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Ontario will move into the first stage of reopening on Friday, a milestone that allows restaurant patios to open, non-essential retail stores to welcome back customers and more outdoor activities such as camping at provincial parks.

The move to Step 1 comes a few days ahead of the original estimate of the week of June 14 made back when the reopening plan was announced.

The decision to lift restrictions earlier was based on the province’s vaccination rate (72 per cent of the adult population has received at least one dose) and improvements in key health and health system indicators, the government said in a news release Monday.

The threshold for moving to Step 1 is 60 per cent of Ontario adults with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as well as improvement in public health indicators, such as case rates and ICU occupancy.

In the news release, Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said Ontario can safely move into Step 1, but he urged people to continue to follow public health measures.

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Williams is retiring June 25, and was to be joined by his replacement, Kingston’s medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore, as of Monday.

Key things that can open on Friday in Step 1:

•Outdoor dining with up to four people per table, with exceptions for larger households

•Retail stores selling non-essential items, with a capacity limit of 15 per cent

•Some select stores and retail sale of essential items will be permitted with a store capacity of 25 per cent

•Day camps for children and overnight campsites at campgrounds, including Ontario parks

• Outdoor gatherings with up to 10 people

• Indoor religious services and ceremonies, including wedding and funeral services, at up to 15 per cent room capacity

• Outdoor fitness classes, training and team sport training with up to 10 people

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• Short-term rentals

• Outdoor attractions including zoos, historical sites and botanical gardens, with capacity restrictions

• Outdoor religious services, rites, or ceremonies, including wedding services and funeral services, capped at the number of people that can maintain a physical distance of two metres

Ontario will stay in each step of the reopening plan for at least 21 days, according to the province. It will proceed to the next phase after the three-week mark if 70 per cent of adults have one vaccine dose (which they already do) and 20 per cent have two doses, and public health and health system indicators have continued to improve.

Step 2 of the three-phase reopening plan includes permission for larger outdoor gatherings (up to 25 people), indoor gatherings of up to five, personal care services, such as hair cuts, where face coverings can be kept on, and a longer list of outdoor activities, including water and amusement parks, sports leagues, and live music events.

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The province also announced guidelines for the outdoor graduation ceremonies that Premier Doug Ford has urged schools to hold for all elementary and secondary students.

The end of year celebrations should be limited to the class (or quadmester or homeroom cohort in high schools) and two guest for each student, said the province. Masks must be worn and physical distance of two metres maintained during the outdoor ceremonies. No graduation gowns permitted.

In vaccination news, on Monday the province opened bookings for an earlier second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to people aged 70 and older and those who received their first Pfizer or Moderna shot before April 19, while asking for their patience as it could take time to secure an appointment.

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Previously, only those aged 80 and older (as well as members of certain priority groups, like high-risk heath-care workers) could book a second dose earlier than the 16-week interval the province initially made standard in order to get initial jabs to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, those newly eligible for earlier second-dose booking could access the online provincial booking system and call centre. Since Friday, they’ve been eligible to book accelerated appointments through pharmacies and primary care providers offering vaccination.

Appointments for an accelerated second dose must be at least 28 days after the first dose for Pfizer and Moderna recipients and at least 12 weeks after for AstraZeneca recipients. People whose first dose was AstraZeneca can choose to book a Pfizer or Moderna second dose, or get another AZ shot through a pharmacy/primary care provider.

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The City of Ottawa cautioned Friday that a limited number of June appointments were available at community clinics for accelerated second doses because of a lack of supply. People aged 70 and older can also opt to book through a local pharmacy.

When the province opened accelerated dose-two booking to the 80-and-older crowd last week, the booking system quickly stopped working for Ottawa residents. The problems were eventually resolved, and bookings resumed.

In addition to demand from those wanting an earlier second jab, there were thousands of Ottawans 80 and older who were not given second-dose appointments back when they received their initial shot at a special Ottawa Public Health clinic before the launch of the provincial booking system.

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OPH pledged to directly contact people in that situation to guarantee access to a shot within the 16-week interval.

Ottawa Public Health tweeted Monday afternoon that some people had “expressed frustration about vaccine appointment bookings this morning,” and advised people to check the provincial booking system regularly, as “appointment availability is fluid at this time,” with people re-booking their second dose appointments.

OPH promised further updates as they become available.

Latest COVID-19 news in Ontario

Ontario reported 525 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the lowest the daily case count has been since late September. The seven-day average in the province is now 735 daily cases, while the percentage of tests coming back positive has not exceeded 3.6 per cent in the last week.

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Monday’s new case total included 17 in Ottawa, 114 in Toronto and 95 in Peel, while no new cases were reported in the other health units regions in eastern Ontario.

There are now 497 people in ICU across the province due to COVID-19 (13 fewer than the previous week.

More than 10.1 million vaccines doses have been administered in Ontario, while the number of fully-vaccinated people is approaching 1.1 million.

COVID-19 news in Quebec

Quebec reported 194 new cases of COVID-19 Monday and three more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including one in the past 24 hours.

Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by nine, to 265, and 58 people were in intensive care, a drop of three patients.

The province says 66,590 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered Sunday. About 66 per cent of Quebecers have received at least one dose.

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All of Quebec is now out of the province’s highest pandemic-alert level after Montreal and its northern suburb Laval and a few smaller municipalities moved to the orange level today.

All of Quebec is now out of the province’s highest pandemic alert level amid a continued decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Montreal, Laval and several smaller municipalities — the only parts of Quebec that remained at the red alert level — moved to the lower orange level Monday.

That allows gyms and restaurant dining rooms to reopen and sees high school students return to in person learning full-time instead of having online classes on alternating days.

In Quebec’s largest city, it’s the first time since the end of September that restaurant dining rooms have been allowed to open, though orange zone restrictions set a limit of two adults who don’t share an address per table.

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Restrictions were eased further today in six other Quebec regions and part of a seventh.

That includes the regions of Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Cote-Nord and Nord du Quebec, which moved to the province’s green or lowest alert level.

Indoor gatherings consisting of 10 people or the residents of no more than three households are permitted in green zones.

Meanwhile, people 80 and over can now rebook their appointments to receive a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, the province shortened the interval between doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines to eight weeks from 16.

COVID-19 vaccination news

Moderna is applying to Health Canada Monday for its COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for use in teenagers.

The Massachusetts-based company says a trial of 2,500 youth aged 12 to 17 in the United States indicated the vaccine was 93 per cent to 100 per cent effective against COVID-19.

Moderna is the second vaccine maker to apply for approval for youth. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for kids as young as 16 in December and for youth 12 to 15 years old in May.

Both companies continue to test their vaccines on children as young as six months with hopes to apply for authorization by the fall.

with files from the Canadian Press