Ontario announces three-step plan to gradually lift COVID-19 restrictions
Ontario announced it will allow indoor dining and gyms to reopen and will increase gathering limits on Jan. 31 as part of a three-step plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions in the province.
"We can be confident that the worst is behind us as we look to cautiously ease public health measures," Premier Doug Ford said Thursday. "We are now in a position to cautiously and gradually ease public health measures."
Starting Jan. 31, social gathering limits will increase to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors, the province said.
Indoor dining, gyms, retailers, shopping malls, and cinemas can reopen at 50 per cent capacity.
Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments can also reopen.
The government will also allow spectators at sporting events, concert venues and theatres at 50 per cent seated capacity or 500 people, whichever is less.
Each step of reopening will be separated by 21 days in order for the province to monitor public health trends.
"We want to do everything humanly possible to avoid having to go backwards," Ford said. "If that means pausing between steps for a few extra days, we won't hesitate to do so."
On Feb. 21, Ontario will increase indoor social gathering limits to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoor.
At this time, the province will also remove capacity limits in indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required, including restaurants, indoor sports and recreational facilities, and cinemas.
Indoor capacity limits of 25 per cent will be put in place for higher-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required, including nightclubs, wedding receptions in event spaces where there is dancing, as well as bathhouses and sex clubs.
Other settings that choose to opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements will also be allowed to lift capacity limits.
Spectator capacity at sporting events, concert venues, and theatres will be 50 per cent capacity on Feb. 21.
Indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is not required will be limited to the number of people that can maintain two metres of physical distance.
On March 14, Ontario will lift all capacity limits in indoor public settings, but proof of vaccination will still be in effect.
Social gathering limits will increase to 50 people indoors at the time, with no limits for outdoor gatherings. Remaining capacity limits on religious services, rites, or ceremonies will also be lifted at this time.
A date for lifting Ontario's proof of vaccination system and mask mandate was not announced.
"There are some positive signs that we may be reaching the peak of the Omicron wave in Ontario," Health Minister Christine Elliott said. "However, we still need to remain humble and cautious."
Ford said the province is not currently considering updating its proof of vaccination requirement from two doses to three.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said the decision to start reopening the economy was made because there are positive indicators that COVID-19 transmission is starting to ease.
"The percentage of tests that are positive is on the decline at 15 per cent, so that is one indicator we're following very closely, as well the ability to care for Ontarians in the intensive care unit setting as well as in the hospital," he said.
Moore did not give a date for when non-urgent surgeries, which was paused earlier this month, will be allowed to resume.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.