Ontario reports 226 new COVID-19 cases, releases guidelines on 'exit step' of reopening
The Canadian Press | Posted: July 30, 2021 2:49 PM | Last Updated: July 30, 2021
As of 8 p.m. on Thursday, 19,377,608 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered
Ontario reported 226 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, as the province says it won't lift its mask mandate in the next phase of reopening — even as it drops most other public health measures meant to curb the spread of the virus.
There's still no date for when the province will move to what it calls the "Exit Step" of its "Roadmap to Reopening," but the government says it's giving residents and businesses a sense of what's to come.
The exit step will ditch capacity limits.
But businesses must continue "passive screening" for COVID-19, for example by having signs posted.
They must also keep a safety plan in place that details how they will follow existing public health protocols.
The government says it is keeping the mask mandate in place, unlike Alberta and New Brunswick, because the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 is dominant in Ontario.
It notes that Quebec and Israel have done the same thing, and that the American Centers for Disease Control recommends that people who are fully vaccinated wear masks indoors in areas of high COVID-19 transmission.
The province announced Thursday that 80 per cent of residents aged 12 and older have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, meaning one of three conditions the province has set for moving beyond Step 3 of its reopening plan has been met.
In order to move out of Step 3, the government has also said 75 per cent of people 12 and older must have received their second dose, and all public health units must have 70 per cent of eligible people fully vaccinated.
If vaccination targets are met and health indicators are stable after three weeks in Step 3, restrictions could roll back further, making Aug. 6 the earliest possible date for the change.
Ontario reports 226 new COVID-19 cases
Of Friday's new cases, Health Minister Christine Elliott says 62 of the new cases are in Toronto, 35 were in Waterloo Region, and 24 were in Peel.
Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from the Ministry of Health's daily provincial update:
Seven-day average of daily cases: 170
Tests completed: 20,993
Provincewide test positivity rate: 1.1 per cent
Active cases: 1,491
Patients in ICU with COVID-related illnesses: 117, with 59 needing a ventilator to breathe
Deaths: 11, pushing the official toll to 9,339
Vaccinations: 83,907, most of which were second doses. Just over 81 per cent of adults have at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and just over 70 per cent are fully vaccinated.