The police in the Canadian capital Ottawa regained almost full control of downtown Ottawa on Sunday, after it had been paralyzed for 24 days due to the protest of truck drivers opposing the government's policy on containing "Corona".

The authorities reported that they arrested 191 protesters and removed about fifty vehicles that had been honking their horns for weeks in the city known for its calm.

After spraying the protesters with pepper spray and removing barricades some had taken refuge behind, the police escalated their approach at the beginning of the weekend, affirming that the time had come for the truck drivers to leave.

The police operation led to the dispersal of most of the protesters; however, the authorities said that the "police operation is still ongoing," explaining that they placed a fence around the Canadian Parliament building "to ensure that the reclaimed area is not lost."

The AFP correspondent at the scene saw only a handful of remaining protesters on Sunday.

Many of them refused to admit defeat, affirming that they will continue to apply pressure for the full lifting of the COVID restrictions, which are among the strictest in the world, despite some being eased in recent days.

Although calm has finally returned to Ottawa, the historic protest movement that began in late January may have permanent effects on political debates in the country.

The Canadian protest movement inspired others outside the country's borders, especially in France and New Zealand.

The police in the U.S. capital Washington are preparing on Sunday for the arrival of a convoy of truck drivers as President Joe Biden's annual State of the Union address to Congress, scheduled for March 1, approaches. In anticipation, a fence may be erected around the Capitol building.

Ottawa has not yet determined the final economic impact of the crisis, during which many major border crossings between the United States and Canada were also paralyzed, forcing many factories to suspend production.

Opinion polls show that Canadians who had supported the truck drivers' protest movement have distanced themselves from it in recent days.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not commented on the developments in downtown Ottawa. He appears to want to distance himself from the evacuation operation after being heavily criticized by the opposition for invoking the rarely used Emergencies Act during peacetime.