14 May 2020 – Certain retailers and health providers allowed to reopen

Type of Intervention: Specific Action
Sectors Involved: Finance/Economy, Health, Private Sector and Businesses
Intervention Categories: Social and physical distancing measures; Reopening offices, businesses, institutions, and operations
Level of Jurisdiction: Ontario
Lead People/Agency: Premier Doug Ford; Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health; Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance; Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Overview: The Ontario government has announced permissions to reopen or expand services for certain retailers, season businesses, and health and community service providers, as of May 19, 2020. This is provided that the general trend of health indicators continues to improve, aligning with the province’s framework for reopening. These include: retail services that are not in shopping malls and have separate street entrances, seasonal businesses, animal services, certain medical and health services (based on ability to meet guidelines), and other seasonal services such as golf courses, marinas, etc. The government has also launched a website to provide businesses with information on PPE suppliers.
Full details here: https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/05/ontario-announces-additional-workplaces-that-can-reopen.html

Other links: 1 2 3
Type of Justification: Advice of INTERNAL government advisory committee or group
Source of Evidence or Justification: Sub-national, Chief Medical Officer of Health; Framework for Reopening our Province document
Evidence/Justification: This reopening is part of Ontario’s Framework for Reopening our Province, which was developed in collaboration with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts. These actions are justified by the continued monitoring of the evolving pandemic situation by health experts and the Chief Medical Officer of Health, which will advise the government of when certain public health restrictions can be adjusted or loosened. It is also explained that these actions will be taken only if key trends and indicators in public health continue to improve.