The stay-at-home-order to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus will continue in Simcoe County and Muskoka until after Family Day on Feb. 16.
Once the order lifts, the region will transition back to Ontario’s revised COVID-19 response framework, which was first introduced in November 2020.
At this point, it’s unclear which level of the framework Simcoe Muskoka will fall under, but before the provincial lockdown took effect at the end of December 2020, the region was considered to be in the red zone.
The news to begin reopening the region comes as a significant number of B.1.1.7. COVID-19 variant cases have been reported.
On Monday, the local health unit confirmed 36 new cases of the B.1.1.7. variant, which was originally discovered in the U.K. and is believed to be up to 70 per cent more contagious than earlier novel coronavirus strains.
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There have been 128 confirmed cases of the U.K. COVID-19 variant in the region in total, while 59 people have screened positive for a “variant of concern.”
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On Monday, the Ontario government said there will be some changes to its COVID-19 response framework.
For the grey zone, this includes allowing in-person shopping at retail stores with capacity limits.
Grocery stores, convenience stores and pharmacies will be required to operate at 50 per cent capacity, while all other retailers — including big box stores — must operate at 25 per cent capacity.
For all zones under the COVID-19 response framework, businesses and organizations must screen all staff before they enter the premises. Indoor malls in regions under grey-lockdown, red-control and orange-restrict categories also must actively screen customers when they enter the premises.
On Monday, in-person classes resumed at elementary and high schools across Simcoe County and Muskoka.
That same day, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 110 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, bringing the local case count up to 5,752, including 169 deaths.
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