Ontario Premier Doug Ford has pushed the date for reopening the province to phase 2 to June 30. That is a couple of days ahead of schedule.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said the number of new cases of COVID-19 is going in right direction .and the seven-day average number of cases continues to decline. The number of people in hospital ICUs is also down.
All this, said Williams, means the province can move to Step 2 early. He credited the people of Ontario.
‘We’re taking it slowly and cautiously going forward, and we want to say thank you for what you have done," Williams said. "Stay the course. We want to see how we do in the next while. Other jurisdictions have seen some upsurges in the variants. We have seen some in some parts of Ontario and we are continuing to monitor that.”
Beginning next Wednesday, people will be able to host indoor gatherings of up to five people, meet outdoors with up to 25 and book personal care services such as hair cuts. It also means up to six people can dine together at outdoor restaurant patios and that retail capacities will also increase.
The Ontario government had said that to enter Step 2, it needed to see 70% of adults with at least one vaccine shot and 20% with two doses. The latest data shows the actual numbers have exceeded that.
If all goes well, the province could enter Step 3 — the most lenient of public health restrictions — by July 21.