Local businesses will be crying the blues as tough new guidelines kick in at midnight to tackle the latest surge of COVID-19 in Toronto.

The measures, which will affect thousands of people, start on October 10 and will run for 28 days, and include an end of indoor dining at restaurants and bars, the closing of gyms, movie theatres, casinos, bingo halls, conference and convention centres, performance arts and racing venues.

After 28-days the measures will be reviewed by Ontario government health experts.

Schools, child-care centres and places of worship will remain open. Before-school and after-school programs will also be exempt from the new restrictions.

Personal care services where masks must be removed are prohibited, as are team sports games, scrimmages and interactive exhibits in places like galleries and museums.

Capacity limits are reduced to 10 people indoors for tours, real estate open houses and meeting and event spaces. Physical distancing must be maintained. Team sports will be limited to training sessions only.

Food courts in shopping centres can remain open but will be available for take-out only

Wedding receptions will be limited to 10 people indoors or 25 people outdoors effective Oct. 13.

The government is also asking people to only leave their homes for essential purposes. Travel to other regions in the provinces should also be limited but there are no travel bans in place.

“All trends are going in the wrong direction,” Premier Doug Ford said at Queen’s Park on Friday. He said the pandemic has picked up speed at “an alarming rate.”

Ford added that if current trends continue, hospitals could be overwhelmed with intensive-care unit placements tripling in less than 30 days.

The new restrictions come as Ontario marked a record 939 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, most of them in Toronto, Ottawa and Peel Region. Those regions have consistently reported the majority of new cases in recent weeks.

Hospitalizations have increased by 250 per cent over the past three weeks, with a total of 225 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday.

Ford has directed his finance minister to make $300 million available to support small businesses for 28 days, including waiving provincial and municipal property tax bills as well as hydro and natural gas bills.

The Ontario government said this month that they are also raising the pay of the province’s almost 150,000 personal support workers by $3 an hour until March due to their work fighting the virus.