Ontario's premier says more information on the province's pandemic reopening plans next week will be provided Friday.
The state of emergency expired this week and the stay-at-home order for most areas including Sarnia-Lambton is to end Tuesday, February 16.
Doug Ford, in a phone interview with Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) Thursday morning, said each area will be assessed as the province reverts to the colour-coded COVID-19 Response Framework.
"But no matter what the docs say, or what the government says, it's really up to the people and the people have done an incredible job," said Ford. "We're seeing the numbers come down, all because people are following the protocols and guidelines from the chief medical officer and that's the only way we can get through this."
Ford stressed though that there'll still be restrictions based on the levels within the framework.
"I just want to emphasize to everyone this isn't wide open, everyone start going wild, because that's what happened last time and the numbers started to spike up. We're very, very concerned about the UK variant, the South African variant, and the Brazilian variant, they move like greased lightning."
The premier said the need for vaccine is desperate and the federal government is doing all it can in that regard.
-With files from Sue Storr
