A crucial piece that will help determine whether or not the province begins to reopen is the ICU bed occupancy across Ontario.
Today's COVID-19 numbers show there are 358 people in intensive care in our province.
New modelling numbers from Ontario's health table predicts that if transmission of the virus consistently drops by about three or five per cent, we could be below 200 beds by the end of February.
The province says cases and positivity rates are down across public health units, but so are testing numbers, and keeping up high volumes of testing will be "important to control" the pandemic.
Although cases are declining in long-term care homes, the province's health table says deaths continue to rise with 215 in the last week. "We are still likely to surpass total deaths from the first wave," the modelling table states.
A major area of concern is the risk of transmission in essential workplaces.
According to the province, communities with the highest proportion of essential workers have the highest case numbers of COVID-19.
Although officials are concerned about the new UK variant - also known as B.1.1.7 - and the effects it can have on controlling the pandemic, the modelling table believes if we continue keeping up with public health measures, even with a return to school, we could continue to see a drop in COVID-19 cases.