24 Ontario health units to enter stage 3 COVID reopening — not Hamilton and Niagara
Additional time required to assess and monitor any impacts and readiness to move into Stage 3, province says
A total of 24 health units in Ontario regions will enter Stage 3 of reopening on Friday, July 17 but Hamilton is not among them.
The province says Hamilton and nine other regions will remain in Stage 2, as additional time is required to assess and monitor any impacts and readiness to move into Stage 3.
Along with Hamilton, the following will have to wait a while longer before moving to the next stage:
- Durham Region Health Department.
- Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit.
- Halton Region Public Health.
- Lambton Public Health.
- Niagara Region Public Health.
- Peel Public Health.
- Toronto Public Health.
- Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
- York Region Public Health.
"As we all know, these regions entered Stage 2 later on, so we need just a little more time," Premier Doug Ford said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
"I want the people in these regions to know that we won't leave anyone behind and we will provide an update every Monday on regional reopenings. We will keep working until every part of this province gets to Stage 3."
In Ontario's Stage 2, restaurants are restricted to outdoor seating and take-out meals. Most provinces that have allowed restaurants to reopen fully have put limits in place, such as operating at lower-than-full capacity or minimum space between tables.
Haldimand-Norfolk expect to be able to move to Stage 3 shortly
Meanwhile, Haldimand-Norfolk has responded to the announcement that it will remain at stage two.
In a news release, Mayor Kristal Chopp, chair of the Haldimand-Norfolk Board of Health, said it is anticipated that the province will re-evaluate the status of Haldimand and Norfolk next Monday.
"We expect to be able to move into the next stage shortly, so long as we continue to see few new daily cases of COVID-19 in the community," Chopp said.
"While we're all very much looking forward to seeing more of our businesses permitted to re-open, this doesn't mean that the pandemic is over. We must continue to be vigilant against the spread of the virus, and avoid undoing all the hard work we've done over the last four months.
"Our residents deserve a huge thanks for the sacrifices they've made in the battle against COVID-19. We would not be preparing to open up more businesses and returning to more normal circumstances without their efforts," Chopp added.
In Stage 3, nearly all businesses can re-open and there will be a further easing on the size of social gatherings.
Movie theatres, gyms, fitness studios and indoor dining are among the businesses permitted to open in stage three.
Daily COVID-19 cases
There are currently 17 active cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton. Since the outbreak began, 858 positive cases have been recorded. Of this number, 797 have been resolved and 44 people have died.
Brant
There are 10 people in Brant/Brantford with COVID-19, none of whom are in hospital.
There have been 133 total COVID-19 cases. Of those, 119 people have recovered and four have died.
Haldimand-Norfolk
There are 16 active cases of COVID-19 in Haldimand-Norfolk.
The total of 444 lab-confirmed cases hasn't changed since Friday. Of those, 32 have died and 396 have recovered.
Halton
There are 41 active cases in the Halton region, where the number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began stands at 875.
The virus has killed 25 people and 809 have recovered.
In Burlington, seven people are known to have the virus right now. The city has seen 177 cases, of which 163 have recovered and seven have died.
Niagara
The number of people in Niagara currently known to have COVID-19 remains at 24. A total of 691 people have recovered and 64 people have died. All told, the area has seen 779 confirmed cases since the outbreak began.
Six Nations
Ohsweken Public Health has confirmed a new, positive case of COVID-19 on Six Nations Territory, according to a media release Monday.
The new case brings the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 15. One person has died.
Officials are now carrying out contact tracing and are directing people to self isolate.
"We've all been getting a little more comfortable going about our day-to-day activities since entering stage two of the recovery plan, but this latest confirmed case is a stark reminder that the virus is still in and around Six Nations Territory," stated Six Nations Health Services director Lori Davis Hill in the release.
"Everyone should continue to conduct themselves as though they have the virus and don't want to spread it, and as if everyone else has the virus and they don't want to get it."