‘Open as much as we can, as quickly as we can’

Province announces Hamilton can join most other areas in Stage 2 of reopening plan

Hamilton got the green light to enter Stage 2 of reopening and it plans to go full speed ahead.

“Our goal would be to open as much as we can as quickly as we can,” said Paul Johnson, director of the city’s Emergency Operations Centre.

At a Queen’s Park daily briefing Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford confirmed Hamilton is among seven other regions — including Halton, Niagara and Haldimand-Norfolk — allowed to move into Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan on Friday.

Hamilton was among the 10 regions left out of a provincial reopening that kicked off Friday, June 12.

Most of Ontario’s 34 regions reopened that day.

“This will mean more people going back to work at restaurants, bars, beauty salons, shopping malls and many other businesses, big and small,” Ford said.

Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex are the only regions that will remain in Stage 1.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 19, the following Hamilton businesses and services can reopen:

Bars, restaurants, food trucks, wineries, breweries and distilleries, so long as they serve patrons outside in spaces such as on patios;

Shopping malls and food courts, but food courts can’t offer dine-in service;

Personal care services including hair salons, tattoo studios and beauty salons offering esthetics services, though not facial services;

Libraries, but only for contactless book pickup and dropoff or computer use, not to pick out books from shelves;

Community centres, splash pads and pools, but water features such as slides must remain closed.

Johnson said the city will release more details on what city services will open, and when, on Tuesday.

Some services will be easier to open than others, he cautioned.

Beaches are easier to open than pools, for example.

The mayor released a statement Monday saying he was “pleased” with the news Hamilton will reopen Friday. He noted the reopening will be “methodical” and in line with provincial guidelines.

“I ask residents to please have patience as we work to make sure our reopening is safe and successful,” Mayor Fred Eisenberger said.

He reminded residents of the importance of continuing to practise physical distancing, wear non-medical masks when it’s not possible to physical distance, washing hands regularly and staying home when sick.

Hamilton reported 769 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Monday, the same number as Sunday, though public health said one number was removed from Sunday’s tally since the case actually belonged to another health unit. A new case was reported to public health later that day.

At the briefing, Ford said public health trends across the province are moving in the right direction, with Ontario’s new COVID-19 cases numbers trending down and testing numbers trending up.

Ontario reported 181 new cases of COVID-19 Monday — the lowest daily number of new cases since late March.

“If we keep working together, I’m hopeful that all communities in Ontario will be able to enter Stage 2 very, very soon,” Ford said, referring to the three outliers.