Provinces begin to reopen; Quebec death toll tops 2,000

TORONTO — Canada took further baby steps toward post-pandemic normalcy on Friday as Atlantic provinces began easing rigid restrictions imposed to curb the COVID-19 scourge, while Quebec’s death toll climbed past 2,000 as it set to ease its measures.

In B.C., Premier John Horgan has said he will outline details next week about reopening the province. But he said the guidelines would be different from other provinces, mainly because B.C. didn’t fully lock down its economy. Construction, agriculture and other industries continued operating.

Nova Scotia reopened garden centres and nurseries, along with trails and provincial and municipal parks. It also allowed single families to head to their cottages. New Brunswick had already OK’d interactions between two families, a return to school for postsecondary students, as well as golfing, fishing and hunting.

Quebec, with the largest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada, was set to reopen retail stores outside Montreal on Monday, despite reporting 163 new COVID fatalities going into the weekend. The province also said it aimed to double testing — to 14,000 a day — by the end of next week.

Ontario, which reported 421 new cases and 39 more deaths, most in long-term care facilities, also said some workplaces and businesses can restart Monday. Those include garden centres with curb-side pickup, lawn-care and landscaping services and automatic car washes.

“Our patience is paying off,” said Premier Doug Ford, who urged people to maintain physical distancing, regardless.

“We’re getting closer and closer to opening things up.”

Many non-essential businesses in Manitoba — retail stores and hair salons among them — are also set to open their doors on Monday.

Elective surgeries and other non-urgent health-care services, including physiotherapy and optometry, restarted in Prince Edward Island, as did outdoor gatherings of up to five people from different households and non-contact outdoor recreational activities.

The stiff stay-home restrictions that have idled much of the economy have plunged the country into a recession, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. Still, federal and provincial governments have called for a gradual and phased approach to a return to normalcy informed by public health concerns.