Ontario considering early move to Step 2, but at least one business won’t wait
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is signalling he’s ready to sit down with his health and science tables to talk about accelerating Step 2 of the province’s reopening plan.
“I just want to tell the people of Ontario, there’s no one who wants to open this economy more than I do. I just want to make sure we do it cautiously,” the Premier told reporters Thursday.
Ontario previously indicated that won’t happen until July 2, but positive trends in the fight against COVID-19 has the region’s medical officer of health on board with an earlier date.
“I think we are in a position that we can open up sooner than later,” says Dr. Wajid Ahmed of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Dr. Ahmed says the decision is up to the province and he hasn’t been asked to weigh in, but noted some positive trends that put the community in a good place.
“Let’s say if the trend continues, if the province announced that maybe this weekend, or the next weekend we can move to the next step, I’ll be comfortable with that,” he says.
To enter this step, 70 per cent of adults need to be vaccinated with one dose and 20 per cent with two doses. Windsor-Essex County has achieved both of those standards, but the entire province still lags a bit behind on double doses at 18 per cent.
Step 2 allows for the reopening of personal care services like salons and hairdressers, indoor gatherings up to five people and outdoor gatherings of 25. It would also open the door to the resumption of live outdoor performances and sports leagues.
“Everyone’s pushing them, when it comes to the hair dressers,” says Ford, who wouldn’t commit to a date. “Folks, hang in there. We’re going to get there as soon as possible.”
It’s a wait at least one area salon wasn’t willing to endure.
“There’s only so much time you can go without earning any revenue, so we haven’t closed at all during this third lockdown,” says Sylvia Gounakis, the owner of Dry Parlour Inc. in Tecumseh.
She says she’s following health and safety protocols, including physical distancing and sanitizer — but couldn’t afford another lockdown.
“I’m more worried about the health of my business, to be quite honest,” Gounakis says.
She admits the business has faced repercussions for that decision, including multiple visits from bylaw officers. Gounakis tells CTV News she’s received tickets and has a summons to appear in court in July.
But the customers keep coming, which to her is a vote of confidence in what she’s doing.
Gounakis says personal care service providers feel bullied by the lockdown cycles and believes the province should listen to its medical experts.
“Just please, let us earn a living. Open us now. We have to,” she says.
“Everything is going to fall to pieces.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.