Ontario plans to extend its state of emergency until mid-July

Ontario is planning on extending the Province’s state of emergency, currently in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Premier Doug Ford’s office, the Province is planning to extend it for 15 days until July 15 and will be looking to make another decision next week.

“Last night, our government tabled a motion to extend the provincial state of emergency 15 days past the planned expiry date of June 30,” Ford’s office said in a statement.

“Thanks to the collective efforts of every Ontarian, the COVID-19 trends in our province are moving in the right direction and the Premier is hopeful that this will be the final extension.”

The motion is expected to be debated in the Legislature next week, with a vote following soon after.

On June 17, the Ontario government extended all emergency orders currently in force until June 30.

The state of emergency gives the province power to enforce the emergency orders.

While current emergency orders will remain in place until the end of the month, the government will continue to review each one on an ongoing, case-by-case basis to determine when and if they can safely be adjusted or lifted, as part of the province’s framework to reopen the province.

Over the past week, the government announced 31 public health unit regions across the province may proceed to Stage 2 of its Framework for Reopening the Province. This will allow additional businesses and services to reopen and more people to return to work.

Only Toronto, Peel, and Windsor-Essex cannot move into the next stage.

The state of emergency in the province was first issued on March 17.

On Wednesday, the province saw its fourth day of under 200 new coronavirus cases.