Ontario has released its plan to gradually reopen the economy
- Michael Kras
- 28 Apr 2020
Though no hard dates have been given and details are still unclear, the Ontario government has now released a basic outline of its plans to gradually reopen the economy amid COVID-19.
During a press briefing last week, Premier Doug Ford made it abundantly clear that the reopening of the economy, when it does get to happen, will be done with a “trickle” rather than a total, unreserved go-ahead.
The plans released on Monday certainly hold true to that, laying out the reopening framework in cautious, calculated, and conditional stages that will only happen once Ontario has reached a particular status and safety level regarding the state of the COVID-19 pandemic province-wide.
Today we released A Framework for Reopening our province. When the time is right, these are the principles we’ll use to safely reopen Ontario and get on the path to economic recovery. Learn more: https://t.co/2XoBa4FCWu pic.twitter.com/ZV1tHpCjMr
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) April 27, 2020
The conditions of beginning to reopen include a consistent two to four week decrease in daily numbers for new COVID-19 cases in the province, the ability for ongoing testing to aid in the early detection of new potential outbreaks, a sufficient level of healthcare capacity with access to ventilators and personal protective equipment, and a 90 per cent rate of new COVID-19 contacts being reached within one day by local public health to help limit community spread.
The three stage plan, with each stage in place for two to four weeks and monitored closely before the next is initiated, begins with a Stage 1 reopening of select workplaces that are immediately able to accommodate modifications for operations that meet public health guidelines, as well as the potential to reopen some outdoor spaces and parks. Hospitals might also be able to reinstate some non-urgent surgeries and procedures.
If that stage goes according to plan, Stage 2 will see more workplaces reopen, including additional offices, retail spaces, and businesses operating in the service industry. There could also be some relatively larger public gatherings allowed.
From there, with positive results, Stage 3 would be initiated to see a complete, responsible reopening of all workplaces in Ontario, as well as public gatherings seeing even more relaxed restrictions.
As many might have already guessed, large-scale gatherings such as concerts, theatre, sporting events, and conferences will likely remain suspended for the longest time, with no indication that they’ll be able to resume as normal for the foreseeable future. In fact, many large events around Ontario – including the world-famous Stratford Festival, an enormous economic boon for the Stratford area – are already seeing 2020 as a write-off and postponing their programming until next year.
As of now, the nitty gritty details of the plan have yet to be hammered out; nor has a timeframe for when Ontario’s reopening is even likely to happen.
Read the Ontario government’s full framework here.
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