A COVID-19 screening station in a salon in Windsor, Ont., on June 25, 2020.Rob Gurdebeke/The Canadian Press
Ontario says hair salons and outdoor fitness classes can reopen with restrictions in regions that are under lockdown.
The province says personal care services, including hair and nail salons, can open with capacity limits as of April 12 in regions in the strictest “grey” lockdown category of Ontario’s pandemic framework.
The government will also allow gyms to offer outdoor fitness classes, training and personal training as of Monday.
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Personal care services and gyms have been shuttered for months in regions that have been under lockdown.
Ontario also says it will impose stricter restrictions on two regions as of Monday due to rising case counts.
Hamilton will move into the “grey” lockdown zone and the Eastern Ontario Health Unit will move to the second-strictest red control category.
Meanwhile, the president of the Ontario Hospital Association says the third wave of COVID-19 is threatening the province’s intensive-care capacity.
Anthony Dale says 401 people with COVID-19 are currently in intensive care units across Ontario and it appears that number is set to rise past a previous pandemic peak of 420 people.
Mr. Dale says there are currently a total of 1,871 people in hospital ICUs across Ontario.
He says the situation in hospitals grows more serious every day.
The rising number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care comes as more contagious variants of the virus continue to spread.
The province’s top doctor said earlier this week that variants are causing more severe illness, leading to intensive care admissions and deaths.
Ontario reported 2,169 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and 12 more deaths linked to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 682 new cases in Toronto.
She says there are also 397 new cases in Peel Region, 254 in York Region, 129 in Ottawa, 123 in Durham Region and 122 in Hamilton.
More than 53,400 tests were completed since Thursday’s update.
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