TORONTO – Last Friday, the Ontario government announced it would move to Step 3 of its economic re-opening plan on July 16– five days ahead of schedule – allowing indoor dining to open.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of our frontline heroes, and the ongoing commitment of Ontarians to get vaccinated, we have surpassed the targets we set in order to enter Step 3 of our Roadmap,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement. “While this is welcome news for everyone who wants a return to normal, we will not slow down our efforts to fully vaccinate everyone who wants to be and put this pandemic behind us once and for all.
”As of 12:01 a.m. on July 16, retailers will be able to host as many customers as can fit while adhering to physical distancing of two metres. The same capacity restrictions apply to indoor dining for restaurants, indoor religious services and personal care services. There will be no restrictions on the number of people who can sit at the same table inside a restaurant.
Other changes include:
- Personal care services involving mask removal will be permitted in Step 3 and food-and-drink establishments with dance floors will resume operations with a 25-per-cent capacity limit up to a maximum of 250 people.
- Cinemas, museums, amusement parks, gyms and recreational fitness facilities will be allowed to operate at 50-per-cent capacity.
- Sport venues will be able to host spectators again at 50 per cent capacity indoors up to 1,000 people and 75-per-cent capacity outdoors up to 15,000 people. Contact team sports will be allowed to resume.
- Indoor and outdoor event venues, including concert venues, will be able to operate with a capacity restriction of 50 per cent indoors (with a maximum of 1,000 people) and 75 per cent outdoors (up to 5,000 not seated and 15,000 seated).
- Social gatherings and organized public events will be restricted to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
Face masks will still be required indoors and where physical distancing is not possible.
The province will remain in Step 3 for at least 21 days.
Source: Ontario moving to Step 3 of economic reopening plan 5 days early, allowing indoor dining and gyms to open | CTV News
