‘Measures are working,’ Ontario premier insists
Provinces take cautious steps as cases drop
• Ontario Premier doug Ford is easing COVID-19 restrictions, allowing retail stores to reopen and shifting back to a regional pandemic approach as the province seeks to curb new strains of the virus.
A stay at home order will remain in place for at least another week in much of Ontario, and for at least two weeks in the Greater Toronto Area, Ford said. but an emergency order imposed in december will be allowed to expire on Tuesday, as select regions of Ontario revert to a colour-coded pandemic response framework. The new rules will kick in Wednesday.
“The measures are working, staying home is saving lives,” Ford told reporters on Monday, after new case counts have tapered off following severe lockdown measures through all of January.
under Ontario’s new rules, “essential” stores like supermarkets and pharmacies would have a 50 per cent capacity limit, while all other stores will be allowed to operate at 25 per cent capacity.
Three regions where COVID-19 cases are low will move to the restrictions system beginning Wednesday, with the rest staggered over the coming weeks.
Ford’s easing of restrictions comes as many of Canada’s largest provinces pare back travel and other restrictions after cases spiked in November and december. New strains of the coronavirus, recently identified in countries including the u.k., South Africa and brazil, have also complicated efforts to contain further spread, prompting calls among some health officials to keep lockdown measures in place.
Ontario health officials reiterated on Monday that restrictions would be reimposed if cases once again spike.
The province had previously used a colour-coded framework that ranked coronavirus risks from green (prevention) all the way up to grey (lockdown). The changes on Monday technically keep Ontario in the grey zone, but loosen up some rules around retail and lay the groundwork for a future reopening.
“This is not a back to normal, this is not an opening up,” said david Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer. “This is a stepping back into the framework.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney last week announced he would be easing restrictions on gyms and restaurants in the province, allowing for in-person dining with no more than six people per table.
Those new rules came into effect on Monday.
dining in restaurants is restricted to a person’s household, or two close contacts for people who live alone.
retail stores in Alberta will be restricted to 15 per cent of capacity, according to updated rules posted on the government’s website.
Quebec Premier François Legault has meanwhile been mulling a similar gradual easing of restrictions, as various lockdown measures imposed late last year were scheduled to end on Monday.
Some of the strictest measures in the province, including a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., will remain temporarily in place. but rural areas and other regions of the province deemed to be at lower risk began lifting restrictions on gyms, restaurants and retail outlets on Monday.
In Ontario, health units in Hastings Prince edward, Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington, and renfrew County will move into the least-restrictive green category on Wednesday, which means restaurants and non-essential businesses can reopen.
The Timiskaming Health unit, which was initially also expected to move to the green category Wednesday, will be held back for a week since a COVID-19 variant was discovered in the region over the weekend, the province said.
On Feb. 15, all remaining regions except three hot spots in the Greater Toronto Area are set to move to the restrictions framework. The category they are placed in will depend on their local case rates.
As of Sunday, Ontario had counted 176 confirmed cases of the variant from the u.k., and one of the variant from South Africa, not including Toronto’s new case.
Most of the variant cases are in the Simcoe Muskoka district Health unit, where an outbreak ripped through a barrie, Ont., nursing home and killed more than half of the residents and an essential caregiver.
Officials say the presence of these variants make public health measures meant to curb the spread of the virus even more vital.
even so, schools reopened across much of southern Ontario Monday.
education Minister Stephen Lecce said last week that students in 13 public health units, including Hamilton and Windsor, Ont., would resume in-person learning beginning Feb. 8. Schools in Toronto, Peel and york region will remain closed until Feb. 16, he said.