The GTA just received the dreaded newsthat York Region will officially be joiningToronto and Peel ingrey-level lockdown, and residents are now fearing the worst for the area's malls in the coming days, including Markville, Upper Canada and the ever-bustling Vaughan Mills.

Vaughan Mills is going to be a shit show this weekend, now that York is going into lockdown on Monday

— Sonz (@haiitheresonia)December 11, 2020

The province of Ontario made the announcement on Friday afternoon thatnon-essential retail stores,bars and restaurants, gyms and other businesses in York and Windsor-Essex will have to shut down in-person operations starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 14.

Given how many customers haveturned out and lined up for hoursto get a chance to shop at Vaughan Mills and other centres that have remained open in the Toronto area in recent weeks, people are expecting that the weekend will be extremely hectic at the shopping attraction.

I plan to head to Vaughan Mills tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see how many other people will be there.

— AMW (@AllMediaWriter)December 11, 2020

Vaughan Mills saw massive crowds that started gathering before it even openedon Black Friday last month, and citizens哈ve generally been pretty nervousabout the crowds there since Toronto and Peelentered severe lockdownon Nov. 23.

Despite the fact that municipal and provincial officials have urged the population not to region-hop and to only leave the house for "essential" trips, residents of the two urban centres哈ve indeed been flocking to neighbouring communitiesto do basic things they can't do in their home city lately, such as dine at a restaurant or shop at a store for anything more than grocery items.

The parking lot at Vaughan Mills this weekend#lockdownpic.twitter.com/Y9BlQYAOeV

— Andrew (@HabsFanInTO)December 11, 2020

Numerous businesses in the Vaughan outlet哈ve been ticketedover the past few weeks for not adhering to COVID-19 health and safety rules, and many shoppers have stated on social media that in their experience, the mall has been extremely packed lately,hitting capacityquite early on in the day.

With just two days until the mall is shuttered for at least 28 days amid peak holiday shopping season and patrons only finding out about the impending Monday morning closure today, who knows how busy it will get.

Thanks for the heads up. That gives everyone just enough time for some frenzied holiday shopping at Vaughan Mills before they move on to Toronto Premium Outlets

— ageofstupidity2 (@ageofstupidity4)December 11, 2020

Hopefully the announcement for York doesn't mean the worst for Toronto: that its interlude in the most stringent form of pandemic shutdown will indeed be extended beyond the initial 28-day period, which is set to expire on Dec. 21.

The move would certainly be met with tons of backlash from citizens and businesseswho are already fighting backagainst the measures, especially seeing as the latest virus case stats are proving that the lockdown has not yet led to decreased infection numbers.