Key Takeaways:
- Ontario plans to lift the remaining COVID-19 public health measures, such as mandatory masks and workplace vaccination policies, by the end of April.
- In hospitals, long-term care homes, schools, and child-care settings, vaccination policies will no longer be required.
- The remaining orders under the Reopening Ontario Act, which mostly deal with the redeployment of health workers, will expire.
By the end of April, Ontario plans to lift the remaining COVID-19 public health measures, such as mandatory masks as well as workplace vaccination policies. Here’s a rundown of what’s changing and when it’ll happen:
9th of March
If the person lives outside their household, close contacts of individuals with confirmed COVID-19 infections or symptoms do not need to isolate. They should still wear masks outside their homes for 10 days and avoid high-risk situations.
Those who live with COVID-19 positive or symptomatic household members do not need to isolate if they are 18 or older as well as have got a booster dose, or if they are 18 or younger and have received two vaccine doses or have had an infection within the last 90 days.
Also read: Ontario is on the verge of securing a childcare deal worth $10 per day
14th of March
Vaccination policies will no longer be required in hospitals, long-term care homes, schools, and child-care settings.
Long-term care workers will no longer be required to be vaccinated, and employers in other industries will no longer be needed to require workers to be vaccinated or tested for the virus.
The province has stated that it will continue to provide rapid-antigen virus tests and that employers are free to maintain their vaccination policies.
21st of March
Mask requirements will be phased out in most places, including schools and child-care facilities.
Long-term care homes, retirement homes, healthcare settings, jails, shelters, congregate living settings, and public transportation requires masks.
Pandemic measures such as cohorting and on-site symptom screening will be phased out in schools.
Regulatory requirements such as COVID-19 safety plans and screening will not apply to businesses.
The province has stated that it will continue to send rapid tests and personal protective equipment to schools and businesses and ventilation and absence reporting.
28th of March
Premier Doug Ford won’t issue new pandemic management orders because the Reopening Ontario Act will expire.
The remaining orders under the act will be valid for another month, after which the province will not be able to renew them.
27th of April
Almost all public health measures aimed at combating COVID-19 will be phased out.
Long-term care homes, retirement homes, healthcare settings, jails, shelters, congregate living settings, and public transportation will no longer require masks.
The chief medical officer of health’s directives is all set to expire.
When working with COVID-19 patients, healthcare workers must wear fit-tested N95 masks as well as other personal protective equipment, which hospitals and also long-term care facilities might provide, and hospitals must accommodate patient transfers and resource sharing.
Orders establishing requirements for long-term care homes in the areas of screening, outbreak preparedness, personal protective equipment, and physical distancing, as well as high-quality mask requirements for paramedics, are also set to expire.
The Reopening Ontario Act’s remaining orders, which mainly involve the redeployment of health workers, will expire. This indicates that people will no longer be fined if they disobey the orders.
Source: Global news
Get Canada and Ontario’s top News, Market news, and other worldwide news only on Ontario Independent
