Ontario Is Heading Into A Modified Step 2 This Week & Here's Everything You Need To Know

If your New Years' resolution was to be more social, hit the gym, or dine at a new restaurant, you may be out of luck for the next little while as the province enters a modified step two.

The Ontario government just announced that new restrictions will be put into place to combat increased COVID-19 hospitalizations and the quickly spreading Omicron variant.

Starting January 5 at 12:10 a.m., indoor dining at restaurants and bars will shut down, schools and gyms will close, and new gathering and capacity limits will be put in place.

These changes will last for at least 21 days, which means restrictions could stay in place until at least January 26 (with the exception of school closures.)

Here's everything you need to know before then.

Restaurants, bars & gyms

Restaurants and bars will be required to shut down indoor dining on January 5 at 12:01 a.m. until at least January 26 however they will be permitted to offer outdoor dining with some restrictions, delivery, takeout, and drive-through options.

Alcohol will still only be served until 10 p.m. and must be consumed before 11 p.m.

Liquor stores, convenience stores and grocers are exempt from this rule, so you can still hit up Metro for a late-night beer run.

Gyms, indoor sport and recreations fitness facilities will also close down with the exemption for Olympic and Paralympic training and "select professional and elite amateur sport leagues," according to a government handout.

Outdoor facilities will be able to remain open, but the number of spectators must stay under 50% capacity in addition to "other requirements."

Schools

Ontario schools will close down and move to remote learning from January 5 to at least January 17 – however, this timeline is "subject to public health trends and operational considerations," according to a government handout.

Schools will be able to remain open for child care services, and teachers who cannot teach remotely and "students with special education needs" will continue with in-person learning.

Free emergency childcare will be provided for "school-aged children" for front-line and health care workers for the duration of remote learning.

Gathering & capacity limits

Social gatherings will be reduced to five people indoors and ten people outdoors.

Indoor weddings, funerals, religious services, ceremonies and rites will have a 50% capacity per room, and outdoor counterparts will be capped by how many people can be physically distanced at 2 meters apart.

"Social gatherings associated with these services must adhere to the social gathering limits," according to a government handout.

Indoor meeting and event spaces will close with "limited exceptions" but outdoor meeting spaces may remain open with some restrictions.

Libraries, shopping malls, retail stores, personal care services and boat tours will operate at 50% capacity and inside of malls lineups must be physically distanced.

Outdoor facilities for horse tracks, car racing and similar space as well as zoos, museums, gardens, amusement parks, water parks, fairs, festivals and other attractions will remain open with "spectator occupancy limited to 50 per cent capacity."

Indoor rehearsals and recorded performances will also be allowed with some restrictions.

In addition to capacity limits businesses and organizations will also be required to send employees home to work remotely "unless the nature of their work requires them to be on-site."

What else is closed?

• Indoor concert venues
• Indoor theatres
• Indoor cinemas
• Indoor museums
• Indoor zoos
• Indoor science centres
• Indoor landmarks
• Indoor botanical gardens
• Indoor waterparks
• Indoor amusement parks
• Indoor tour and guide services
• Indoor horse tracks
• Indoor car racing tracks
• Indoor fairs
• Indoor rural exhibitions
• Indoor festivals
• Saunas
• Steam rooms
• Oxygen bars
• Food courts