By Jack Hauen, Jessica Smith Cross and David Hains
Early step one?
Ontario could move into step one "several days" before its projected June 14 date — but not a full week before, Health Minister Christine Elliott said.
"That's something that we're going to have to continue to follow the data, especially with the ... Delta variant right now," she said, referring to the more infectious B.1.617 variant first discovered in India. "That we're going to be watching on a daily basis because we know that people are anxious to move into step one, but we can only do that when it's safe for everyone's health for that to happen."
The province's chief medical officer of health, however, poured some cold water on those hopes, citing a possible "uptick" in cases in the latter part of this week.
While case numbers often go up later in the week due to patterns in testing volumes, and the province's seven-day average of cases has been on a steady decline, Dr. David Williams said he was concerned the province is starting to see the impact of social gatherings that occurred over the May long weekend.
He said the province would like to begin step one of the reopening earlier than June 14 but it will depend on the numbers.
Opposition leaders said the government should be clear with the public about when reopening will happen and whether it will be based on the advice of experts.
"I certainly hope Mr. Ford doesn't talk to some child named Arthur to figure out when to open up our economy," NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said.
Business owners like restauranteurs are anxious about reopening, Liberal health critic John Fraser said, "because you got to ramp yourself up. So you don't want to be shutting yourself down again for weeks like we did in February."
Green Leader Mike Schreiner said business owners need "days, not hours" of notice before they can reopen.
"We do not want the premier to make the same mistake he made before, where he reopened too quickly, the virus out of control, and then he had to quickly reverse course and close again," he said.
Early second doses?
Second vaccine doses are available for adults 80 and up, but the government is considering expanding it to all age groups to battle the Delta variant, Elliott said.
Early research has found that the available vaccines may be much less after one dose against the Delta variant, with robust protection after a second dose.
"We're looking at all options, because we need to stay ahead of this variant, so that we can then move into stage one and get life back more to normal for people as quickly as we can," she said.
However, Dr. Dirk Huyer, the province's chief coroner and a member of the vaccine task force, downplayed Elliott's suggestion that the province will open up second doses for all.
Huyer said the task force is looking at how to speed up second doses but would stick to the framework it already released for mRNA vaccines, just speeding up the anticipated timelines. That would see the 70-plus be the next group to receive second doses. After that, eligibility would depend on when someone received their first shot, he said, adding that would preserve the prioritization the province used for first doses that focused on age and risk.
Both Elliott and Huyer suggested the province is not considering an accelerated second dose program specifically for front-line workers and hard-hit Peel Region, as Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and local medical officer of health Dr. Lawrence Loh have asked for.
“Peel is only receiving nine per cent of the province’s vaccines, yet we represent more than 20 per cent of all cases in Ontario,” Crombie said Thursday.
Elliott said Peel is already receiving a large number of doses, second only to Toronto.
"And we also know that locally in Peel Region, the doses that are received can be allocated to hot-spot areas that have been identified locally, so that is still happening," she said.
Horwath said she worries the rollout will continue to be a "dog's breakfast."
"To suggest that it's just going to be a further scavenger hunt, or further hunger games, is shocking," she said.
A normal legislature in September?
Government House Leader Paul Calandra said he's optimistic that when the legislature returns in September, it'll be back to normal.
"I'm very, very hopeful, very, very optimistic that when we come back in September, we'll be all coming back, it'll be a full session, a normal session that people were used to prior to the pandemic, the galleries will be open to all members ... and get rid of these masks, that all of you will be able to be back here," he told reporters Thursday.
He also defended Premier Doug Ford's lack of attendance at question period lately, saying he's "involved in every aspect of the pandemic."
A year out from an election and facing an unhappy voting public, Calandra also admitted his government made some mistakes in its handling of the pandemic.
"Have we made mistakes? Obviously we have. Will there be more mistakes as we go? Probably. But this is a global health and economic pandemic that nobody has seen in a long time," he said, adding that the Progressive Conservatives inherited a "woefully underfunded" intensive care system and had to ramp up many sectors in a short period of time.
