Premier Doug Ford is extending both the stay at home order and lockdown measures until June 2nd.
The current measures were set to expire on Thursday May 20th.
The Premier stated that if numbers continue to drop, outdoor activities will be allowed again on June 2nd.
“I expect by June 2nd, so long as we stay the course, we will be able to open outdoor recreation, and by then we will provide more details on our plan to carefully and safely begin to re-open the province in the days and weeks to follow.”
Premier Ford went on to mention incoming flights into Ontario have played a role in provincial case counts.
“We’ve seen disturbing reports that over 88,000 travelers entering Canada, one-third of travelers on international flights, have been able to bypass the mandatory three day hotel requirement. We have private jets landing all over the province at smaller airports from Hawaii, Arizona, and other sunny destinations. This is not emergency travel.”
When asked about what restrictions the province can expect after the extended lockdown potentially concludes June 2nd, Premier Ford stressed the dangers of loosening restrictions prematurely.
“We just can’t open up too quickly, we just can’t. I just want to make sure everyone has the best July and August and get back to as normal as we can.”
Ford did shift some blame towards Justin Trudeau and the Federal Government, citing provincial case counts being directly related to current travel and border restrictions.
“You want to protect Canadians, you want to protect Ontarians, you want to stop variants from coming in, when 90% of people with COVID has come in through the airports or the land-borders.”
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) has been vocal in their support for an extended stay-at-home order based on the current number of hospitalizations in the province, along with daily case counts.
Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams stated earlier this week that daily case counts need to stay below 1,000 if restrictions are to be loosened.
This comes as the province recorded 2,759 cases of COVID-19 along with 31 deaths Thursday.
