Ontario's new plan for lifting COVID-19 restrictions coming next week
CBC
Premier Doug Ford's government will announce its new plan for lifting more of Ontario's COVID-19 public health restrictions next week, CBC News has learned.
The easing of pandemic measures will include ending capacity limits in all locations where proof-of-vaccination requirements are in place, such as restaurants, bars and gyms, a senior official in Ford's government said Wednesday.
The official provided information about the government's plans on condition of anonymity. CBC News agreed not to name the official in order to inform the public in advance of the announcement.
Ontario has been at Step 3 of what the government calls its "Roadmap to Reopen" since mid-July. The official said it's now time to unveil a "revised pandemic plan" that takes into account the province's success in getting the population vaccinated against COVID-19, while also keeping a lid on the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
"We owe people a clear plan to exit the roadmap," the official said in an interview. "The work began months ago, we are finalizing the plan now and we expect to release it late next week."
The Ontario government will not lift all public health measures and "pretend the pandemic is over," said the official, noting that indoor-masking requirements will remain in place.
However, the plan will signal when physical distancing and capacity limits can be lifted in settings where proof of vaccination is not required, such as places of worship, the official said.
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