Premier Doug Ford will be making an announcement in Ottawa Monday afternoon.
Ford will be joined by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean Jeremy Roberts and President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Cameron Love.
The announcement comes nearly two weeks after the province entered Step 3 of the COVID-19 reopening framework on July 16.
Step 3 allowed for indoor dining to resume and for gyms and theatres to reopen with capacity limits.
The provincial government said Ontario will remain in Step 3 for at least 21 days and until 80 per cent of eligible residents 12 years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 75 per cent have received their second dose.
In addition, at least 70 per cent of eligible residents in all public health units must be fully vaccinated in order for the province to move to the final stage of the framework.
If all of these requirements are met, Ontario could enter so-called Step 4 at the end of next week which would lift the majority of public health and workplace safety measures.
However, last week Ontarios top doctor recommended that 90 per cent of eligible residents be fully vaccinated before entering the final step, due to the risk of the Delta variant.
If we remain at around 20 per cent of the population unvaccinated we won’t build a community immunity and you’ll get breakthrough infections in those individuals that are vaccinated because not all individuals, especially those that are elderly or vulnerable or immune suppressed, will get full protection from the vaccine, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said to reporters.
Currently, about 80 per cent of those 18-plus in Ontario have had at least one dose and 67 per cent have had two doses. Meanwhile, 64 per cent of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 have had one dose and 40 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The provincial government has not said if it will raise the threshold for fully vaccinated Ontarians before entering the final step of the plan.
Ford is expected to speak at 1:15 p.m. and CP24.com will stream the announcement live.read more
Ford to make an announcement in Ottawa Monday afternoon – CP24 Toronto’s Breaking News