"We have to ensure that everything that we have done, that that institutional knowledge is not lost, that it is codified, that people understand, this is what needs to happen, this is what happened. And that lessons learned, have to actually be followed through on," he added.
A cabinet shuffle?
Opposition leaders said it doesn't really matter whether Ford shuffles his cabinet, as media reports have suggested he's planning, as long as he's still the one in charge.
"I'm going to be more focused on shuffling the premier out of his job," Horwath said. "I think it's pretty clear that this government is following the orders of Doug Ford, whether he's in hiding or whether he's here."
"It's irrelevant in the sense that they said they're shuffling the cabinet to put the people out who have the wrong influence on the premier," Fraser said, adding that the premier is "easily influenced."
"The same thing happened to Dean French. Same thing happened with Vic Fedeli."
Schreiner said "musical chairs" won't solve the problem that Ford "hasn't had a plan to safely get us through this pandemic."
Hospitals can resume more surgeries
With the easing of the third wave of COVID-19, the province is now allowing hospitals to perform more surgeries.
Ontario Health sent hospitals a memo allowing the resumption of non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures. As of May 19, hospitals had been instructed to restrict those surgeries only to those that would not require inpatient and critical care resources, as hospital capacities remained strained. During the height of the third wave, those surgeries were prohibited by a directive by the chief medical officer of health.
A spokesperson for the health minister said this does not mean all hospitals will be immediately resuming surgical and procedural activity, as they must meet certain criteria concerning the capacity to accommodate those patients.
In the memo, Ontario Health CEO Matt Anderson noted that some of the hardest-hit GTA hospitals still need support from other institutions, including accepting patient transfers when they are over capacity.
"Although the number of patients with COVID-19 in hospitals and ICUs in Ontario remains high, some hospitals now have the capacity to safely resume non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures to include those that require inpatient and critical care resources," he wrote.
The easing up of pressure on hospital capacity also prompted the government to rescind two emergency orders.
The first had allowed hospitals to transfer patients to long-term care and retirement homes without their consent in order to free up hospital beds, causing great alarm among advocates for the elderly. The minister's office said Thursday that power was never used.
Other measures relating to the redeployment of home and community care staff to LTC or retirement homes are no longer required, the minister's office said, and were also revoked.
Hugs and overnight outings for long-term care residents
The Ministry of Long-Term Care is also easing up restrictions for residents, allowing those who have been fully immunized to leave their long-term care homes for day and overnight social outings and trips.
Those who can't leave their homes will be allowed to have one general visitor at a time inside the long-term care home, in addition to their usual essential caregiver.
And all long-term care residents are now allowed a little more physical affection.
"Regardless of resident and visitor vaccination status, brief hugs can now take place," the ministry said in a press release. "Where both the resident and visitors are fully immunized, close physical contact, including handholding, can now take place safely. It continues to be important that residents and visitors adhere to public health measures in the home, including good hand hygiene and appropriate masking."
Second shot choice for AstraZeneca recipients
The Ontario government officially announced that people who got a first shot of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can choose to get an mRNA vaccine for their booster shot.
It comes after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization offered that recommendation earlier this week.
They'll become eligible for that second shot at the same interval, 12 weeks after their first dose. The vaccines are available through pharmacies or the provincial booking system.
Bill 276 passes
The PC majority government passed the omnibus Bill 276 on the last day of the legislative session.
That includes controversial provisions which make the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) a standalone post-secondary institution. That has created concerns in Thunder Bay that it will lose its medical faculty and NOSM, which was formed in 2005, will focus on its Sudbury campus instead. The provision prompted one PC candidate to <a href="https://www.qpbriefing.com/2021/05/25/pc-candidate-in-thunder-bay-resigns-in-protest-of-bill-276/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resign from her post</a>.
The bill also contains provisions that could fine tenants up to $25,000 for sharing video of Landlord Tenant Board hearings, which caused controversy and embarrassment last fall.
It also removes a provision that required energy transmitters and distributors to prioritize renewable energy for connection access.

In brief: A whole lot of maybes

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