Coronavirus: Canada vaccine protests ‘out of control’; Russia reaches 180,000 cases daily
- Ottawa’s mayor declared a state of emergency to help deal with a 10-day occupation by protesting truckers that has shut down much of the Canadian capital
- Elsewhere, in Russia new cases rise tenfold; Israel’s severely ill reach record high; new health organisation for African nations in response to pandemic
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson on Sunday declared a state of emergency to help deal with an unprecedented 10-day occupation by protesting truckers that has shut down much of the core of the Canadian capital.
“(This) reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” he said in a statement.
Watson, who complained earlier in the day that the demonstrators outnumbered police and controlled the situation, did not give details of what measures he might impose.
The protesters, who first reached the capital on January 29, have parked their big rigs on city streets and put up tents and temporary shacks – paralysing the capital to the consternation of officials and the mounting frustration of many residents.
“The situation at this point is completely out of control,” Mayor Jim Watson told a local radio station, adding that the protesters “have far more people than we have police officers.”
“Clearly, we are outnumbered and we are losing this battle,” he told CFRA radio. “This has to be reversed; we have to get our city back.”