The Simcoe-Muskoka medical officer of health said the timelines in the new Ontario plan to lift the lockdown gradually are “suitably cautious.”
Yesterday, the government announced the Roadmap to Reopen plan for Ontario, allowing some outdoor amenities to reopen and outdoor gatherings up to give people with physical distancing in place.
The roadmap includes a three-step process toward reopening, with the first step beginning around June 14 and each step lasting a minimum of 21 days before restrictions are eased.
“I believe waiting in this way is important,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
He noted the region and province still has high rates of transmission, even though they are coming down. He also wanted to see a higher vaccination rate in the community.
“It is suitably cautious to have at least 21 days of time between steps, and it may actually take longer, depending on other indicators,” said Gardner in an email.
This is the third provincial reopening plan since the start of the pandemic. The last colour-coded framework applied different measures to each health unit based on a system that factored local case rates, hospital capacity, and health unit capacity. The framework has been replaced with the three-step plan, which is as follows:
- Step One: An initial focus on resuming outdoor activities with smaller crowds where the risk of transmission is lower, and permitting retail with restrictions. This includes allowing outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, outdoor dining with up to four people per table and non-essential retail at 15 per cent capacity.
- Step Two: Further expanding outdoor activities and resuming limited indoor services with small numbers of people where face coverings are worn. This includes outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, outdoor sports and leagues, personal care services where face coverings can be worn and with capacity limits, as well as indoor religious services, rites or ceremony gatherings at 15 per cent capacity.
- Step Three: Expanding access to indoor settings, with restrictions, including where there are larger numbers of people and where face coverings can’t always be worn. This includes indoor sports and recreational fitness; indoor dining, museums, art galleries and libraries, and casinos and bingo halls, with capacity limits.
On Tuesday of this week, Dr. Gardner told members of the media he hoped the province would come up with a reopening plan that applied restrictions either provincewide, or across regions that were larger than individual health units.
“I am pleased to see that this is a whole-of-province approach, thus avoiding local differences in open amenities and services that can increase movement of people between communities,” said Gardner in an email this morning (May 21). “I also support the staged approach over time.”
Even before stage one begins, there are some restrictions being lifted in Ontario. Starting tomorrow, more outdoor activities will be permitted, resulting in the reopening of sports fields, golf courses, boat launches and marinas, and skate parks.
In order to allow people to use those outdoor spots, the province is now allowing outdoor gatherings of up to five people (they do not have to be from the same household) with physical distancing in place.
“With the gathering limits, the closed-indoor amenities and the ongoing stay-at-home order, I support this reopening of the cited outdoor amenities at this time,” said Gardner. “[I] strongly advise that people be cautious as they take advantage of this change.”
Even before the provincial announcement, Dr. Adalstein Brown, co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, provided a list of what he considered “safer” outdoor activities. He said activities with physical distancing in place and with indoor amenities closed could be safer for people to participate in with lower risk of transmission of COVID-19.
He did, however, warn people not to travel outside their regions even for outdoor activities that might be considered safer.
Though the first step of the province’s roadmap could be announced the week of June 14, it still depends on the usual health indicators (case rates, health unit capacity, health system capacity), possible new variants, and this time the steps are also triggered by vaccination rates.
According to the provincial announcement, the vaccine rates for each step must meet the following criteria:
- Step 1: 60 per cent of adults vaccinated with one dose.
- Step 2: 70 per cent of adults vaccinated with one dose and 20 per cent vaccinated with two doses.
- Step 3: 70 to 80 per cent of adults vaccinated with one dose and 25 per cent vaccinated with two doses.
According to the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, over 53 per cent of adults 18 years of age or older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
In the whole of Ontario, more than 54 per cent of adults aged 18 years of age or older have had a single dose of a vaccine against COVID-19.
Today, the province also announced it would be offering second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to those who received one dose of it already. The AstraZeneca vaccine first dose distribution was halted on May 11 after surveillance revealed an increased incidence of a rare vaccine-induced blood clot.
“I support the inclusion of vaccination coverage rates as this is an important means of bringing and keeping the pandemic under control,” said Dr. Gardner.
Gardner, Dr. Brown, and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams all urged Ontarians to get vaccinated when they could and to stick close to home this weekend.
“Enjoy the outdoors with caution … also exercise caution with sun safety and with ticks,” said Gardner. “I also encourage people to seek out and get vaccinated, helping to protect themselves and their loved ones, and helping us all get to a place where we can have freer lives.”
Gardner warned Simcoe Muskoka residents not to visit other households indoors and not to have anyone over to their home.
For the latest Ontario-wide restrictions and the current stay-at-home order, click here, and for information on booking a vaccine appointment, visit the health unit website here.
