The Ontario government is approving seven more regions — Durham, Halidmand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton, Sarnia-Lambton, Niagara, and York — to enter stage two of the province’s reopening as of Friday, June 19th.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a media conference at Queen’s Park on Monday (June 15), along with health minister Christine Elliott, finance minister Rod Phillips, economic development minister Vic Fedeli, and heritage and tourism minister Lisa MacLeod.
In consultation with Ontario’s chief medical officer of health and local medical officers of health, regions of the province covered by the following health units can enter stage two on Friday: Durham Region Health Department, Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, Halton Region Health Department, Hamilton Public Health Services, Lambton Health Unit, Niagara Region Public Health Department, and York Region Public Health Services.
Peel, Toronto, and Windsor-Essex remain in stage one for now.
“With the public health trends improving day by day across the province, I am hopeful all regions of Ontario will enter stage two very soon,” Ford said. “But we must remain on our guard to prevent any potential surge or secondary wave by continuing to follow the sound advice of our public health officials.”
Ford made the announcement as the number of daily positive COVID-19 cases across Ontario continues to drop, with the number of new cases falling below 200 in three of the past four days.
The drop in new cases continues despite a significant daily increase in COVID-19 tests, with more than 20,000 tests completed in each of the past five days — passing the one million mark in total tests completed on Sunday (June 14).
The number of Ontarians hospitalized because of COVID-19 has also continued to drop. As of Monday (June 15), 419 people are in hospitals due to COVID-19, with 104 in intensive care units and 69 on ventilators. A month ago, 986 Ontarians were hospitalized because of COVID-19, with 179 in intensive care and 135 on ventilators.
