Ontario Government Releases Provincial Reopening Plan With Eased Outdoor Restrictions For Victoria Day Weekend

The Government of Ontario has lifted outdoor activity restrictions for the Victoria Day weekend and a “road map to reopen” in a press conference at Queen’s Park held on Thursday.

Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health were present to discuss the province’s reopening plan.

On Saturday, outdoor recreational amenities can reopen such as golf course and tennis courts to safely celebrate the Victoria Day long weekend said Elliott.

Outdoor gathering limits have been expanded to five people. The government urges the province to continue following health guidelines and get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The road map to reopen is the proposed way out of the pandemic and a clear path forward to carefully and safely reopen in a three-step plan according to Elliott.

• Step one: Initial focus on resuming small-crowd outdoor activities including pools, splash pads, fitness classes, zoos and religious services. Retail stores can be open with restrictions.

  • Outdoor gatherings can be up to 10 people.

  • Outdoor dining up to four people per table.

  • Non-essential retail at 15 per cent capacity.

• Step two: Further expands outdoor activities and continue limited indoor services with face coverings worn.

  • Outdoor gatherings of 25 people

  • Outdoors sports and leagues permitted

  • Non-essential retail open up at 25 per cent capacity

  • Public libraries and personal care services where face coverings can be worn and with capacity limits

• Step three: Expand access to indoor settings with restrictions including large numbers of people and where face coverings cannot always be worn. This includes but not limited to gyms, cinemas, performing arts facilities, indoor dining and museums with capacity limits.

The province plans to be in step one around the week of June 14 and will be in each step for at least 21 days. The three weeks allow time to evaluate the impacts and determine if Ontario can move to the next step.

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Fleming Students Receive Certification to Give COVID-19 Vaccines

Twenty-six Fleming College students of the pharmacy technician program have been approved to help local pharmacies load and administer COVID-19 vaccines in Peterborough.

Photo Courtesy of Fleming College.

The Ontario College of Pharmacists issued the Emergency Assignment Registration for all pharmacy students in the province to gain certification to temporarily load and give vaccines. The emergency certification is for 60 days but is open to being extended as needed. The opportunity came after the Canadian government recognized a shortage in vaccine administers.

The second-year students received the opportunity as their practical exams as a pleasant surprise when they found out back in early March. It was a different format from what was originally planned.

“I wanted to change their practical exams on this,” said Amanda Mushynski, pharmacy technician program coordinator. “It would qualify them to give vaccines and they were ecstatic. The students jumped on it.”

Photo Courtesy of Fleming College.

Students would be dispatched to local pharmacies, public health units or mobile vaccination sites to administer the doses.

Helping these locations is a big load off pharmacists’ shoulders according to Mushynski.

“They’re trying to do their regular jobs as well as administer vaccines,” she said. “Our students can go into the pharmacies and do the injections. Some of the local pharmacies don’t have the manpower, they might hesitate but now they have a pool to choose from.”

Photo Courtesy of Fleming College.

Students are currently waiting on final confirmation from the college before getting the green light to give the vaccines during this article’s publication.

This unexpected yet positive news for the students is a rare opportunity that they took advantage of and can put them over the top says Mushynski.

Photo Courtesy of Fleming College.

“I’m so very proud of what we’ve done in the program and giving vaccines,” she exclaimed. “Flipping from face-to-face to learning online, learning from home and studying themselves. This is a group of phenomenal students. Their reward is to be able to give back.”

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Ontario Government Extends Shutdown For Another Two Weeks

The shutdown has been extended for another two weeks until June 2 announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a public address at Queen’s Park announced on Thursday.

Screenshot.

The shutdown is to help combat the overflowing ICU numbers that remain in hospitals and to have “the most normal July and August possible.”

The stay-at-home-order started back on Apr. 3 has been extended by a full month since the original declaration. The shutdown was set to expire on May 20.

Ford was accompanied by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

During the shutdown, daily cases have gone down from 4,000 to 2,750 but the goal is less than 1000 for several days before considering looser restrictions according to Williams.

