The owners of South Etobicoke bars and restaurants are breathing a sigh of relief that Stage 3 of Ontario’s recovery plan begins Friday, when they can begin inside dining again.

Toronto and Peel Region were yesterday given the Stage 3 green light by the Ministry of Health, which reported its fewest number of new cases since last March.

Stage 3 allows for activities such as indoor dining in restaurants, live performing arts shows and the reopening of movie theatres and playgrounds. It also permits larger gatherings of people, though social distancing requirements remain in place.

Restaurants can offer indoor dine-in service, provided that all patrons are seated when eating or drinking and that tables are separated by at least two metres or have plexiglass or other impermeable barriers separating them.

“We have made tremendous progress that allows us to return to something a little closer to our normal lives this summer, but we are not out of the woods yet,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement.

Residents on Friday can participate in expanded social gatherings and organized public events, in which  Indoor gatherings of up to 50 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people are permitted. These gatherings remain subject to compliance with provincial physical distancing requirements of a two-metre distance from anyone outside your household or 10-person social circle.

Members of the Lakeshore Village BIA say their stores, bars and restaurants have been hurting due to the pandemic.

“The opening to Stage 3 is great news for some area businesses,” says Chris Korwin Kuczynski, Head of the Chair of the Lakeshore Village BIA. “This is great news for our bars, restaurants and some other businesses.”

The City’s bylaws on physical distancing in City parks and squares remains in effect, as does the mandatory mask or face covering bylaw for indoor public spaces.

More than 800 City playgrounds and play structures, community and recreation centres, and libraries will also be open for on-site services.

Many bars will have to gather contact information for patrons in the event contact tracing is required or maintain sanitary conditions for patrons.

The number of patients in Ontario hospitals with confirmed cases of the illness declined down to 91, the fewest since the province began reporting hospitalization figures on April 1. The number of those patients being treated in intensive care units and with ventilators also declined