certain specialized retail outlets to operate by appointment only, prohibiting essential retail stores from selling non-essential goods, and schools tentatively remaining open. ford explained that "the situation is evolving rapidly, hour by hour. and as things change, as we learn more about these deadly new variants, as we see new problems arise, we need to adapt. we need to move quickly and decisively." the province also announced that it would offer vaccinations to all adults within specific hotspot areas, identified by postal codes. the selection of the areas faced criticism over its methodology, including its inclusion of several sortation areas that did not actually have high rates of covid-19 cases and/or hospitalizations, on april 11, the province recorded its single largest day of new cases to-date, at 4,456. on april 12, premier ford announced that all schools province-wide would close to in-person classes following spring break. on april 16, premier ford requested assistance from alberta, including access to health care workers. the office of alberta premier jason kenney declined the request, citing its own impact by the third wave. ford reportedly made a similar request to saskatchewan, although the province denied that this had happened. new modelling was released with a best-case scenario of less than 4,000 cases per-day by the end of may if strong health measures (such as the current stay-at-home order) were in place and at least 100,000 vaccine doses were administered per-day, with scenarios improving if the stay-at-home order were extended to six weeks, and vaccination increased to at least 300,000 per-day. in a news conference, premier ford announced that the stay-at-home order will be extended through at least may 20, and that it would also include additional capacity restrictions for retail, the closure of all outdoor recreation amenities, and a prohibition of non-essential interprovincial land travel into ontario. solicitor general sylvia jones also announced that police had been granted the right to randomly stop and question any individual they suspect are violating the stay-at-home order, including compelling them to provide their home address and reason for travel, and issuing tickets for violating a public health order if they do not comply. the policy faced criticism for resembling the past practice of carding, having a disproportionate impact on bipoc communities, and potentially violating the canadian charter of rights and freedoms. a number of municipal police departments announced that they would not perform random stops. on april 17, jones announced that the measure would be "refocused", only allowing police to stop and ticket people they suspect are participating in a prohibited public event or gathering on april 18, a spokesperson stated that ontario has had supply issues with vaccines. backpedaling from the naci guidance, ontario announced that it would expand availability of the astrazeneca vaccine to those 40 and older. david moscrop published an op-ed in the u.s. newspaper the washington post calling for ford to resign, arguing that the pandemic had exacerbated his "extraordinary capacity to alienate, divide and fail", and criticizing him for the aforementioned police measures, restricting outdoor recreation despite many covid-19 cases being attributed to crowded indoor workplaces such as factories, and repeatedly ignoring calls to implement paid sick leave (with ford deeming it redundant to the federal, retroactive canadian recovery sickness benefit). on april 19, ford was absent from the legislative session, on april 20, peel public health and toronto public health both issued section 22 orders mandating that businesses be closed for 10 days (with all employees required to self-isolate for the same period) if they are linked to five or more covid-19 infections within the past 14 days. premier ford was accused by his opposition of "hiding" from the legislature and the media since april 19, and organizing a virtual party fundraiser with tickets costing $1,000 each, amid increasing criticism of his management of the pandemic. the province issued a statement indicating that ford was focusing primarily on procuring additional vaccine doses via international partners. on april 20, both the ontario liberal party and ndp called for ford's resignation; ontario liberal party leader steven del duca argued that ford was "missing in action, hiding from the people, and hiding from accountability", and "scared to face the people and acknowledge his stunning incompetence". it was announced by the province that ford was isolating due being a close contact of a positive case within his staff. ford himself had tested negative. on april 22, in his first media appearance since april 16, premier ford admitted that the government "made a mistake" and "went too far" with the measures they had announced on april 16. in a reversal of his prior stance, ford also announced plans to