The Government of Ontario announced today that the Province is “moving to a regional approach and maintaining the shutdown in the majority of the public health regions in Ontario, including the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health and workplace safety measures. When it is safe to do so, the province will gradually transition each region from the shutdown measures to a revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open (the "Framework").”

 

In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the government is moving to a regional approach and maintaining the shutdown in the majority of public health regions in Ontario, including the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health and workplace safety measures.

 

When it is safe to do so, the province will gradually transition each region from shutdown measures to a revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework. 

 

Based on the improving local trends of key indicators, including lower transmission of COVID-19, improving hospital capacity, and available public health capacity to conduct rapid case and contact management, the following three regions will be moving back to the Framework on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. and will no longer be subject to the Stay-at-Home order: 

 

The individual Stay-at-Home orders for 28 public health regions including Ottawa will remain in place until Tuesday, February 16, 2021 with some exceptions.

For Toronto, Peel and York regions, the Stay-at-Home orders will continue until Monday, February 22, 2021. Final decisions will be subject to review of the trends in public health indicators at that time. 

 

To support the province’s economic recovery, the government has updated the Framework to allow for a safe approach to retail. Limited in-person shopping in Grey-Lockdown zones will be permitted with significant public health and safety requirements, such as limiting capacity to 25 per cent. In addition, public health and safety measures in retail settings will be strengthened for other levels of the framework. Individuals will also be required to wear a face covering and maintain physical distance when indoors in a business, with limited exceptions.

 

Please visit https://covid-19.ontario.ca/zones-and-restrictions for the full list of public health region classifications.  

Ottawa COVID Cases: https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/en/reports-research-and-statistics/daily-covid19-dashboard.aspx

Remember to be COVID Wise:

The Ottawa Board of Trade and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce continue to advocate for a safe reopening. We are also pleased to share the Canadian Chamber's call for rapid testing to keep our economy open.

Thank you to our local partners Ottawa Public Health, the City of Ottawa and OCOBIA for working together to present a new Business Re-Opening Workshop on February 18, 2021.

Thank you for doing your part to keep us safe and keep our economy open.