From late November to mid-December 2020, the province began placing regions in rolling lockdowns, culminating in a province-wide shutdown beginning Boxing Day.

[16] The rollout continued to be highly criticized for lack of equitability and clarity, which was significantly helped by volunteer groups like Vaccine Hunters Canada.

[24] Following the expiration of the stay-at-home order, on May 20, 2021, the provincial government released a three-step roadmap to reopen the economy based on vaccination rate goals.

[25] In late summer 2021, the province began preparing for a fourth wave of the virus, which was now largely affecting unvaccinated individuals.

[27] In January 2022, Ontario entered a partial lockdown (termed as a rollback to "Step 2" of the previous roadmap) due to record cases caused by Omicron variant, ordering the closure of most non-essential indoor facilities.

[44] On September 8, schools opened for many parts of the province, using preventive measures such as masks, physical distancing in classrooms, and remote learning.

Teachers in a Mississauga Catholic school were reported as briefly refusing to work until proper personal protective equipment was provided.

[52] On January 12, the return to in-person classes in Hamilton, Peel, Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and York was delayed to February 10, 2021, as they were still considered hotspots.

[55] Amid the second shutdown and the third wave, the provincial government stated that it was its "firm belief" that in-person classes needed to continue, as they were "critical to student mental health", and that "due to our strong infection prevention measures, 99 per cent of students and staff have no active cases of COVID-19, however we must remain vigilant and keep our guard up in order to keep schools safe and open.

[23] On June 2, Premier Ford announced that all schools would remain closed through the end of the semester, but that he would allow in-person outdoor graduation ceremonies in all grades.

In particular, Premier Ford cited safety concerns surrounding variants of SARS-CoV-2 as reasoning, stating that "It was a hard choice to make, but I will not, and I repeat, I will not take unnecessary risks with our children right now.

[63] Data as of May 30, 2022 On April 28, 2020, Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam stated that as many of 79 percent of Canada's COVID-19 fatalities occurred in long-term care homes, with Ontario and Quebec accounting for most of the cases.

[69] As part of Operation Laser, assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces at five Toronto-area nursing homes, beginning in April, led to a report by the Brigadier General in charge documenting extreme conditions and abuse.

[71] Six corporations—Chartwell Retirement Residences, Extendicare, Responsive Group, Revera, Schlegel Villages, and Sienna Senior Living— together owning and operating 200 long-term care homes—experienced "unusually high rates of COVID-19 infection and related deaths.

"[68] In March 2024, the Ontario Superior Court certified class action lawsuits against these corporations for gross negligence on behalf of thousands of people who contracted COVID-19 during the pandemic after visiting these homes or residing in them.

[72] On April 15, 2020, the Ontario Nurses' Association released a statement saying that long-term care (LTC) homes pre-COVID-19 were already understaffed, but now they are in "crisis" mode.

[74] Many LTC homes in Ontario are considered old and small and feature shared bedrooms, increasing the difficulty in isolating sick residents from those who are well.

[76] RQIs are proactive, unannounced and more comprehensive than the other main category of care home inspections in the province, complaint and critical incident inspections, where facilities know of the impending scrutiny in advance;[76] the 2018 Long-Term Care Homes Public Inquiry noted that "focusing only on specific complaints or critical incidents could lead to missing systemic issues.

[80] The first confirmed case of the Alpha variant was announced on December 21, 2020, infecting a Durham Region couple initially with no known travel-related contact exposure.

[88] By June, the government announced that it was speeding up vaccine doses for people living in Delta-variant hotspots such as Toronto and Peel.

[89] A study in Ontario found that the Pfizer vaccine was 95 percent effective to prevent hospitalization or death from the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants seven days after the second dose.

Two Ottawa residents with recent travel history to Nigeria had tested positive for the variant, which was first detected in South Africa.

[95] As of early April 2020, accounting firm KPMG has been contracted to organize all the labs in the province that are capable of microbial testing.

[99] Conditions have included close contact with a test-confirmed case, recent travel, admission to hospital for serious symptoms, healthcare worker, longterm care home resident, etc.

[108][109] As of early May 2020, among the larger provinces, Ontario is second to Alberta and ahead of British Columbia and Quebec in daily tests per capita.

The following day on April 9, 2020, amid mounting criticism of the province's testing, the president and CEO of Public Health Ontario Dr. Peter Donnelly temporarily stepped down for medical reasons and was replaced in the interim by Colleen Geiger, Public Health Ontario's chief of strategy, stakeholder relations, information and knowledge.

[129][130][133] Regional public health experts suggested that Ontario's initial incremental response—adding new voluntary measures piece by piece—had been ineffective.

In an email, Dr. Nesathurai, who worked for Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit, wrote on March 19, 2020, that Ontario's response had undermined the province's attempt to contain the outbreak, as businesses remain open and travellers ignore advice to self-isolate.

[142] On the afternoon of April 17, 2021, approximately 300 anti-lockdown protesters gathered in the area of Main Street East and Kenilworth Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario.

[145] The Progressive Conservative government has largely resisted calls to implement paid emergency leave for workers that fall ill due to COVID-19, and blocked legislation proposed by the opposition Ontario NDP.