per cent capacity, as in grey
• Non-essential retail stores such as clothing shops, liquor stores, big box stores, hardware stores, and malls, which can operate at 25 per cent capacity, as in grey
• Golf courses
• Schools and child care centres
• Indoor religious services can continue with 15 per cent capacity limits, while outdoor services are capped to the number of people that can safely distance at least two metres from one another
• Curbside pickup, drive-thru and delivery options for all bars, restaurants, cafes and retailers of any kind
• Essential services like public transit, construction projects, manufacturing and warehouses that provide essential products or packaging, distribution and delivery (despite concerns of outbreaks in some of these settings)

Private indoor gatherings will be prohibited, as they already are in grey zones, while outdoor gatherings will be capped at five people, with an exception for larger groups that live together, or people who live alone and are with another group.

This time around, there is no stay-at-home order in effect, and residents are being encouraged to get out and enjoy the outdoors.