The Ontario government has announced that outdoor fitness will be able to resume for regions currently under the grey-level lockdown of COVID-19 restrictions on Monday.
On April 12, personal care services such as barber shops and hair and nail salons will be allowed to operate at a limited capacity and by appointment only.
Outdoor fitness classes, outdoor training for team and individual sports and outdoor personal training for up to 10 people will be allowed, so long as safety measures are adhered too effective Monday at 12:01 a.m., according to a news release on Friday.
Also effective Monday, marinas and boating clubs will be allowed to open club houses and food establishments for outdoor dining.
Ontario reported 2,169 COVID-19 cases on Friday: 682 cases were recorded in Toronto, 379 in Peel Region, 254 in York Region, 129 in Ottawa, 123 in Durham Region and 122 in Hamilton.
All other local public health units reported fewer than 70 new cases in the provincial report.
The province said it is also modifying outdoor capacity limits for weddings, funerals and religious services for regions in all levels of the colour-coded restriction framework effective Monday.
The limits will “be adjusted to allow for the number of individuals that can maintain two metres of physical distance. This change does not apply to social gatherings associated with these services such as receptions,” the release read.
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The government said target enforcement of restrictions will be focused on public health regions in the yellow, orange, red and grey levels.
The government also announced that two public health regions will be moved to different categories of the province’s framework.
On Monday, Hamilton moves from the red-control level to the grey-lockdown level and Eastern Ontario will be moving from orange-restrict level to red-control level.
The province further announced it was making changes to its “emergency brake” measure, which allows it to swiftly tighten restrictions on a region.
The change will allow the province’s top doctor, in consultation with a local medical officer of health, to move a region into a “shutdown” with measures similar to those imposed in January, when most retailers closed and only essential services remained open.
As of Friday, Ontario reported 338,239 total cases and 7,292 total deaths since the onset of the pandemic.
—With files from The Canadian Press
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