BREAKING: Ontario reveals COVID-19 reopening plan
- Michael Kras
- 20 May 2021
The Ontario government has released its official plans for the reopening of the province amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier Doug Ford and Ontario’s health minister Christine Elliott spoke at Queen’s Park on Thursday afternoon to detail the ways in which Ontario will be slowly moving out of its current lockdown and stay-at-home order in the coming weeks, with COVID-19 vaccination efforts ramping up province-wide.
#BREAKING: Here is Ontario’s “roadmap to reopening,” in 3 steps, with the first estimated to begin June 14. As of Saturday May 22 at 12:01 am, Ontario is reopening outdoor amenities like golf, soccer, tennis, skate parks & basketball, and allowing outdoor gatherings of 5 #onpoli pic.twitter.com/TV1dHdL448
— Laura Stone (@l_stone) May 20, 2021
The three-stage reopening plan detailed by Minister Elliott is based on the province-wide vaccination rates and current public health trends surrounding COVID-19, and begins with reopening activities that are shown to be safest as the warm summer months approach.
“With this roadmap, it’s clear that there are brighter days ahead, and there is hope for a more open and safe summer,” said Minister Elliott.
Stage one will involve the reopening of safe outdoor activities with some capacity limits still in place, such as outdoor gatherings capped at 10 people, outdoor pools, splash pads, campgrounds, restaurant patios with a maximum of 4 people from the same household at each table, zoos, and outdoor religious services. Non-essential retail can reopen for -in-person shopping at 15 per cent capacity.
Stage two will allow for larger outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, indoor gatherings of up to 5 people, the resuming of organized outdoor sports, as well as reopening non-essential retail and personal care services with capacity limits of 25 per cent and allowing indoor religious services with capacity limits and mandatory masks.
Finally, stage three would see nearly all outdoor activities resume as well as the opening of gyms, cinemas, performing arts centres, museums, and indoor dining with strict capacity limits. This phase of reopening will not occur until at least 70 to 80 per cent of adults have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 25 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
To kick this off, outdoor recreational facilities including golf courses and tennis courts will be permitted to reopen this coming Saturday, May 22nd with physical distancing measures maintained.
Schools still remain closed for in-person classes with remote learning continuing until further notice.
Each phase of reopening will be in place for at least 21 days as public health keeps an eye on case trends and vaccination rates.
Read the full release here.
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