Yes, Ontario's leadership finally just announceda new planfor yet another form of gradual reopening, to the joy of millions of residents and business owners who have been suffering underyet another a stint of more stringent lockdown measuresin the midst ofthe worst of winter.

The public can now look forward to the return of restaurants, gyms, event venuesand other businessesthat were forced to close down in-person operations earlier this month in a push to mitigate the Omicron variant's impact on the healthcare sector, while things like gathering limitsare also being relaxed.

It's all part of a three-phase plan, with new changes coming into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 31, Feb. 21 and March 14.

But, one thing that is notably missing from the government's detailed timeline and associated rules is anything about a forthcoming end to certain measures that weresupposed to be only temporarybut have gone on for months, such as the vaccine passport and mask mandate for all indoor public spaces.

#BREAKING- Restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, casinos to open at 50% capacity on January 31.

Feb 21 - Capacity limits lifted on restaurants, movie theatres. .

Mar 14 - All capacity limits lifted where proof of vaxx is required. No end date listed for proof of vaxx or masks.pic.twitter.com/7qACmuuSYl

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews)January 20, 2022

Face masks becamecompulsory in Torontoall the way back on July 7, 2020, and thenacross Ontarioon Oct. 4 that year.

While some cities have already extended their own bylaws into 2022 —Toronto is set to reassessthe directive and potentially extend it at a council meeting this month — the provincial government stated in late October that face coverings would continue to be a thing untila tentative date of March 28, 2022.

In this latest announcement Thursday, there is no update on the topic, nor about vaccine passports, aside from the mention that enhanced proof of vaccination (the QR code format) will continue to be required in many settings.

This is despite the fact that countries such as the U.K.have recently done away with both measures, which Prime Minister Boris Johnsonattributed in partto strong booster uptake and the success of existing public policies for curbing virus spread.

1月19日在英国
All restrictions lifted
mask mandates lifted
vaxx pass abandoned
Judge your own risks like an adult

Jan. 20 in Ontario
3 weeks will be a min 2 more months of restrictions
Masks a must
Vaxx pass a must
We cannot allow you to judge your own risks#onpoli

— Bryce Davidson (@MuskokaCoach18)January 20, 2022

Speaking of the vaccine passport specifically before it was introduced in Ontarioin September 2021, Premier Doug Ford assured the public that "we are bringing in these exceptional measures on a temporary basis and will end them as soon as they can be responsibly removed."

But, given thenotoriously cautious approachof Ontario's health officials and the absence of anything about face coverings or vaxpasses in the phased reopening plan, it will indeed likely be some time before Ford and his team consider lifting these particular orders.