Restaurants and gyms reopening in York, Peel, Ottawa Nov. 7

Indoor dining and gyms will be reopening in York, Peel and Ottawa this week, as part of the new COVID-19 guidelines released by the Ontario government today. Toronto will follow shortly. 

The new system, announced Nov. 3, will track the trends of Ontario’s regional health units and rank them by a series of five colour-coded categories, in an effort to provide ongoing transparency as to where each region stands.

As of Nov. 7, York, Peel and Ottawa will be moving out of modified Stage 2 and into what is now called the “restrict level,” or “orange level,” which means indoor dining can resume and gyms and theatres can reopen — but with additional protective measures such as no alcohol served after 9 p.m. and three-metres of distance between people exercising, up from two metres.

As well, Eastern Ontario will be moving into restrict level, as a preventative measure. Brant, Durham, Halton and Hamilton will be entering the “protect level,” also know as the “yellow level.”

Toronto will be joining the four regions at the restrict level on Nov. 14, as per the request of Toronto Mayor John Tory and Toronto’s medical officer of health Eileen de Villa, Premier Doug Ford said. 

The rest of the Ontario regions will remain at the “green” or “prevent level,” until further notice. The data will be reviewed and updated on a weekly basis.

“It’s clear COVID-19 will be with us for a while, which is why we are putting in place a framework that will protect the health and safety of individuals and families, while avoiding broader closures across the province,” Ford added. 

“This framework, developed in consultation with our health experts, will serve as an early warning system allowing us to scale up and scale back public health restrictions on a regional or community basis in response to surges and waves of COVID-19.

Here is a breakdown of the levels: 

Green (Prevent): State similar to Stage 3, with certain high-risk locations remaining closed.

Yellow (Protect): Increased enforcement and fines for those not following the guidelines.

Orange (Restrict): Enhanced restrictions in an effort to prevent further closures.

Red (Control): Return to modified Stage 2, with further restrictions and the closure of some businesses or organizations.

Gray (Lockdown): A return to a modified Stage 1 and a declaration of emergency will be considered.

With files from Rob Ferguson