From Wednesday, indoor gatherings of up to five people will be allowed, as will outdoor gatherings of up to 25. Personal care services, such as hairdressers, will also be allowed to reopened at 25 percent capacity and provided face masks could be worn at all times.
Other outdoor venues, including outdoor concert venues, theatres and cinemas, horse tracks and speedways, sporting venues, fairs, rural exhibitions, and festivals would also be permitted at 25 percent capacity. Outdoor team sports with no contact or modified to avoid contact would be allowed with restrictions, though no upper limit was placed on the number of participants. Indoor religious services, as well as weddings and funerals, would be allowed at 25 percent capacity of the hosting room.
The second stage of the province’s reopening plan was initially due to begin on July 2, but was moved forward due to the “provincewide vaccination rate now surpassing the targets” set in the plan, according to a government statement. Ontario needed to have vaccinated 70 percent of the population with a first dose and 20 percent with a second dose for at least two weeks.
In the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU), more than 167,515 vaccines have been administered so far. More than 50 percent of all age groups except under 20s have received at least their first dose of vaccine.
The third stage of the reopening plan is expected to begin at least three weeks after the start of stage two. In order for stage three to begin, between 70 and 80 percent of adults must have received their first dose of the vaccine, with 25 percent receiving both doses.
The third stage will allow increased capacity for outdoor gatherings, and the expansion of indoor venues permitted to reopen.
