Ford Wants Ontario's Emergency Extended To July To Help Get Over The 'Hump' (VIDEO)

At a daily media briefing on Monday, June 1, Premier Doug Ford said he wants to extend Ontario's state of emergency until the beginning of July. Ford said the province needs help to get over the COVID-19 "hump." Ford was speaking to reporters at his virtual media briefing on Monday, June 1 when he made the statement.

There, with Ontario's state of emergency currently set to expire on Tuesday, June 2, he stressed he wants an extension for another four weeks, at least.

"We're working very aggressively on coming up with a plan to get the economy going," Ford said.

He added later in the conference: "That will hopefully get us over the hump per se, it's another four weeks and we just want to make sure everyone's safe and healthy and we want to get the economy going."

The exceptional status will officially be stretched until June 30 if the motion is passed as expected by Ford's majority at Queen's Park on Tuesday.

When asked if it could be elongated further, the Premier noted it's impossible to predict where things will be in four weeks' time.

Ford's previous extension of the order was on May 11, with an end date of June 2.

It's worth noting that the emergency status is not the same as the province's emergency orders. The list of current orders in place, including the closures of outdoor playgrounds and swimming pools and the five-person limit on gatherings, is set to expire one week after the last-updated emergency status, on June 9.

On Monday, the province's latest daily update noted another spike in COVID-19 cases, with more than 400 new infections.

That brings the provincial total to 28,263.

Ford has threatened in the past to abandon eased restrictions and begin getting tougher around the province if Ontario suffered a surge of cases with plenty of businesses and amenities open again.  

The province has already officially been under a state of emergency for 11 weeks now, since the initial declaration. 

Ontario's testing has ramped up in recent days, with over 20,000 tests being completed on Sunday, May 31, a record high. 

While Ford plans to extend the state of emergency, reopening plans are likely to differ across each city in the province.

Ontario's framework has already faced some controversy for its lack of regional approach until very recently.

So, while it looks like the whole province will still be under a state of emergency until the end of June, for a huge and dense city like Toronto, the lockdown could potentially last much longer.