TORONTO – “The worst is behind us”. Word of Doug Ford. With this ‘motto’, Ontario’s premier today announced the reopening plan: first step on January 31, when restaurants, gyms, cinemas and other indoor environments will be able to reopen with 50% capacity, as part of a broader plan to gradually lift most of the Covid-19 restrictions by mid-March. 

Today, therefore, the premier announced that the province will gradually lift the current public health measures to reduce the transmission of the highly contagious variant of the Omicron: measures that had become more restrictive on January 5, when the provincial government had returned to a “phase two” amended, with the closure of indoor restaurants, gyms, cinemas and 50% capacity limits in retail environments. The current restrictions were supposed to remain in effect until January 26, but today the government announced it will ease the restrictions at the end of the month.

“The evidence tells us that the measures we have put in place to reduce Omicron’s transmission are working,” Ford said. “We can be sure that the worst is behind us and that we are now able to carefully and gradually loosen public health measures.”

As of January 31, therefore, capacity limits will increase or be maintained at 50% in certain indoor environments, including restaurants, bars, spectator areas of sports and leisure facilities, museums, cinemas, casinos and religious services. Advanced testing of QR code vaccination will continue to apply. The private social gathering limits will also increase to 10 indoors and 25 outdoors.

Then, on February 21, a further lifting of the measures is expected, including the removal of all capacity limits in indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required: restaurants, sports and entertainment facilities and cinemas. In addition, the capacity of spectators at great sport events, concert halls and theaters will be increased to 50%. Ontario will also increase indoor social gathering limits to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoor.

Finally, starting March 14, Ontario will virtually eliminate all remaining public health restrictions in all indoor environments and increase social gathering limits to 50 people indoors, removing all limits for outdoor gatherings.

Also confident is Christine Elliott, Ontario Minister of Health, according to whom the province is seeing “glimmers of hope” and “signs of stabilization” in the health system.

All that remains is to cross your fingers.

Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash