TORONTO – The provincial government is expected to begin lifting COVID-19 restrictions by region later this week – but Northwestern Ontario may not find itself at the top of the list.
Four health units – Hastings Prince Edward, Renfrew County, Timiskaming, and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington – are set to come out of a province-wide lockdown and into the Green-Prevent zone on Wednesday, according to reports from the Canadian Press and CTV News.
Most health units will move back into the colour-coded framework the following week, they report, citing government sources. However, “hot spots” Toronto, Peel, and York are expected to remain in lockdown.
The current stay-at-home order could remain in place in each region until it is released from lockdown, the reports suggest.
No details have yet been confirmed by the government, while an announcement is expected as soon as Monday.
Recent comments from Premier Doug Ford suggested the province was moving toward regional reopening.
“A couple of the hot zones might be a week later, but especially in the northern and rural areas, we want to get the economy opening up – but safely,” Ford said last week
A return to the colour-coded system may not change much in the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, which had a rate of 74 cases per 100,000 people for the most recent week of data, Jan. 24 to Jan. 30.
That far exceeds the framework’s 40 per 100,000 threshold for the Red-Restrict level.
The Northwestern Health Unit, on the other hand, had a rate of 16 per 100,000, consistent with the Yellow-Protect level.
The easing of restrictions will also come with a “safety break” to quickly move regions back into lockdown if cases surge, the CP reported, over concerns about new variants that have been detected in growing numbers in the province.
None have yet been found in Northern Ontario, according to provincial data.
