There will be a few more things to do this Victoria Day long weekend.
Premier Doug Ford has announced the next phase in Ontario’s reopening plan.
As of 12:01am on Saturday, May 16th, the following will be allowed to open.
-Golf courses will be able to open, with clubhouses open only for washrooms and restaurants open only for take-out.
-Marinas, boat clubs and public boat launches may open for recreational use.
-Private parks and campgrounds may open to enable preparation for the season and to allow access for trailers and recreational vehicles whose owners have a full season contract.
-Businesses that board animals, such as stables, may allow boarders to visit, care for or ride their animal.
There is no mention of camping on Crown Land being allowed.
Ford also announced that Stage 1 of their 3 Stage plan will begin on Tuesday at 12:01am.
The following will be allowed to open:
-Retail services that are not in shopping malls and have separate street-front entrances with measures in place that can enable physical distancing, such as limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time and booking appointments beforehand or on the spot.
-Seasonal businesses and recreational activities for individual or single competitors, including training and sport competitions conducted by a recognized national or provincial sport organization. This includes indoor and outdoor non-team sport competitions that can be played while maintaining physical distancing and without spectators, such as tennis, track and field and horse racing.
-Animal services, specifically pet care services, such as grooming and training, regular veterinary appointments, animal shelters.
-Indoor and outdoor household services that can follow public health guidelines, such as housekeepers, cooks, cleaning and maintenance.
-Lifting essential workplace limits on construction.
-Allowing certain health and medical services to resume, such as in-person counselling and scheduled surgeries based on the ability to meet pre-specified conditions.
Ford says these businesses should only be reopening if they are prepared and ready.
Ford stresses all public health guidelines must be met including physical distancing and gatherings of only 5 people.
He couldn’t say when Stage 2, which may include restaurants, will be be announced.
Ford notes “During the last several weeks, the people of Ontario have been called on to make incredible sacrifices to help us stop the spread of COVID-19, including staying home from work, closing down businesses and going without a regular paycheque. However, we are reopening even more of our businesses beginning this long weekend. We are taking a cautious, balanced approach to our economic reopening, to protect the health and safety of everyone.
He adds “We need to keep in mind that all of this is depended on the numbers. The truth is we can’t fully predict where things will go. So we need to be ready to react if we see a sudden increase in cases. We can not let our guard down down now. We must watch the trends like a hawk.”
Ford says as more people head back to work the risk of flare up’s is real.
