Province unveils staged plan to gradually lift restrictions

By Mark Ribble

TORONTO — The Ontario government unveiled plans on Monday, April 27, to gradually re-open the provincial economy.

Premier Doug Ford cautioned that we must continue to keep safety in mind as we roll forward with the plan, to avoid the need to start over in the fight against COVID-19.

With major input from the provincial medical community, the Premier announced that the plan will be rolled out in stages.

Stage one will allow for the opening of select workplaces. They will open some outdoor spaces such as parks, allowing some small gatherings such as funerals - all the while continuing with social distancing. Hospitals will begin to offer some non-urgent and scheduled surgeries and other health care services.

Stage two will follow after a two-to-four week period to make sure stage one is working well. It would include opening more workplaces, including service industries, offices and retail.

Stage three will again follow after a period of time to confirm that there is no rebound of the disease. It will include the opening of all workplaces, further relaxing of restrictions on public gatherings. Large public gatherings like concerts and sporting events will be restricted for the foreseeable future. Ontarians will also need to continue with physical distancing.

Premier Ford stressed that these stages will allow for a responsible re-opening of the province.

“This is a roadmap, not a calendar”, he said. However, Ford is confident that Ontario will bounce back better than ever.

“Ontario will bounce back better than anyone could have expected”, he said. “This will ramp up in ways this province has never seen”, he added.

No date has been determined for the stage one roll-out of this plan, but Ford expects it will come soon and a timeline should follow in coming weeks.