introduce a provincial paid sick leave program, arguing that they needed to compensate for "important improvements" that were not included in the crsb in the 2021 federal budget. may date cases recoveries deaths active hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal total totalicuventilators 13,369466,7333,964421,216298,079-2,152883637 23,732470,4653,947425,163238,102-1,961895615 33,436473,9013,623428,786168,118-1,925889611 42,791476,6923,323432,109258,143-2,167886609 52,941---448,187-2,075882578 63,424483,057-440,467268,213--877 - 73,166486,223-486,223238,236-1,924853611 82,864489,0873,596447,938258,261-1,832851588 93,216492,3033,653451,591478,308-1,640848580 102,716495,0193,110454,701198,327-1,632828547 112,073497,0922,898457,599158,342-1,782802568 122,320499,412-461,076328,374--776- 132,759502,171-464,531318,40529,2351,632776- 142,362504,5333,502468,033268,431-1,582777560 152,584507,117-471,096248,45527,5661,546785- 162,199509,316-474,175308,48526,6561,292785- 172,170511,486-477,12848,48925,869--- 181,616513,102-479,630178,50624,966--- 191,588514,690--198,525-1,401745483 202,400517,090-485,512278,55223,0261,320721- 211,890518,980-488,201278,57922,2001,265715- 221,794520,774--208,599-1,207706504 231,691522,465--158,614-1,041698- 241,446--------- 251,039524,590--418,655-1,025662498 261,095526,0452,371499,640238,678-1,073672469 271,135527,1802,302501,942198,697-1072650452 281,273528,4532,362504,304148,711-1,023645458 291,057529,510-506,361158,72614,423934626- 301,033530,543-508,428188,74413,371749614- 31916531,4591,707510,135138,757-731617382 ontario paused first doses of astrazeneca vaccine on may 11, citing eight cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia in the province. a day later, officials confirmed that another 254,500 doses were scheduled to be delivered the next week. officials suggested they would likely still be used for second doses. as of may 11, one hamilton apartment building was reported to have an outbreak of 107 cases of covid-19. june date cases recoveries deaths active hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal total totalicuventilators 1699532,1581,568511,70398,766-804583335 2733532,8911,733513,436258,791-708576399 3870533,7611,563514,999108,801-729546317 4914-1,397516,396198,820-687522357 5744---248,844-625516362 6663---108,854-545510344 7525536,607-519,801-8,869-547-497 8469537,076--18--621481- 9411---33--571466- 10590---11--516450- 11574538,651-523,532-8,935-489440- 12502539,153830524,362158,950-447422277 13530539,683763525,125248,957-373426273 14447540,130670525,79548,961-384409268 15296540,426645526,440138,974-433382215 16350540,810722527,162128,968-438377242 17370541,180635541,18078,993-397362232 18345541,525628528,42118,994-378352293 19355541,880-529,002139,007-336335221 20318542,198-529,506129,019-266333208 21270542,469--39,022-261323- 22296542,764-530,434609,082-334314202 23255543,019--119,093-816305190 24296543,315------299- 25256543,571-531,57129,1012,899275284173 26346--532,074139,114-273-- 27287-379--9,1262,625-289230 28210544,414326532,77939,129-218287191 29299544,713371533,150259,154-257276185 30184-322533,472149,168-257276185 on june 2, premier ford announced that in-person classes at schools will remain suspended through the end of the school year, citing concerns over variants. ford also stated that the province was also considering moving up the date for step 1. on june 11, ontario entered step 1 of the roadmap to reopen plan that was originally scheduled for june 14. on june 30, ontario entered step 2 of the roadmap to reopen plan that was originally scheduled for july 2. july date cases recoveries deaths active hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal total totalicuventilators 1284-257------- 2200545,381281534,010289,1962,175179252160 3209545,590262534,27299,205--243165 4213545,803286534,55899,214--235159 5170545,973233-19,215---- 6244546,217319535,11099,2241,883202226161 7194546,411236535,34609,2241,841201220155 8210546,621231535,57749,2281,841194215145 9183546,804233535,81099,2371,757189202143 10179546,983218536,02889,2451,710-197134 11166547,149278536,30669,2511,592130202132 12114547,26396535,81009,2511,610142204123 13146547,409201536,60379,2581,548173192123 14153547,562216536,81979,2651,478174180116 15143547,705168536,987109,2751,443165168114 16159547,864189537,176109,2851,403159158112 17176548,040-537,37939,288--149109 18177548,217166537,54569,2941,37810515099 19130548,347153537,69809,2941,35511515194 20127548,474126537,82429,296-14514998 21135548,609151537,97549,3001,33513914570 22185548,794149538,12479,3071,36314014184 23192548,986147538,27119,3081,40713713684 24170549,156150538,42139,311--13286 25172549,328149538,56529,3131,4508812781 26119549,447137538,70239,3161,4299613195 27129549,576158538,86059,3211,39212512791 28158549,734171549,73449,3251,37811712285 29218549,952169539,20039,3281,42410512186 30226550,178148539,348119,339--11777 31258550,436137539,48569,345--11283 on july 16, ontario entered