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The Ontario government is moving to Step 2 in its ‘Roadmap to Reopen’ a couple of days earlier.
The province will enter the second stage on the morning of Wednesday, June 30 instead of July 2nd.
That means those waiting for a haircut can finally get one.
In order to reach this, Ontario needed to have 70% of adults with one dose and 20% with two doses for at least two weeks.
As of yesterday, over 76% of the population ages 18 and over have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and over 29% have received their second dose.
More than 13.3 million doses have been administered province-wide.
Ontario also needed to see continued improvement in key public health and health care indicators, including hospitalizations, ICU occupancy and the weekly cases incidence rates.
After entering Step One, during the period of June 11 to 17, the provincial case rate decreased by 24.6%.
As of June 22, the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs is 305, including 10 patients from Manitoba, as compared to 450 two weeks ago.
Premier Doug Ford says they were able to reopen a bit early, “Because of the tireless work of our health care heroes, and the record setting success of our vaccine rollout.”
Ford adds, “We are proceeding safely with the re-opening of our province and will continue to work around the clock until the job is done.”
Step Two of the Roadmap focuses on the resumption of more outdoor activities and limited indoor services with small numbers of people where face coverings are worn, with other restrictions in place. This includes, but is not limited to:
-Outdoor social gatherings and organized public events with up to 25 people;
-Indoor social gatherings and organized public events with up to 5 people;
-Essential and other select retail permitted at 50 per cent capacity;
-Non-essential retail permitted at 25 per cent capacity;
-Personal care services where face coverings can be worn at all times, and at 25 per cent capacity and other restrictions;
-Outdoor dining with up to 6 people per table, with exceptions for larger households and other restrictions;
-Indoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services permitted at up to 25 per cent capacity of the particular room;
-Outdoor fitness classes limited to the number of people who can maintain 3 metres of physical distance;
-Outdoor sports without contact or modified to avoid contact, with no specified limit on number of people or teams participating, with restrictions;
-Overnight camps for children operating in a manner consistent with the safety guidelines produced by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health;
-Outdoor sport facilities with spectators permitted at 25 per cent capacity;
-Outdoor concert venues, theatres and cinemas, with spectators permitted at 25 per cent capacity;
-Outdoor horse racing and motor speedways, with spectators permitted at 25 per cent capacity;
-Outdoor fairs, rural exhibitions, festivals, permitted at 25 per cent capacity and with other restrictions.
The government notes Ontario may remain in Step Two for a period of approximately 21 days.
Outgoing Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams says, “Due to the continued commitment of Ontarians adhering to public health measures and going out to get vaccinated, we have seen our key health indicators continue to improve across the province. While we can now begin preparing to ease public health measures under the Roadmap, the fight against COVID-19 is not over and we must continue adhering to the public health advice and measures currently in place to maintain this great progress.”
