Coronavirus: Ontario declares 2nd state of emergency, issues stay-at-home order On Tuesday, the province issued a state of emergency and a stay-at-home order, which means all Ontario residents must stay at home except for essential reasons.Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, argued that from a public health point of view, restricting travel between provinces will help stop the spread of COVID-19.“From a public health standpoint, I think travel is an incredibly unsafe thing to do,” he said. “You get sick, and then you go back to your region and spread it.”He said regions in Canada that have managed to curtail coronavirus infections, like Newfoundland and Labrador, have.