step 3 of the roadmap to reopen plan that was originally scheduled for july 21. august date cases recoveries deaths active hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal total totalicuventilators 1218550,654155539,68029,3471,6677811079 2168-129-19,348---- 3164550,986151539,92019,3491,7177110677 4139551,125155540,075119,3601,69011210878 5213551,338183540,258149,3741,70611311078 6340551,678149540,407189,3921,87911411080 7378552,056191540,59899,4012,05713811182 8423552,479232540,83069,407--11676 9325552,804192541,022-9,4072,3759411383 10321553,125200541,22229,409-10010972 11324553,449204541,42639,4122,61110810870 12513553,962256541,68209,4122,86811611376 13510554,472264541,94649,4163,11012311172 14578555,050260542,20629,418-13611172 15511555,561270542,47609,4183,6679811671 16526556,087321542,79709,4183,87210811992 17348556,435280543,077109,4283,93016312798 18485556,920345543,42239,4314,067174-- 19531557,451338543,760179,4484,243176-- 20650558,101444544,204---197135104 21689558,790475544,67919,451--13078 22722559,512391545,07029,453--14179> 23639560,151502545,572--5,126204151121 24486560,637541560,637189,471-295156125 25660561,297572546,68519,472-283161130 26678561,975513547,19809,472-302165134 27781562,756625547,823179,4895,444306158128 28835563,591575548,39879,496--16287 29740564,331561548,95929,498--15898 30694565,025540549,49909,4986,02822616093 31525565,550680550,17959,5035,868336160131 on august 17, the ontario government had announced that further reopening of ontario past step 3 of the roadmap to reopen plan had been paused indefinitely, following the start of ontario's fourth wave, the increasing amount of daily cases, and also citing the increasing spread of the delta variant. by late august, local public health advice has shifted focus from “staying safe” to “limiting contact” because of the growing fourth infection wave in the province. september date cases recoveries deaths active hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal total totalicuventilators 1656566,206650550,829139,5165,861339163135 2865567,071681551,510149,5306,031320162137 3807567,878738552,24869,5366,094326169144 4944568,822728552,97699,545-32017297 5811569,633573553,54939,5486,536266179155 6581-716-2-6,399--- 7564570,778688570,77839,5536,272295192165 8554571,332770555,723169,5696,040375194167 9798572,130772556,49539,5796,056365185165 10848572,978770557,26559,5906,123361177153 11857573,835756558,021159,605-183180114 12784574,619738558,75969,6116,249289184107 13600575,219627559,38649,6176,216289189163 14577575,796683560,06969,624-363192119 15593576,389755560,82449,6295,936346188165 16864577,253668561,49239,6326,129348191167 17795578,048680562,17259,637-336194- 18821578,869655562,827109,647-329185126 19715579,584708563,53569,6536,396245182161 20610580,194628564,16329,6556,376233177156 21574580,768764564,92789,6636,178330179154 22463581,231783565,71079,6705,851299187162 23677581,908676566,38679,6775,845307193168 24727582,635814567,200119,6885,747308193167 25640583,275794567,994109,698-323178128 26653583,928639568,63369,704-198177127 27613584,541578569,21109,7045,626186184157 28466570,030819585,007119,7155,262315180152 29495585,502760570,79089,7234,989291172149 30647--------- on september 1, the ontario government had announced that a vaccine certification system would begin rolling out in ontario province-wide in two phases in order to access non-essential businesses in ontario, such as gyms, indoor restaurants, movie theatres, and concert halls. the first phase being that showing proof of a covid-19 vaccination using official ontario printed receipts would be mandatory province wide beginning as of september 22. the second phase being using a covid-19 vaccine passport system in ontario, which would show proof of a covid-19 vaccination using qr codes either printed on paper, or stored digitally using a smartphone, would be mandatory province wide beginning as of october 22. ontario government issued photo id must also be presented in both phases. october date cases recoveries deaths active hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal total totalicuventilators 1668586,8171,315572,105209,7434,969278163141 2704587,521645572,75079,750-274162110 3580588,1014,983573,36629,7524,983144163107 4511588,612-573,85429,7545,004146159104 5429589,041-574,55049,7574,734277155101 6476589,517617575,167149,7714,579280156132 7587590,104586575,75359,7764,575279149125 8573590,677621576,374109,7864,517271154129 9654591,331577576,95129,788-258153194 10535591,866539577,49029,790--153100 11458-551-29,7924,491165155125 12390592,714512578,55309,7924,369155149121 13306593,020527579,080129,8044,136242153124 14417593,437528579,60839,8074,022254158129 15496593,933542580,15029,8093,974265163134 16486594,419517580,66759,814-242164103 17443594,862484581,151-19,8133,89815516493 18373595,235423581,57429,8153,846145168138 19328595,563498582,07249,8193,672260159130 20304595,867537582,60949,8233,435258159132 