Cold weather will put province's plan to ease restrictions to the test, head of science table says
Now that Ontario has laid out its staged approach to lifting remaining pandemic restrictions, the head of Ontario's science table says the plan will quickly be put to the test and cold weather will be the biggest challenge.
"This is a roadmap and I think it makes perfect sense, to give people a sense of what will happen during the next few months," said Dr. Peter Juni, Scientific Director of Ontario's Science Advisory Table.
Many experts are optimistic, saying fears of a fourth wave are in the past.
But Dr. Juni says the plan, aimed to get this province closer to normalcy, will be quickly put to the test.
"The only curveball that is impending obviously is the bad weather, people will move indoors more and what we need to see is how this impact epidemic growth in this province," he said.
"It's important to recognize the pandemic isn't over and if we act like it's over we could get burned," said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious disease specialist.
First to go in Ontario are capacity limits for many businesses on Monday.
"It's all good news, we're still cautiously optimistic because it can all change in the blink of an eye, but feels good," said Johnny Bonney, assistant general manager at the King Eddy in the ByWard market.
Also included in the province's plan is a timeline to drop proof of vaccination requirements and the province's mask mandate too starting early next year.
And so, as Ontario takes this next step forward, the message from experts is to remain cautious with cold months ahead. They say it's a slow and cautious approach, and not a one way street. The province will continue to monitor the COVID-19 burden on communities and says it is ready to pivot if need be.
Dr. Juni said the goal of that with a bit of discipline we can all enjoy more liberties with fewer restrictions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.