Ontario Still Not Set To Increase Group Sizes

Ontario’s Health Minister says they will have a better understanding on how to proceed with COVID-19 restrictions at the end of this week.

The number of cases is above 400 for the fifth day in a row.

Christine Elliott believes more people getting together for Mother’s Day celebrations played a role.

Elliott now says they will be looking at the impact Phase one of reopening Ontario has had on numbers.

She notes they have halted plans to increase the size of public and private gatherings of 5 due to recent large events including the weekend one at Trinity Bellwoods in Toronto.

“If they continue to increase, that will be a time for us to stay paused to look at the situation, understand why the numbers are increasing, and take action or don’t take action going forward.”

Elliott adds “Everyone is very anxious to be able to have more things open, to have restaurants open and other things opened. But we have to make sure that we do this responsibly. People have to make sure they continue that physical distancing.”

Premier Doug Ford says the government isn’t looking at rolling back restrictions at this time.

He adds he is sticking to his plan to reopen Ontario and won’t be making decisions based on the number of cases in various regions.

The province also plans to unveil a robust testing public awareness campaign this week that will be focused on hot spots, long-term care homes and large businesses.

The Ontario NDP released statistics Monday on the number of COVID-19 tests done in the province and how it relates to a government goal of 20,000 tests a day.