21413596,280488583,09749,8273,356274161135 22492596,772415583,512129,8393,421261149121 23373597,145419583,93169,845--13696 24370597,515480584,41119,846--13797 25326597,841369584,78009,8463,215163138109 26269598,110427585,20769,8523,051233138107 27321598,431384585,591109,8622,978215134105 28409598,840-585,95739,8653,018197132104 29419599,259-586,35609,8653,038211130100 30356599,615340586,69649,869-213132286 31340599,955-587,06929,8713,015104133108 on october 22, the ontario government had announced a timeline roadmap plan to lift restrictions in ontario. as of october 25, capacity limit restrictions are lifted in settings where showing proof of vaccination is required, such as restaurants, bars, gyms, casinos, bingo halls, other indoor meeting and event spaces, and gaming establishments. the ontario government will also allow other settings to lift their capacity limits, if the setting chooses to require showing proof of vaccination, such as barber shops, salons, museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, science centers, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens, amusement parks, fairs, exhibitions, festivals, indoor tour and guide services, boat tours, indoor areas of marinas and boating clubs, indoor clubhouses at outdoor recreational amenities, open house events provided by real estate agencies, and indoor areas of photography studios and services. november date cases recoveries deaths hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal totalicuventilators 1422600,377275587,34439,87413713384 2331600,708383587,72779,88123018545 3378601,086380588,10759,886237137114 4438601,524337588,44479,891225129109 5563602,087352588,79659,896225129109 6508602,595370589,166-39,896203130- 7636603,231-589,53329,89893126106 8480603,711--29,990105127107 9441604,152456590,22739,903244134115 10454604,606414590,64199,912243136116 11642605,248-591,06349,916243136116 12598605,846462591,52559,921207130107 13661606,507469591,99469,92726313178 14666607,173467592,46179,934126133107 15552607,725342592,80339,937138141107 16481608,206651593,45419,938301139112 17512608,718573594,027129,950274133108 18711609,429575594,60259,955278129105 19793610,222567595,16949,959269128107 20728610,950--59,964283-- 21741611,691-596,25939,967107135113 22627612,318494596,75319,968136133111 23613612,931717597,47069,974282134111 24591613,522664598,13479,981289137118 25748614,270599598,73349,985259137117 26927615,197666599,39969,991268140121 27854616,051580599,97929,99325413487 28964617,015-600,53719,994122135- 29788617,803453600,99039,997145148131 30678618,490560601,550310,000266153137 on november 28, ontario reported 2 cases of the new sars-cov-2 omicron variant, confirming the arrival of the variant into canada. two ottawa residents with recent travel history to nigeria had tested positive for the variant, which was first detected in south africa. on november 30, ontario's death toll reached the 10,000 mark. december date cases recoveries deaths hospitalizations sources newtotal newtotal newtotal totalicuventilators 1780619,270965602,515510,005296155137 2959620,229770603,285710,012291155139 31,031621,260742604,027410,016286146127 41,053622,313722604,749810,02428416098 51,184623,497-605,358010,024140164146 6887624,384-605,918310,027137168149 7928625,312879606,797710,036340165144 81,009626,3211,129607,926810,044333155135 91,290627,611970608,8961010,054309155135 101,453629,064910609,8061110,064309151130 111,607630,671786610,592510,02432314694 121,476632,147-611,266810,078222158138 131,536633,683800612,066110,079253161143 141,429635,112930612,996510,084385162143 151,808636,9201,165614,161910,093357154136 162,421639,3411,013615,174910,102328165147 173,124642,4651,392616,566510,105358157139 183,301645,7661,207617,773410,11138215499 194,177649,943-618,983210,113283159146 203,874653,7271,040620,023010,113284164152 213,453657,1801,332621,3551010,123412165105 224,383661,5631,787623,1421010,133420168108 235,790667,3531,659624,801710,140440169106 249,571676,9241,997626,798610,146508164102 2510,412-1,872-4-510165- 269,826697,1621,796630,4667-373168- 279,418706,5801,899632,3651010,161480176- 288,825715,4052,481634,846710,168491187- 2910,436725,8413,832638,678310,171726190- 3013,807739,6484,037642,715810,179965200104 3116,713756,3614,630647,3451510,1941,144205104 on december 2, one new case of the omicron variant was reported in the durham region. on december 15, premier doug ford announced that the province will re-enter a version of step 3 called step 3.9 of its 3 step reopening plan effective saturday december 18 including the return of capacity limits in high risk settings. on december 17, premier doug ford announced that the province will move into step 3.5 including the lowering of capacity limits in more non essential businesses and the lowering the gathering sizes to 10 indoors and 25 outdoors. on december 23, ontario broke its single-day record for new daily cases for two consecutive days with 5790 new cases, followed by 9571 new cases.