Tomorrow, July 16, marks the return to indoor dining, gyms, movie theatres in Newmarket and across the province as additional public health restrictions lift.
The province is entering step 3 of its reopening plan, which includes more indoor activities and allows for larger gatherings. The province reached the stage with COVID-19 cases continuing to fall, along with more than 70 per cent of adults with one dose of vaccine and more than 25 per cent of adults fully vaccinated.
“We are all anxious to return to a sense of normal,” York Region Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of York Region and York Region Public Health teams, municipal staff, municipal and hospital partners and the commitment of York Region residents, we are one step closer to moving beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Here’s what you can do in step 3:
- Have an outdoor social gathering or organized public event with up to 100 people
- Have an indoor social gathering or public event with up to 25 people
- Attend indoor sports and or fitness facilities, which can open with 50 per cent capacity
- Eat at an indoor restaurant with no limits on the number of people per table
- Attend an indoor religious service, including weddings and funerals, with no restrictions on numbers but with physical distancing required
- Shop at all retail stores without capacity limits, beyond the number of people that can maintain a physical distance of two metres
- Attend personal care services, including those that require the removal of a face covering, limited to the number of people that can maintain physical distance
- Visit an indoor meeting or event space with physical distancing, including a 50 per cent or 1,000-person capacity limit (whichever is less)
- Visit a museum, gallery, historical site, aquarium, zoo, landmark, botanical garden, science centre, casino, amusement park, fair or festival, which can all operate with a 50 per cent capacity limit indoor and 75 per cent capacity outdoors
- Visit a concert venue, theatre, or cinema with 50 per cent or 1,000 people capacity indoors, 75 per cent or 5,000 for outdoor unseated events, and 75 per cent or 15,000 for outdoor seated events
- Swim at an indoor pool or water feature with a 50 per cent capacity
- Attend an indoor dance facility like a nightclub, with 25 per cent capacity or up to 250 people, whichever is less
- Attend an indoor recreation class with a 50 per cent or 1,000-person capacity. Outdoor recreation classes remain open with 75 per cent capacity
- Visit a library with capacity expanded to what can permit physical distancing
- Visit a real estate open house, with capacity limited to whatever can maintain physical distance
- Visit a strip club, which can now operate, capacity limited to what can accommodate physical distancing
No activities or facilities in the province have to be closed under step 3 of reopening, though capacity limits remain in place. The province has yet to release plans for any further lifting of restrictions.
A full breakdown of the reopening plan is available on the province's website.
