Lockdown extended for two weeks in Toronto, Peel and York as restrictions lifted in some parts of Ontario,

Toronto, Peel and York regions not scheduled to emerge until Feb. 22

Ontario is starting to ease COVID-19 restrictions, lifting stayat-home orders Wednesday for three eastern regions that have low infection rates, but leaving the rest of the province as is for another week with Toronto, Peel Region and York Region not slated to emerge until Feb. 22 at the earliest.

The plan outlined by Premier Doug Ford allows a four-week state of emergency to expire Tuesday, but comes with an “emergency brake” to allow an immediate return to regional lockdowns if cases flare — particularly from new variants of the virus that are more contagious.

“We are not out of the storm yet,” Ford said Monday in announcing the phased return to a five-tier, colour-coded framework of restrictions that will nevertheless relax measures in the highest or lockdown category by allowing non-essential retailers to open at 25 per cent of customer capacity.

“We have listened,” the premier added in a message to the business community, which has complained thousands of stores are at risk of closure by being limited to curbside pickup while Walmarts with grocery departments and Costco locations were allowed to stay open.

While daily new case numbers have dropped by more than half since peaking around 4,000 last month, the situation in many hospitals remains “precarious” and the new variants of COVID-19 pose a “significant threat,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott, asking Ontarians to stay at home as much as possible with vaccines in short supply.

Toronto officials quickly warned the Feb. 22 date is likely too soon, given variants circulating in the city. Critics questioned whether the province has a proper grasp on the spread of new strains or is allowing enough time to gauge the impacts of the continuing return to in-class learning.

“I do not believe now is the time,” Toronto medical officer Dr. Eileen de Villa told a news conference at city hall, saying there is a “transition from one pandemic to another” because of the new strains that spread much more easily.

A senior government source said it’s likely Toronto would move into the lockdown category at best, meaning indoor restaurant dining, gyms, theatres, barber shops, hair and nail salons would remain shuttered but ski hills could reopen.

Ontario has identified at least 219 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in the United Kingdom, up from 155 on Friday. There is one case of the B.1.351 variant from South Africa in Mississauga, and another in Toronto. Neither case is linked to travel or a travel contact, meaning the strain is circulating locally.

Elliott maintained the government is taking the variant situation seriously, as shown by a last-minute decision to keep the Temiskaming region in northeastern Ontario in stayat-home status after a resident’s COVID-19 test showed positive for a variant yet to be determined. Temiskaming had been scheduled to join three eastern health units returning to the province’s five-tier, colour-coded framework: Hastings-Prince Edward in the Belleville area; the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington health unit; and the Renfrew County and District health unit.

They will move into the green zone, the lowest level of restrictions in the framework that escalates public health measures through the yellow, orange, red and grey or lockdown tiers. In green, gyms, movie theatres, hair salons and other businesses can reopen. Officials said the three areas have consistently enjoyed low case numbers.

But that change risks people from elsewhere flocking in for haircuts and restaurants and possibly spreading the virus, Coleman noted.

“This is why the colour-coded system didn’t work the first time,” he said.

A determination will be made later this week on which tiers of the framework another 28 health units, including Durham, Halton, Hamilton and Niagara will be slotted into starting next Tuesday based on their case levels, hospital capacities and COVID-19 transmission rates.

The same process applies to Toronto, Peel Region and York Region in two weeks.