Ontario Premier Doug Ford is beginning to loosen COVID-19 restrictions. The Premier said Monday decisions were made based on recommendations from the province’s chief medical officer of health.
“Given how well Ontario has done in the Omicron wave we are able to fast track our reopening plan,” Ford said.
“This is great news and a sign of just how far we’ve come together in our fight against the virus. While we aren’t out of the woods just yet we are moving in the right direction,” he said.
Effective Feb. 17, social gathering limits will increase to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Capacity limits will be lifted at most indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required. This includes restaurants, meeting and event spaces, gaming establishments and “non-spectator areas” including gyms and cinemas.
Seating capacity at sport and concert venues, as well as movie theatres, will be 50 per cent.
indoor capacity at higher-risk settings such as nightclubs and restaurants with dancing will be 25 per cent, with proof of vaccination.
For indoor religious services that require proof of vaccination, capacity limits have been lifted. If proof of vaccination is not required, the facility may have as many people as can fit with physical distancing.
Grocery stores, pharmacies, and retail stores will have their capacity limits capped at the number of people who can maintain two metres of physical distancing.
However, he did said plans of speeding up the reopening were not influenced by the protesters, but were made through weeks of talks before the “Freedom Convoy” began.
This news comes after the Premier hinted last week at a news conference about lifting pandemic restrictions that have been in place for nearly two years, after facing pressure to follow other Canadian provinces.
Ford said there were plans to remove the vaccine passport system that requires people to show proof of vaccination when they enter several public settings along with other restrictions.
“We are on track to very soon remove almost all restrictions for businesses as a part of our reopening plan,” Ford said during a news conference on Friday, Feb. 11.
“And we heard from Dr. (Kieran) Moore last week, and again yesterday that he is now working on a plan that will allow us to remove the vaccine passport system,” Ford said. “My friends, this is great news and a sign of just how far we have come together in this fight.”
Moore said on the previous day that he will be reviewing all public health measures in the coming days and could be making recommendations to the government as early as Monday about how to start lifting them.
“Evidence is showing we’re making remarkable improvement in all of the key metrics in Ontario, and that forces us to review all public health measures that are in place,” he told reporters last Thursday. “None of them are expected to remain in play longer than they need to be.”
When specifically asked about the anticipated removal of vaccine passports, Moore added that they have done their job to help protect Ontarian’s against the virus, but that they will not continue forever.
“There comes a time we have to reconsider and review their ongoing utility and as the risk goes down in our communities, we have to look at the removal of proof of vaccination in all of those settings,” Moore said
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba announced they will scrap the vaccine passport system, mask mandates, and all other pandemic health measures.
This came as a surprise as the majority of the premiers wouldn’t back down on keeping restrictions weeks ago due to fears of the Omicron variant.
In Ontario, there were growing calls for the provincial government to act faster after people watched the other provinces make plans. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown urged the Premier to lift the restrictions immediately.
“I look at our small businesses. We have lost two small businesses in Brampton alone this month and many are continuing to be extremely constrained in terms of capacity limits and given the hospital picture I simply don’t see a basis for that,” Brown said told media last Wednesday.
“So I do believe there is a real basis for a faster reopening,” he said. “I think there are consequences in our society – mental health, businesses bankruptcy. We have to get back on our feet as a province and a country.”
Brown said over the last two weeks the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 at Brampton Civic Hospital has gone to 38 from 110.
He said there are negative effects that the pandemic has had on people.
“I think we need to look at other aspects of this lockdown that continue to have repercussions in society that are unwarranted,” Brown said. “I look at the long-term care settings.
“You know, my grandmother is 107 years old and I can’t see her. She’s had COVID, she is double vaccinated with a booster and I can’t hold her hand, I can’t hug her,” he said. “It is bewildering and I worry about the cost of mental health.”