Shuttered Lambton businesses will have to wait at least another week before opening.

The province outlined some of the changes coming Friday as the province moves into Stage Three of the reopening of the province during the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be larger groups – 100 people outside and 50 inside – and 99 per cent of businesses will be able to reopen using some of the new health protection standards.

While Lambton continues to perform well in key public health COVID-19 indicators such as lower rates of transmission, increased capacity in hospitals, and progress made in testing, Lambton is not included in the first group of regions moving into Stage Three on Friday.

“This decision is not made at a local level, it is part of the Provincial framework for reopening and made by a team at the provincial level,” said Bill Weber, Lambton County Warden in a news release.

“Knowing that Lambton County entered Stage Two one week later than many other municipalities in the province, and knowing that generally the province planned for up to four weeks before transitioning to the next stage, we anticipate that Lambton County could transition into Stage 3 as early as next week.”

“Now that we know the details of the Province’s reopening plan, we encourage all business owners and organizations to take this extra week to carefully review the requirements for reopening and make preparations for opening following the province’s guidance documents,” said Weber.