Waterloo Won't Be Moving Into Step 2 With The Rest Of The Province On Wednesday

The Ontario government just announced that the province will move into step two of its reopening plan on Wednesday, June 30. However, one region is being left behind.

The Region of Waterloo responded to Thursday's announcement by revealing that it is delaying the advancement of the Roadmap to Reopen due to concerns over the Delta variant.

"To give our residents more time to be vaccinated, to avoid having to take a step back, and based on our situation at this time, I anticipate the Region of Waterloo will be able to move into Step 2 in mid-July," Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, medical officer of health, said. "This approach gives us the best chance to hold onto the gains we have made."

Waterloo has struggled to contain the spread of variants of concerns over the last few weeks, with daily case numbers surpassing Toronto's earlier this month.

"I fully understand that pausing our move to Step 2 will greatly impact many in our community," Karen Redman, regional chair, added. "We are in one of the most critical phases of the pandemic locally and this decision is made with the health and safety of all of our community at heart."