Ontarians have received emergency alerts on their cellphones, radios and televisions telling them to stay home.
The emergency message on the province's stay-at-home order that took effect today was sent by the Ministry of the Solicitor General through the province's Alert Ready broadcast system.
The message asks people to only leave their homes for essential purposes such as food, healthcare, exercise or work.
It is the latest attempt to communicate new public health measures that came into effect today as COVID-19 case counts surge.
The province used a similar emergency alert in January to communicate the start of a stay-at-home order when COVID-19 cases spiked at that time.
Premier Doug Ford announced the latest stay-at-home order on Wednesday, saying it was prompted by a surge in cases driven by more infectious variants.