Province lays out roadmap to reopening as Peel continues marking vaccination milestones

By Rob Paul

On Thursday, May 20, Premier Doug Ford and the Government of Ontario announced the initial roadmap for the Province's reopening after a nearly two month long stay-at-home order.

The three-step plan will gradually lift public health measurers based on vaccination rates.

Effective May 22, the province has already opened some outdoor recreational activities such as golf, tennis, and skate parks—individual sports that will allow for physical distancing and not impact restrictions against mixing households—along with some sports, gatherings of up to five outdoors are now permitted. 

“As a result of the strict public health measures we introduced to stop the spread of COVID-19 variants, we are seeing a steady improvement in our situation as ICU and hospital numbers begin to stabilize,” said Premier Ford. “While we must remain conscious of the continued threat the virus poses, with millions of Ontarians having received at least their first dose of vaccine we can now begin the process of a slow and cautious re-opening of the province in full consultation with our public health professionals.”

Each step in the reopening roadmap will last at least 21 days to evaluate the impacts on public health and health system indicators. After 21 days, if vaccination thresholds have been met and public health and health system indicators are trending positively then the province will advance to the next step.

The Province is expected to enter step one the week of June 14, and it will be focused on resuming outdoor activities with smaller crowds where the risk of transmission is lower and permitting retail with restrictions. It will include 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.

After 21 days, if 60 per cent of adults have been vaccinated with one dose, the Province will move to step two which further expands 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, overnight camps, 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.

If 70 per cent of adults are vaccinated with one dose and 20 per cent are vaccinated with two doses then the Province will move into step three which will expand access to indoor settings, 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.

To exit step three, 70 to 80 per cent of adults need to be vaccinated with one dose and 25 per cent vaccinated with two doses. To this point, the province has administered first doses of the vaccines to over 58.5 per cent of Ontarians aged 18 and over. 

“While we know that now is not yet the moment to reopen, Ontarians deserve to know the path forward on what we will carefully reopen and when, starting with the settings we know are safest,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Brighter days are ahead, and we believe this Roadmap represents a path out of the pandemic and will encourage Ontarians to get vaccinated and to continue following public health advice.”

Although the roadmap to reopening touches on most aspects, it doesn't specify when students will return to the classroom. For now, the Province says they will continue with remote learning and data will assessed on an ongoing basis and medical experts will be consulted to determine when it is safe to resume in-person learning.

“We must remain vigilant however, as the fight against COVID-19 is not over and our case counts, ICU capacity and hospitalizations are still concerning,” said Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “It remains critical that all Ontarians continue to follow all public health and workplace safety measures currently in place to help further reduce transmission and save lives.”

As the Province shifts towards reopening, the Region of Peel continues to see less weekly COVID cases and deaths while vaccination numbers are trending positively. 

Peel has had 108,019 total cases of COVID—an increase of 2,615 since last week, which is a smaller increase than the previous week that saw a nearly 4,000 case uptick. Caledon has accounted for 4,321 total cases—an increase of 88 since last week—4 per cent of Peel cases have come from Caledon.

As for COVID related deaths, the Region is at 756 with nine more since last week, while Caledon remains at 18 with zero deaths over the last week.

Peel has reached a major vaccination milestone with 50.1 per cent of residents having received at least one dose of the vaccine—2 per cent have received both doses—and 62.4 per cent of Peel adults (over 18) receiving at least one dose. In total, 928,361 doses have been administered in Peel as of May 20.

“This is our collective effort, we're trying to get to three big milestones,” said Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel's Medical Officer of Health. “The first milestone is 75 per cent first dose coverage. We know that one dose helps to protect against death and hospitalization and severity. So really once you get to that level, you're starting to take away the pressures on the hospital and health care system. Then you're trying to get to 75 per cent first dose coverage and 20 per cent second dose coverage. This is the level that countries like the U.K. and Israel got to where they really started to see changes in transmission and new cases in the community. That starts to limit the number of clusters to people getting sick so that actually helps you, at that point you're able to start reopening society more. 

“Our final milestone that we really need to all pull through together, and everyone who's got your first doses this is a message for you, remember it's not one and done. It's two doses, so we want to get 75 per cent two dose coverage and hopefully at that point we're starting to see transmission interrupted broadly throughout the community.”

In an effort to continue the positive trend towards reaching vaccination thresholds, Peel has announced individuals aged 12 to 15 who live, work, or attend school in the Region will be eligible to book an appointment for the vaccine.

Bookings will be accepted for individuals who are 12 years of age and older at the time of vaccination. Pfizer is currently the only vaccine authorized by Health Canada for use in this age group.

Individuals aged 12 years or older can consent to immunization on their own behalf provided they understand the benefits and risks of the procedure. Proof of age will be required at time of vaccination—an Ontario health card or another form of government issued photo ID will be required.

Appointments for individuals aged 12 to 15 have to be booked online using the Region's book system. Appointments will be available at all seven Peel Public Health mass vaccination clinics, as well as the mobile school clinics and select pop-up clinics.

To book a vaccine appointment in the Region of Peel, visit peelregion.ca/coronavirus/vaccine/book-appointment.