Covid
We are officially in step 3 of reopening in Ontario. What does this mean for us... nothing. But it means lots for lots of people. If you have both doses of your vaccine and no kids under 12 in your family it means a lot of freedom. But our family doesn't fit that adult only, fully vaccinated mold.
Brian, Hadley and I all have only one dose of the vaccine and Easton isn't old enough to have a vaccine. So, for us, we are choosing to change nothing for now.
However, lots of businesses have now reopened with some limits on certain areas of business but at least open as of July 16th.
There are more indoor activities including restaurant dining and gym use, while larger crowds are permitted for outdoor activities.
Masking and physical distancing rules, however, remain in place.
Social gatherings are limited to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Religious services and other ceremonies are allowed indoors with larger groups of people who are physically distanced.
Nightclubs and similar establishments are open to 25 per cent capacity. Crowd limits have expanded for retail stores and salons, which can offer services that require masks to be removed.
Spectators are permitted at sporting events, concert venues, cinemas and theatres, with larger limits on crowds for outdoor events.
Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, bingo halls and amusement parks are also open with larger crowd limits on outdoor attractions.
Fully open...Though it's not officially a step of its own, we still have to hit inoculation thresholds of 80 per cent of residents 12 and over with at least one dose (currently 69%) of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 75 per cent of those 12 and over with two doses provincewide (currently 52%)— with no public health unit having less than 70 per cent of its population fully vaccinated before we can leave Step 3, which by the book must last at least 21 days from July 16th.
Active cases are going down, there were approximately 1800 cases in Ontario at the end of June and now there are approximately 1400 active cases in Ontario. However, with everything opening up yesterday we will see how things go in the next two weeks. We have 175 new cases in Ontario today.
Canada has an active case count of 4755. Borders to other countries are still closed but there are talks about reopening to fully vaccinated people. The DELTA or India variant is the most rampant worldwide.
We miss restaurants, we miss family and friend gatherings, activities, travel and other things but there are still people dying and lots of people in hospital.
So, for now, we will continue to tread carefully.
With more backyard time in our future, we ordered wood and built a swingset and it is well loved already!