The end of this month will mark the beginning of a “cautious” three-stage reopening of Ontario’s economy in the wake of Omicron, says Premier Doug Ford.
Closures of indoor restaurant dining, gyms, and cinemas are slated to end Jan. 31 with a move to 50 per cent customer capacity, Ford said Thursday as the province copes with record-high hospitalization levels and thousands of postponed non-emergency surgeries.
But there have been signs that the growth in COVID-19 infection rates is easing as the fast-moving Omicron variant appears to be peaking after racing through the province since emerging in late November.
“We can be confident that the worst is behind us as we look to cautiously ease public health measures,” the premier told reporters at Queen’s Park.
“The coming weeks will continue to pose real challenges, especially to our hospitals, but those are challenges our hospital system can manage.”
Ontario’s pandemic plan — which is subject to improving trends and could be paused if necessary — lifts additional prohibitions on Feb. 21 and March 14 “to make sure we haven’t moved too fast,” Ford added.
There was no date set for resuming thousands of non-emergency surgeries, including cancer and heart procedures, halted by government directive weeks ago to free up beds for COVID patients, many of whom are unvaccinated.
Health Minister Christine Elliott warned a resumption of those surgeries may take until mid-February when intensive care unit admissions are expected to decline.
“It’s got to be terrifying for folks who are waiting,” said New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath, critical of the delay of as many as 10,000 surgeries a week while restaurants and gyms are cleared to reopen.
Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, meanwhile, called Ford’s road map a “mega slow reopening plan” and said thousands of small businesses will continue to lose money while capacity restrictions remain in place.
“Lockdowns and closures are destructive for businesses and while we welcome this opening … even at 50 per cent capacity, the industry is facing a tough road,” added the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association.
Ford said there is no plan “at this point” to make booster doses a requirement for being fully vaccinated under the terms of the province’s proof-of-vaccination systems. Two doses is considered fully vaccinated and is the requirement for getting into restaurants, bars, gyms, theatres, sports arenas and other venues.
But Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said a third dose requirement should be in place for Jan. 31, as it would encourage more people to get boosters.
“We can’t falter now,” said Del Duca.
Epidemiologist Todd Coleman of Wilfrid Laurier University said increasing booster levels is important, the rate of deaths has been rising and the reopening is too soon given that in-class learning has just resumed this week.
“I would wait a bit longer to see what ends up happening as a result of schools reopening before making any ultimate decisions.”
Also on Jan. 31, gathering limits will increase to 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors.
Stadiums like the Scotiabank Arena for Leafs and Raptors games and concert venues will be limited to 50 per cent seated capacity or 500 people, whichever is less.
The initial stage of reopening will be in place until Feb. 21.
That’s to give health officials time to gauge the impact on infection levels and hospitalizations and to continue the push for vaccinations. So far, 88 per cent of eligible Ontarians aged five and up have had one shot and 82 per cent are fully vaccinated.
On Feb. 21, gathering limits will increase to 25 people indoors and 100 outdoors, capacity limits in venues with proof of vaccination requirements — such as restaurants and bars — will be lifted. As well, sporting and concert venues will increase to 50 per cent capacity.
Three weeks after that — on March 14 — the plan is to remove all remaining capacity limits in indoor settings, though proof-of-vaccination rules through the Verify Ontario QR code system will continue.
At that time, there will be an increase of social gathering limits to 50 people indoors with no limits for those outdoors.
While hospital admissions have hit levels never before seen in the 22-month pandemic, the less serious nature of Omicron compared with earlier strains of COVID-19 has reduced hospital stays to an average of five days from nine, said Ontario’s chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore.
Moore noted unvaccinated Ontarians account for 50 per cent of the patients in intensive care units, even though they represent only around 10 per cent of the population.
Businesses, closed Jan. 5 in the face of what Ford warned was an Omicron “tsunami,” were tentatively slated to reopen next Wednesday.
But the situation in hospitals, where staff shortages from illness and isolation have been rampant, and the return to classrooms prompted the extra five days of restrictions.
Hospital occupancy for COVID-19 fell in Thursday’s report for the second day in a row, dropping by 71 patients to 4,061.
Intensive care unit occupancy was up by five patients to 594, but is well within overall capacity of about 2,400 beds and below the levels that pushed the ICU system to a breaking point last spring. There are 1,284 patients in ICUs who do not have COVID-19 and 476 beds empty.
There were 7,757 new cases of the coronavirus detected in PCR tests that have now been limited mainly to hospital and related health-care workers and high-risk individuals. Officials caution that number is an underestimate of the full extent of COVID-19 in the province, given the testing restrictions and limited numbers of rapid antigen tests available.
Article From: The Star
Author: Rob Ferguson
