THUNDER BAY - Despite most regions in Ontario entering stage two of reopening, the provincial government is extending all emergency orders until at least the end of the month.
The Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act will be in effect until June 30 and includes orders primarily aimed at the healthcare system.
Frontline care providers can redeploy staff to where they are needed most, health units can redeploy or hire staff to support case management and contact tracing, and long-term care homes and retirement homes can limit staff from working at more than one facility.
The number of people permitted to gather is also limited to 10, which was recently increased from five.
The province is also permitting people to form social circles of no more than 10 people, where physical distancing is not required.
"Extending these emergency orders gives our frontline health care providers the necessary flexibility to rapidly respond to urgent needs and protect our most vulnerable," said Premier Doug Ford in a statement.
"Even though we're seeing decreasing infection rates with increased testing levels, we can't let our guard down just yet. We need to keep these emergency measures in place to support our frontline heroes and we must all continue following the public health advice, so we can reopen more of the province safely and gradually."
The province first declared a state of emergency on March 17 and emergency orders have been extended several times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emergency orders will be reviewed on a regular basis and adjusting or lifting certain orders will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
This week 31 regions across the province were permitted to enter stage two of the three-stage framework for reopening due to fewer daily cases of COVID-19 being reported.
In the last week the province has seen fewer than 200 positive cases of COVID-19 per day, the lowest reported daily cases since mid-March.
People are still reminded to practice all public health guidelines, including practicing physical distancing and regular hand washing.
