Premier Doug Ford has extended the state of emergency across Ontario by another month, cautioning that even with some promising signs in the province’s COVID-19 fight, it is too early to start lifting restrictions.
The legislature will sat for an emergency session Tuesday to extend the orders by another 28 days, meaning non-essential businesses and child care centres will remain closed — the province has not yet said whether school closures will be extended beyond May 4.
The extension comes as associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said modellers are predicting that Ontario’s curve will peak this week, assuming all current restrictions continue.
Ontario reported a six-per-cent increase in new cases Monday, continuing a relatively low growth rate over the past several days.
“We’re seeing a glimmer, a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel here,” Ford said.
“But what happens if we do that and all of a sudden this comes back and bites us in the backside and just comes back with vengeance or another wave comes through?”
People are getting antsy, Ford said, but he wants to take a cautious approach.
“Everyone’s at the gate, ready to let those doors open, like at the horse races,” he said.
“Everyone wants to take off. We just can’t right now. We have to go through this for a little bit longer, as painful as it is for everyone…When the time is right, we will open it up slowly but surely.”
On Monday the Quebec government declared that home builders, miners and landscapers provide essential services and can return to work despite COVID-19 restrictions.
Premier Francois Legault first announced that some residential construction would resume with new guidelines to keep workers safe.
“We’ve ensured, along with public health, that all protocols have been put in place to protect those employees,” Premier Francois Legault said. “Among others, that they must always stay two metres apart from one another. We don’t want to add a housing crisis on top of the one we’re living through now.”
Construction and renovation work on homes that had been slated for completion by July 31 will be allowed to resume next Monday.
Building inspections and land surveying for residential construction will also be permitted, and the necessary supply chains will be reopened.
Later in the day, the provincial government announced mining activities can resume Wednesday with new safety and health instructions of their own.
The number of fly-ins and fly-outs from mining sites will be reduced to a strict minimum and companies will be encouraged to use more local workers.
More chartered planes and shuttle busses will be used to transport miners to work, limiting contact with neighbouring communities.
Miners will be required to wear protective gear such as gloves and glasses while following hygienic measures such as applying disinfectant. They will also see their time on work sites extended to 28 days instead of 14.
The government sees the mining sector as a necessity for supply chains to produce essential goods, such as medical equipment, in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
“The health of Quebecers has been the Quebec government’s priority since the start of this crisis and it continues to be,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonatan Julien said in a news release.
A third announcement Monday declared that landscaping firms, nurseries, garden centres and swimming pool businesses will be allowed to reopen Wednesday.
Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne said in a statement that in the current health context, making it easier for people to grow a vegetable garden could help promote food self-sufficiency.