The Ford government has unveiled what it’s calling a Roadmap to Reopen, keeping the doors closed at many businesses shuttered by lockdown measures until at least July.
Health Minister Christine Elliott detailed the province’s three-step plan at Queen’s Park Thursday afternoon.
“When it is time to exit the provincewide emergency brake, we will begin first with the settings that we know are the safest,” Elliott says.
The province’s re-opening plan is limited, gradual and tied to vaccination targets and public health/healthcare system indicators. It does not include any guidance about when Ontario will look to end most pandemic restrictions, which Quebec, Saskatchewan and many American states have communicated in their re-opening targets.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure we’re opening things up, and giving people back part of their ability to move, travel and do those types of things,” says Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker. “We’ll do it as quickly as we can. But we have to do it in a measured sense.”
“To set people up and say we’ll do it by this date, if you can’t control variables, in our mind doesn’t make sense.”
Schools across the province will remain closed for now. A release from the Ontario government says data is assessed on an ongoing basis and medical experts will be consulted to determine if it may be safe to resume in-person learning.
The province’s stay-at-home order is currently in place until at least June 2. A release from the Ontario government says the provincewide emergency brake restrictions will continue as it assesses when it will move to the first phase of the Roadmap to Reopen. The current expected date for the first phase is around June 14.
Minister Elliott says the province will remain in each step for at least 21 days to monitor impacts of public health and health system indicators, and ensure vaccination thresholds are met.
A release from the province says the start of Step One requires 60 per cent of all adults to have received one dose. Seventy per cent of adults will need one jab, and 20 per cent two shots to proceed to Step Two of the re-opening plan. For Step 3 to start, the two-dose threshold rises to 25 per cent of adults.
BUSINESS CLOSURES
The province’s roadmap won’t allow many businesses forced closed by lockdown measures to re-open until July at the earliest.
Given the 21-day threshold, if the province starts the Roadmap to Reopen the week of June 14 as expected, the earliest date personal care services would be permitted to open would be around the week of July 5.
Indoor meeting and events spaces, gyms, movie theatres, museums, art galleries, libraries, casinos and indoor dining at restaurants would re-open no earlier than the week of July 26.
ROADMAP OUTLINE
During the first phase of the three-step plan, outdoor gathering limits will increase to 10 people, outdoor dining permitted with up to four people per table and non-essential and essential retail capacities increased to 15 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.
Outdoor religious services and outdoor sports of up to 10 people will be allowed. Step One also includes the opening of daycamps, campsites and campgrounds, Ontario Parks, outdoor horse racing and motor speedways and outdoor pools and splash pads.
In Step Two, gathering limits increase to 25 people outdoors, and indoor gatherings of up to five people are permitted. Capacity limits also expand further for retailers and outdoor dining, while several types of outdoor businesses and events including amusement and water parks, fairs and live music events can resume.
Recreational team sports, including leagues, are also part of step two.
Details for Step Three include larger indoor and outdoor gathering rules, the resumption of indoor dining, and several indoor businesses like gyms, movie theatres, casinos and others.
More on the Ontario government’s Roadmap to Reopen is available here.