Key takeaways:
- According to the province’s top doctor, businesses ordered closed by the Ontario government last week may not be able to reopen on January 26.
Businesses instructed closed by the Ontario government last week may not be able to reopen on January 26 after the province’s top doctor said on Thursday that he “can’t guarantee” that new public health limitations will be lifted on that date.
During a news conference, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said, “As soon as we have clarity, we need to tell the business community, so I can’t guarantee the 26th.” “We’ll be looking at the same data as the scientists at the table, and we’ll cooperate with them to inform public health measures.”
The provincial government announced sweeping new measures earlier this month aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19 variant Omicron and also its impact on Ontario’s healthcare system, such as moving schools online until January 17, limiting indoor dining at restaurants and bars, and reducing capacity in retail settings and also personal care services by half until at least January 26.
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Moore and his team have been searching for a plateau, and a peak in the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals and intensive care units since then, he said. Moore stated that the plan is to “gradually and cautiously” extract public health restrictions once that occurs.
“Our public health measures were just implemented on January 5, and we should begin to see the benefits of Ontarians’ sacrifices next week.” “We should be able to get clarity on where we’re at early next week,” Moore said.
Moore’s remarks follow the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s request that the province clarifies what public health metrics have been used to guide the govt’s decisions to enforce and lift restrictions.
Because the province has declared that schools will reopen on Monday, President and CEO Rocco Rossi said during a statement released Thursday that company owners require to know if they can restart on January 26.
“We implore the government to clarify as soon as possible whether Ontario will exit Stage 2 of its Roadmap to Reopen plan so that employers, workers, and families can plan accordingly,” Rossi said.
“We continue calling for transparency and also visibility into the metrics that guide the imposition or withdrawal of public health restrictions to help decrease business uncertainty.”
Moore insisted that the government’s goal is to keep closures “as brief as possible,” and he apologized to company owners for any inconvenience that the public health measures may have induced.
Source: CTV News
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