“Everybody thinks that’s great from where we came from, and that’s true but we still have a ways to get back down because we didn’t get all the way out of the second before we went into the third wave,” explained Williams. “We do not want to repeat that again.”

Starting May 31, youth aged 12 to 17 and their family members who have not received a vaccine will be able to book an appointment for the Pfizer vaccine.

Publicly funded and private elementary and secondary schools will continue remote learning.

Sports and outdoor recreational activities will remain closed. Ford agrees that golfing is not the issue but it is the post-golfing gatherings that are a concern.

“There’s nothing wrong with golfing, the problem is the mobility,” he said. “Then after golf, they go back, they have a few pops. That’s the problem.”

As of Thursday, 6.6 million residents have had vaccinated with at least the first dose with over 407,000 receiving their second dose.

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Ontario Government Announces New Restrictions and Shutdown Extension

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet have placed tighter restrictions including a two-week shutdown extension to combat the third wave of COVID-19 announced on Friday.

The decision came after COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit occupancies are at their highest according to Christine Elliott, deputy premier and minister of health.

The stay-at-home order now totalling six weeks will come with tighter restrictions and are effective April 17, at 12:01 a.m.

Limiting mobility, enforcing the rules and getting vaccines are the three ways the curve will be flattened according to Ford.

Doug Ford announced the stay-at-home shutdown at April 1 which originally scheduled for four weeks. Screenshot.

The following restrictions are as follows:

• Outdoor gatherings are limited to your household only, those who live alone can meet with one other household

• Provincial border restriction checkpoints are placed on Manitoba and Quebec with the exception of work, medical care or transportations

• International and air travel are restricted

• All non-essential workplaces and construction will be closed

• All outdoor recreational activities such as golf courses, soccer fields, basketball courts and playgrounds are closed

• Essential retailers permitted for in-store shopping are capped at a 25 per cent capacity

• Religious services, weddings and funerals have a 10-person limit indoors or outdoors

• Drive-in services are permitted

Police and by-law officers will enforce public health measures during the shutdown. Police can ask for your place of residence and why you are not there. You can receive a ticket of $750 for not complying as it is breaking the law according to Sylvia Jones, solicitor general.

Vaccine supplies will increase for hotspots by 25 per cent according to Ford.

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Schools Move to Virtual Learning After Record-Breaking COVID-19 Numbers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has declared that all elementary and secondary schools will move to an online format after the April break indefinitely after record-breaking COVID-19 cases and ICU numbers on Monday.

The announcement was made as a preventative measure according to Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education.

“Today’s announcement is about prevention and sadly necessary precaution as we tackle the third wave of COVID-19,” he said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford received his COVID-19 vaccine on Friday. Screenshot.

Students with special education needs who are unable to learn virtually will have continued in-person learning.

Child care services for non-school-aged children will remain open and all school activities and activities will be closed accord to Ford.

Free emergency child care will be provided for school-aged children of healthcare and frontline workers. The Government of Ontario is working on a child care plan for parents who cannot work remotely.

Ford encourages that anyone who is eligible to get the vaccine to book an appointment as soon as possible.

Any eligible person who wants to book a vaccine appointment can visit the Government of Ontario website or call 1-888-999-6488.

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Peterborough Public Health Launches Campaign for COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility

Together with its municipal partners the City and County of Peterborough, Peterborough Public Health launched its “Notify Me” campaign to make it easier for residents to find out when they can receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

All residents need to do is visit Peterborough Public Health’s “Notify Me” site to sign up with their email address and indicate which group(s) they want to be notified about.

When local clinics and healthcare providers are ready to serve that group in the coming weeks, Peterborough Public Health will send an email to those on the mailing list explaining how to book a vaccination appointment.

No personal information will be collected. All email addresses gathered through the form will be stored securely until use. They will be deleted after the final notification is issued once Phase 3 vaccinations begin.

“With a rapidly changing vaccine distribution plan and other Ontario regions opening up eligibility for different groups at different times, it can be confusing to know when it’s your turn to book an appointment,” said Brittany Cadence, Communications Manager with Peterborough Public Health. “By simply providing us with your email address, we hope to provide peace of mind.”

