All County, All the Time Since 2010 MAKE THIS YOUR PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY HOME...PAGE!  Friday, March 29th, 2024

Ontario moving to next phase of reopening Feb. 17

With provincial COVID-19 positivity rates and new admissions to hospital and ICU declining week over week, the province will accelerate its re-opening timeline to ease more public health measures.

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 17, Ontario will further ease public health measures, including, but not limited to:
– Increasing social gathering limits to 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors

– Increasing organized public event limits to 50 people indoors, with no limit outdoors

– Removing capacity limits in the following indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required, including but not limited to:
Restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments without dance facilities
Non-spectator areas of sports and recreational fitness facilities, including gyms
Cinemas
Meeting and event spaces, including conference centres or convention centres
Casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments
Indoor areas of settings that choose to opt-in to proof of vaccination requirements.

– Allowing 50 per cent of the usual seating capacity at sports arenas
– Allowing 50 per cent of the usual seating capacity for concert venues and theatres
– Increasing indoor capacity limits to 25 per cent in the remaining higher-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required, including nightclubs, restaurants where there is dancing, as well as bathhouses and sex clubs
– Increasing capacity limits for indoor weddings, funerals or religious services, rites, or ceremonies to the number of people who can maintain two metres physical distance. Capacity limits are removed if the location opts-in to use proof of vaccination or if the service, rite, or ceremony is occurring outdoors.

– Capacity limits in other indoor public settings, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, retail and shopping malls, will be maintained at, or increased to, the number of people who can maintain two metres physical distance.

In addition, as of 8 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, Ontario is expanding booster dose eligibility to youth aged 12 to 17. Appointments can be booked through the provincial booking system and the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre, as well as at select pharmacies administering the Pfizer vaccine. Appointments will be booked for approximately six months (168 days) after a second dose.

Effective March 1, 2022
Ontario intends to take additional steps to ease public health measures if public health and health system indicators continue to improve. This includes lifting capacity limits in all remaining indoor public settings.

Ontario will also lift proof of vaccination requirements for all settings at this time. Businesses and other settings may choose to continue to require proof of vaccination. Masking requirements will remain in place at this time, with a specific timeline to lift this measure to be communicated at a later date.

To manage COVID-19 over the long-term, public health units can deploy local and regional responses based on local context and conditions.

“Thanks to the efforts of Ontarians to help blunt the transmission of Omicron, our health care indicators suggest a general improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the province,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “We are now in a position to lift more public health measures, but it is important to stay vigilant, as we don’t want to cause any further disruption to people’s everyday lives. We must continue to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in our communities by following the measures in place and by vaccinating those who have not yet received their doses.”

Filed Under: Local News

About the Author:

RSSComments (0)

Trackback URL

Comments are closed.

OPP reports
lottery winners
FIRE
SCHOOL
Elizabeth Crombie Janice-Lewandoski
Home Hardware Picton Sharon Armitage

HOME     LOCAL     MARKETPLACE     COMMUNITY     CONTACT US
© Copyright Prince Edward County News countylive.ca 2024 • All rights reserved.