Coronavirus latest: Biden signs law on hate crimes related to pandemic against Asian Americans

Canada’s most populous province released a three-step “prudent” roadmap on Thursday after a blockade sparked by a rise in coronavirus cases.

The Ontario provincial government has said it will gradually raise public health measures based on rising vaccine rates and improvements in key public health indicators.

“As a result of the stringent public health measures we have put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19 variants, we are constantly improving our situation as intensive care units and the number of hospitals begin to stabilize,” said Prime Minister Doug Ford.

“While we need to be aware of the ongoing threat posed by the virus, as millions of ontarians have received at least the first dose of vaccine, we can begin the process of slowly and prudently reopening the province by consulting our public with full health professionals.”

Ontario authorities said the first step would be to revive foreign activities of a smaller crowd with a lower risk of transmission and allow retail trade with restrictions.

“This includes outdoor meetings for up to 10 people, outdoor dining for four people at each table and non-essential retail trade with a capacity of 15 per cent,” the provincial government said in a statement.

The second step was to further expand outdoor activities and restore limited internal services, with a small number of people covering their faces.

“This includes outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people, outdoor sports and leagues, night camps, face-to-face and capacity-limited personal care services, as well as indoor religious services, rites or ceremonial gatherings with a 15 per cent capacity,” the government said.

The third step would be to open up access to indoor settings, with restrictions, where there are more people and where facial coatings cannot always be worn. “This includes indoor sports and leisure; indoor dining, museums, art galleries and libraries, and casinos and bingo halls, with capacity limitations. “

The Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest education authority with nearly 250,000 students, said easing the external restrictions would reopen sports fields, basketball and tennis courts for individual use.