Ontario reports 161 new COVID-19 cases
TORONTO — Ontario’s two largest regions will enter Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan Wednesday, with restaurant patios, hair salons and swimming pools in Toronto and Peel Region able to resume operations.
That will leave Windsor-Essex as the only region of the province still in Stage 1, which Premier Doug Ford blamed on farmers in the region not allowing for enough testing of migrant workers, amid deadly outbreaks there.
“No one wants to see every region of Ontario open more than I do, but we have to do it right and unfortunately right now the threat of this virus in Windsor-Essex is still too great,” Ford said.
“While we’ve seen the trends improve in Toronto and Peel, we haven’t yet seen those targets met in Windsor.”
Provincewide there were 161 new cases of COVID-19 reported Monday and three more deaths.
That’s the lowest total of new daily cases since late March and brings the province to a total of 33,637 cases, including 2,609 deaths and 28,933 resolved cases. The number of resolved cases continues to grow more quickly than active ones.
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 and those in intensive care and on ventilators all dropped, to the lowest levels since the province started publicly reporting them at the beginning of April.
“We’re beating this virus,”
Ford said.
The mayors of Brampton and Mississauga in Peel Region welcomed the premier’s announcement, saying it came at the right time.
“Friends and family will once again be able to enjoy a cold beer on a patio, a dip in the pool, play a game of soccer, or get a haircut with their favourite stylist or barber,” Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said in a statement.
“Our local businesses who are our friends, neighbours and family members will need our help to get back on their feet after what has been a very challenging time.”
In addition to bar and restaurant patios, Stage 2 includes the resumption of tours such as bus and boat ones, some outdoor activities such as paintball, mini golf, and go-cart tracks, splash pads, wading pools, and swimming pools.
Tattoo parlours, barber shops, hair salons and beauty salons will be allowed to reopen with health and safety measures in place, but not for services for someone’s face such as facials, eyebrow grooming and makeup.
Stores in malls can reopen, as can museums, galleries and zoos while limiting the number of visitors. The Royal Ontario Museum tweeted that it would have a reopening announcement shortly.