Photo courtesy of

Peterborough Public Health is only able to notify people by email and encourages those without an email address to ask a loved one with an email address to sign up on their behalf.

As a reminder, you are not signing up to receive the vaccine. You must also be in the eligible population to sign up to receive the vaccine. More information about eligibility will be available on the Peterborough Public Health vaccine webpage.

To sign up to receive a notification when COVID-19 vaccine eligibility opens up to a specific group, please visit Peterborough Public Health’s “Notify Me” link.

To learn more about Ontario’s Vaccination plan, you can click here for more information.

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Ontario Government Declares State of Emergency With Stay-At-Home Order Restrictions

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency including a province-wide stay-at-home order in a live stream press conference in Toronto at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.

The four-week order will take place at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday after top public health officials and Ottawa urged the province to do more to contain the COVID-19 variants.

The same officials reported a surge in patient overflow in hospitals and ICUs in the last week according to Ford.

During the order, Ontario plans to roll out mobile clinics to vaccine those aged 18+ who need it the most such as workers in the high-risk locations.

“These next four weeks are absolutely critical,” said Ford. “We’ve come so far already and we just need to stick together a little longer. because hope is on the horizon.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford (pictured) announced an “emergency brake” shutdown on Apr. 1. Over 2.7 million vaccines have been administered in Ontario since the press conference. Screenshot.

The following are the restrictions the Government of Ontario is putting into place in addition to the “emergency brake” shutdown on Thursday:

• Grocers and pharmacies are allowed for indoor shopping

• Garden centers can stay open

• Big box and discount store retailers can sell essential items such as food, pet care, medicine, cleaning supplies and personal items

  • All other items and are restricted to curbside pickup or delivery

  • If the store sells the non-essential items in addition to food and pharmaceutical items, the sections must be blocked off

• Non-essential retailers are limited to curbside pickup and delivery from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

• Residential evictions will be suspended

• Shopping malls are restricted to specific purposes such as access to designated pickup locations via appointment

Any eligible person who wants to book a vaccine appointment can visit the Government of Ontario website or call 1-888-999-6488.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford Announced Four-Week Province-Wide "Emergency Brake"

Ontario will go into at least a four-week, province-wide shutdown on Saturday as Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced an “emergency brake” to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 variants.

The announcement was made Thursday afternoon in a live stream at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

“This is a new pandemic,” said Ford. “We’re now fighting a new enemy. The new variants are far more dangerous than before. They spread faster and they do more harm than the virus we were fighting last year.”

The shutdown will take effect on Saturday, Apr. 3 at 12:01 a.m.

According to the Government of Ontario, they are urging Ontario to take these safety measures:

You should:

• Stay home as much as possible

• Limit close contact to your household (the people you live with) and stay at least two metres apart from everyone else

• Limit trips outside your home to necessities, such as:

  • Getting food or medication

  • Going to medical appointments

  • Supporting vulnerable community members

  • Child care

  • Getting exercise or walking pets

Always:

• Stay home if you have symptoms, even if they are mild

• Stay two metres apart from people you don’t live with

• Wear a mask or face covering in indoor public spaces or any time physical distancing is not possible

Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health outlines the restrictions of the “emergency brake.”

• Prohibiting indoor organized public events and social gatherings but outdoor gatherings are limited to a five-person maximum

  • Gatherings with the same household members or one-household gatherings can meet with one other solo household member

• A 50 per cent capacity limit for, grocers, convenience stores, indoor farmers' markets, pharmacies and other stores that primarily sell food

  • A 25 per cent limit for all other retailers including big box stores

• No personal care services.

• No indoor or outdoor dining however take out, delivery and drive-thru options are permitted

• No indoor or outdoor sports, sports facilities and recreational fitness, with very limited exceptions

• Day camps are not permitted

• Limiting capacity at funerals, weddings and religious services to 15 per cent occupancy per room indoors and to those who can social distance two metres outdoors. Social gatherings affiliated with these services such as receptions, which are not permitted indoors and are limited to five people outdoors are not included.

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