Ontario prepares to reopen after punishing third COVID-19 wave

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers from Switch Health administer the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Ontario Khalsa Darbar pop-up vaccination clinic at the Sikh Gurudwara in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo

TORONTO — Ontario expects to permit outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people and allow non-essential retail to operate at 15% capacity starting the week of June 14, contingent on certain vaccination rates being met, the premier announced on Thursday.

Canada’s most populous province has been under lockdown since early April when a third wave of the coronavirus threatened to overwhelm hospital capacity.

The reopening will be confirmed closer to the date, Premier Doug Ford said at a briefing in Toronto. The province will reopen outdoor amenities – including playgrounds, basketball courts, and golf courses – as of Saturday.

COVID-19 cases have been falling steadily in Ontario, and new modeling from the government released earlier on Thursday showed that if restrictions were maintained until mid-June, cases would likely remain under control.

“We’re now in a position to look at a slow and measured reopening of the province,” Ford said. “This is being done slowly and with extreme caution.”

Step one of a three-step reopening will also include outdoor dining with up to four people per table, a government release said.

Entering step one will require 60% of eligible Ontario adults to have received at least one vaccine dose. Each step will last for at least 21 days, the release said.

The plan is largely in step with what public health officials recommended when explaining the new case modeling.

Ford’s government took heavy criticism from all sides for reopening too soon in March, which resulted in the punishing third wave and overwhelmed the province’s healthcare systems.

“The direction of the pandemic has turned and if we’re careful and cautious, we can maintain this momentum,” Dr. Steini Brown, co-chair of Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table, said at a briefing before Ford’s announcement.