Doug Ford's announcement about Ontario's all-new reopening plan expected today
Doug Ford is expected to make an announcement today about Ontario reopening, fulfilling his promise that it was coming "very soon."
Premier Doug Ford will apparently be revealing an all-new framework that will be completely different from the previous colour-coded system for different public health regions, and will instead have various rules and timelines for each sector of the economy based on transmission risk in each setting.
It will be a gradual approach that will roll out over the course of a number of weeks based on vaccination rates.
NEW: Premier Ford will announce a re-opening plan for Ontario at 3pm today. Media outlets reporting that it will be a sector-by-sector approach, no more colour-coded system, and some reports say that some outdoor activities might be allowed starting this weekend.
— Meagan Fitzpatrick (@fitz_meagan) May 20, 2021
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones told reporters on Wednesday that "we're going to be moving away from the regionalization approach" due to the fact that people travelling between parts of the province that are in different iterations of lockdown has been an inevitable issue in the past.
"There are differences and nuances depending on what kind of business you operate. So that's why we want to look at sector by sector to see what can safely reopen and when," Jones added.
Along with details on when and how different types of long-shuttered businesses can finally open their doors to the public, residents are anxiously awaiting news about outdoor recreational amenities such as tennis courts and soccer fields, which have remained controversially off-limits as part of the provincial shutdown.
It seems the province has done some back-and-forth on whether to open such facilities before the stay-at-home order and other lockdown restrictions expire — a date that was recently extended yet again to June 2 at the earliest.
Health Minister Christine Elliot most recently stated that outdoor amenities will indeed be opening on or before June 2.
@fordnation and Ontario PCs need to reopen patios soon! Ontario restaurants have faves the longest shutdown in North America and many can barely hang on for much longer. Patio season only 90 days long. Every day that passes is another nail in the coffin #onpoli
— Rudy Elliot (@elliot_rudy) May 20, 2021
The emergency brake shutdown, imposed at 12:01 a.m. April 3, was only expected to last four weeks. Another stay-at-home order came five days later, and was expected to last the same amount of time.
It appears that given current COVID-19 numbers in Ontario, which are generally trending downwards, Ford and his team intend to remain on schedule and put the new plan into motion on June 2 rather than issuing yet another extension.
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