Ontario releases reopening guidelines
No dates for restarting economy, but Ford says numbers are encouraging
TORONTO—Ontario provided guidelines to businesses Thursday for how to eventually reopen safely, giving a glimpse of life post-isolation, with physically distant offices, a greater reliance on retail delivery and restricting passengers on public transit.
There are no dates yet for restarting the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but Premier Doug Ford said the numbers are encouraging.
“Because of you, we have made tremendous progress,” he told Ontarians.
“Today we’re on the path to reopening the economy because that curve is flattening. That surge in our hospitals, we avoided. That trend is going down. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I am laser-focused right now on opening things up as quickly as we can in a safe and measured way.”
Ontario reported 459 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 86 more deaths — the largest daily total of fatalities so far.
The province has now seen 16,187 cases, an increase of 2.9 per cent over the previous day. That’s higher than the 2.3 per cent growth rate reported Wednesday, as the province looks for a consistent two-tofour weeks of declining growth before restarting the economy.
Health Minister Christine Elliott acknowledged the bump in new cases, which was higher than the previous day’s growth rate, but said the most important thing is the overall trend is headed in the right direction.
Ontario released guidance Thursday for specific sectors, including office workers, retail and food service, construction, transportation, agriculture and film and TV. People in all sectors will be advised to stay home if they are unwell, wash their hands frequently, and institute cleaning procedures. Recommendations include holding team meetings outdoors, staggering shift times and using ground markings and barriers to manage traffic flow.
Offices should be set up to maintain physical distancing of two metres, workstations and telephones should not be shared, and as many employees as possible should work from home, the guidelines say.
Retail businesses should consider more online ordering, delivery and curbside pickup options, and having no contact with delivery customers by letting them know via text message that their package has arrived.
For in-store settings, businesses should rely more on cashless transactions, install barriers between cashiers and customers, introduce floor markings for physical distancing, sanitize carts and baskets, provide hand sanitizer for customers upon entry, control how many people are in the store at one time, and not accept reusable bags or containers.