Seven more regions headed to stage two of reopening, but Toronto and Peel to remain in stage one

The provincial government is giving seven more regions — including the Niagara and Hamilton areas — the green light to move to stage two of reopening on Friday, Premier Doug Ford announced this afternoon. But Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex County, among the regions hardest hit by COVID-19, will remain in stage one for now.

The premier's announcement comes after several places, like Ottawa and Peterborough, moved to stage two on June 12. Areas represented by the following 10 public health units remained in stage one.

• Durham Region Health Department
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
• Halton Region Public Health
• Hamilton Public Health Services
• Lambton Public Health
• Niagara Region Public Health
• Peel Public Health
• Toronto Public Health
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
• York Region Public Health

With today's announcement, various services and businesses, such as dining in on restaurant patios, hair salons and shopping malls, will be able to resume in all these regions except Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex County.

"This will mean more people going back to work at restaurants, bars, beauty salons, shopping malls and many other businesses big and small in those regions," said Ford during a press conference at which he was accompanied by four other ministers. "For the regions still remaining in stage one — Toronto, Peel and Windsor-Essex — we ask you please be patient, because we can’t let our guard down."

While Ford said he was hopeful these other regions would be able to enter stage two "very soon," he didn't provide an estimate on a timeline when asked if the three regions could further ease public health restrictions in another week.

"I'd love to see it open by Friday, I guess that’s everyone's goal, but again it depends on the numbers," he said.

The government said it would provide an update at the beginning of each week on whether or not the regions in stage one could proceed to the next step of reopening by the end of the week.

The following businesses and services will be permitted to resume in the regions that are in stage two, provided they have the proper health and safety protocols in place (practicing physical distancing and using personal protective equipment):

• personal care services like barber shops and hair salons, beauty salons, hair removal services, day spas, diet centres, piercing and tattoo studios, tanning salons (services that tend a person's face as well as baths, saunas, and steam rooms are not allowed)
• personal services like wedding chapels, party and wedding planning, shoe services, personal fitness training outside of gyms, check room services (ex. coat check)
• restaurants, bars, food trucks, wineries, breweries and distilleries for dining in outdoor areas like patios
• shopping malls, centres and markets including outdoor dining for restaurants located in a mall, but eating at indoor food courts is not permitted
• photography studios and services, film and television production
• indoor and outdoor tour and guide services such as tasting and tours at wineries, hunting or fishing excursions, walking and bike tours, sightseeing (vehicle or boat) tours
• indoor and outdoor swimming pools and outdoor splash pads and wading pools, but waterparks, wave pools and water slides cannot reopen
• outdoor recreational activities such as paintball, mini-golf, archery ranges, go-cart tracks, but clubhouses and change rooms will stay closed (except for providing washroom access) and activities where equipment cannot be sanitized will not be allowed
• Ontario Parks campgrounds and private campgrounds
• training for outdoor team sports if physical distancing is possible, but no games
• drive-in and drive-thru theatres, concerts, animal attractions and art installations
• Wedding and funeral venues (receptions will be limited to 10 people, but indoor ceremonies can permit 30 per cent of the venue's capacity and outdoor ceremonies will be limited to 50 people)

Health Minister Christine Elliott thanked Ontarians for "continued diligence with physical distancing, wearing face coverings when needed and hand hygiene," saying this has made the reopening of several regions possible.

"We are making progress in our fight against COVID-19, there’s no question," she said pointing to the fact that a majority of the 34 local public health units are reporting fewer than five new cases of COVID-19, with many reporting no new cases.

Today the province reported 181 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths, which represents the previous day's data from local public health units and marks the third time during the past week that the number of new daily cases has been below 200.

Nearly 70 per cent, or 126, of the 181 new cases were reported in Toronto, 85, and Peel, 41, with Windsor-Essex County reporting seven.

Windsor-Essex County has also seen a growing number of agri-farm workers testing positive for COVID-19, and according to a weekly epidemiological summary, there were 280 cases among agri-farm workers as of June 10, although more were confirmed this past weekend.

"The good news is the public health trends across the province are going in the right direction, we’re making steady progress, and if we keep working together I’m hopeful that all communities in Ontario will be able to enter stage two very very soon," said Ford. "We want to get more people back to work and back to their lives as quickly and as safely as possible."

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie called the province's decision to keep Peel region in stage one "the right decision."

Today, the Premier announced that Peel Region will remain in Stage 1. This is the right decision. Given the progress #Mississauga has made, I remained hopeful but given rates across the entire Region remain the second-highest in the province, it's clear we have more work to do. pic.twitter.com/NZa8bT9gec

— Bonnie Crombie 🇨🇦 (@BonnieCrombie) June 15, 2020

"Given the progress Mississauga has made over the past few weeks, I remained hopeful that we would be in a position to enter Phase 2," Crombie said in a statement posted to Twitter. "Unfortunately, case counts and incidence rates across the entire region remain the second-highest in the province, though they have certainly started to decline."

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens also posted a statement on social media saying that while he was "disappointed by our lack of progress today, I understand that we cannot pick and choose cities and towns within our region that could move forward to Stage 2, while others are held back."

Toronto Mayor John Tory said during a press briefing that while he's confident the city will reach stage two soon, he wants this to happen when it is safe to do so.

Elliott said the numbers in the three regions were "higher than we'd like to see," noting that while Windsor has seen progress, there are many people including health workers who work across the border and travel back and forth each day.

Asked about people travelling from stage one regions to those in stage two within Ontario, the premier, who has previously raised concerns about this, reiterated his hope that all regions will reopen soon.

"Be vigilant, don't let your guard down," said Ford, noting his advice to those in Toronto, Peel or Windsor who might consider travelling to other regions. "Continue with...your social bubble...and just practice social distancing even when you're in a group. You know, you have to keep distance and wear a face covering when you can."

Ford said he hadn't received any pushback from regions about moving to stage two on Friday and that regions have been "very co-operative."

Meanwhile, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries Lisa MacLeod said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a "devastating impact" on the province's sectors that fall under her portfolio.

She said the industries face a "daunting task" of dealing with a "triple threat" — a public health crisis, the economic fallout and now with reopening, consumer behaviour and confidence.

"Building back that confidence is going to be critical in each aspect of the ministries and the sectors that I support, whether that is hotel stays, going back to a restaurant, you know, renting a kayak," said MacLeod, adding that this is going to take "a lot of incentives."

Alongside 24 public health units moving to stage two on June 12, the province also upped the limit on the size of social gatherings from five to 10 people, but physical distancing is still required. The government also announced on June 12 that Ontarians could start creating "social circles" of up to 10 people — this essentially allows households to come together to form a bubble without physical distancing.