TORONTO – Thunder Bay is one of a number of Ontario regions set to move to Stage 3 of reopening this week, Premier Doug Ford announced Monday.
As of Friday, most businesses and other facilities will be able to reopen, while limits on gathering sizes will be increased. The easing of restrictions will allow dine-in service at restaurants and bars, as well as the opening of gyms, movie theatres, casinos, recreation facilities, and the resumption of many live sports.
Most regions of the province are included in the move to Stage 3, with the exception of some in the GTA and southwest, such as Toronto, Hamilton, Durham, Niagara, and Windsor-Essex.
Finance Minister Rod Phillips claimed the easing of restrictions would allow almost 99 per cent of local economic activity to resume.
Some “high-risk places and activities” will remain prohibited, however. Those include amusement and water parks, buffets, dancing at restaurants and bars, overnight children’s camps, private karaoke rooms, “prolonged or deliberate contact” in sports, table games at casinos, and saunas and bath houses.
Public gatherings of up to 100 people outdoors, and 50 indoors, are now permitted. However, the public is still required to follow physical distancing guidelines with those outside of their social circle – which remains limited to 10 people regardless of which stage a region is in.
Ford and ministers accompanying him at Monday’s news conference stressed the greater reopening comes as a result of encouraging public health numbers. Indicators like new cases and hospitalizations have declined for a period of several weeks in the province.
Health Minister Christine Elliott stressed that the move to Stage 3 was only possible thanks to the efforts of Ontarians to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by following public health guidance, emphasizing that will remain crucial in allowing reopening to stay in place.
Elliott expects Ontario to remain in Stage 3 until a vaccine is developed, but said some restrictions – like caps on gathering sizes – could be further loosened based on the province’s success in managing the virus.
