News

The Ontario Government has annoucned re-opening plans in a three step process beginning June 14th. The following update has been provided by The City of London Government Relations team with information from Premier Ford's May announcement. 

Updates from the Premier’s announcement with the Minister of Health at 3:00 PM. More details are available in the press release: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000161/ontario-releases-three-step-roadmap-to-safely-reopen-the-province

• The Premier announced the Province’s Roadmap to Reopen, a three-step approach that the Premier compared to the plans put forward by Saskatchewan and Quebec.
• Each phase will be triggered by achieving specific vaccination targets and key health indicators (new case numbers, hospitalizations, etc.), with a minimum of three weeks between each phase.
• Starting Saturday, May 22^nd, some outdoor recreational amenities including golf courses and tennis courts will be allowed to reopen, with outdoor gatherings limited to 5 people. The full list of amenities is available in the regulation here: https://files.ontario.ca/solgen_oreg344-21_amend82-20_2021-05-20.pdf
• Phase One of the plan, expected to begin around June 14^th, focuses on resuming outdoor activities:
  • Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people
  • Patios with up to four people at each table
  • Outdoor religious ceremonies and rite with capacity limits and two-metre physical distancing requirements
  • Outdoor sports and training for up to 10 people allowed
  • Day camps, campgrounds, Ontario Parks, outdoor pools, and splash pads allowed
  • Retail will begin reopening with a 15-per-cent cap for non-essential businesses, 25 per cent for essential retail
• The Premier and Health Minister both declined to provide speculative dates as to when the other two phases might begin.
• At this point the Premier did not say whether schools would reopen, citing a need for consensus among public health officials. It was unclear when a final decision would be announced.
• The key highlights are in the infographic below (click for a larger view)

In a separate meeting, Minister Lisa MacLeod highlighted there are ongoing conversation about where drive-in events will fit within the re-opening plans and that livestream concerts would be returning in Phase 2 out outlined in the below video.