Ontario golfers will be able to hit the links the Victoria Day long weekend, with the Ontario government announcing a three-step “roadmap” for reopening the province.
The three-step plan is scheduled to begin the week of June 14th, but the government will allow some outdoor recreational amenities to reopen this Saturday (May 22).
These include golf courses and driving ranges, soccer and other sports fields, tennis and basketball courts, and skate parks, with outdoor gathering limits expanded to five people, including members from different households. No outdoor sports or recreational classes are permitted.
“Today we’re seeing increasingly positive trends in key public health indicators,” Premier Doug Ford said at a media conference at Queen’s Park on Thursday afternoon (May 20). “As a result, we are now in a position to look at a slow and measured reopening of the province.”
The three-step reopening plan, which is based on hitting vaccination targets and key public health and health care indicators, will replace the previous colour-coded framework.
Step one of the plan will include resuming outdoor activities with smaller crowds, where the risk of virus transmission is lower, along with permitting non-essential retail at 15 per cent capacity. The limit on outdoor gatherings will increase to a maximum of 10 people, and outdoor dining would be allowed with a maximum of four people per table. Outdoor recreational amenities and activities, including pools, splash pads, fitness classes, zoos, and religious services will be allowed to resume.
Step two would further expand outdoor activities and resume limited indoor services with small numbers of people wearing face coverings. The limit on outdoor gatherings would increase to a maximum of 25 people and outdoor sports and leagues would be allowed to resume. Non-essential retail would be expanded to 25 per cent capacity. Public libraries and personal care services where face coverings can be worn would be allowed to reopen, with capacity limits, and indoor religious services can resume at 15 per cent capacity.
Step three would expand access to indoor settings with restrictions, including where there are larger numbers of people and where face coverings cannot always be worn. This includes gyms, cinemas, performing arts facilities, museums and art galleries, casinos and bingo halls, and indoor dining, all with capacity limits.
Each step is linked to provincial vaccination rates, with at least 60 per cent of adults having received one dose for step one, 70 per cent of adults having received one dose and 20 per cent fully vaccinated with two doses for step two, and 70 to 80 per cent of adults having received one dose and 25 per cent fully vaccinated with two doses for step three.
Ontario would remains in each step for at least three weeks, to allow the province to evaluate the impact on public health indicators and decide whether to proceed to the next step.
The province expects to begin step one the week of June 14th, but will confirm closer to that date. Assuming that each vaccination target is met and public health indicators are favourable, step two would begin the week of July 5th and step three would begin the week of July 26th.
In the interim, the stay-at-home order will expire on June 2 but all other public health measures will remain in effect.
Absent from the announcement was a decision on whether or when students will return to in-person classes before the end of the school year.
“We have some different opinions,” Premier Ford said in response to a reporter’s question. “Dr. Williams is in favour of reopening the schools. We have a few doctors on the science table that aren’t in favour. Then we have the teachers that want to put an injunction in if we move forward. We just have to get around the table and make sure we have agreement on this.”
Ford added that he is concerned by modelling projections released today that show cases could increase by 11 per cent if schools are reopened.
“That’s concerning to me, when it increases 11 per cent, because it compounds so quickly,” Ford said. “We can’t afford an increase of 11 per cent right now.”
