Ford Says Ontario's Lockdown May Ease Up By Victoria Day

There might be a light at the end of the tunnel for the lockdown in Ontario. Ford recently hinted the province's new restrictions could ease up by Victoria Day. However, the premier also warned that not everything will open all at once and schools may be one of the last things to return back to normal. 

UPDATE: In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Doug Ford has clarified that re-opening Ontario by May 24 is "absolutely not going to happen."

EARLIER: In an interview with Newstalk 580, Ford revealed that it may be possible to re-open the economy and loosen the lockdown across the province as early as Victoria Day. 

When asked by the interviewer if Ford can see having restrictions loosen by the holiday weekend, the premier said that it can happen if we continue to flatten the curve. "If we continue down the road we're going publicly, yes, we can see things loosening up a bit," Ford stated, according to CTV. 

"People want hope. Everyone has a concern, no matter how old they are, they want to get out there."Ford has said that even his own family has been pressuring him to get the province back up and running.

However, when asked about the re-opening of schools, Ford revealed that they could be the last thing to re-open. 

"I think it'll probably be later on," the premier stated. "Our biggest fear is this spreading within our schools. I know our kids are resilient but, still, our number one concern is protecting our kids out there."

On Monday, the province revealed some more promising news in relation to the spread of COVID-19.

According to health officials, Ontario is currently in the “best-case scenario” for dealing with the pandemic.

While the province revealed that up to 80,000 people could contract the virus back in March, they are now stating that the number has dropped to 20,000.

“The sacrifices people are making to stay home and wash their hands are making a difference.”

"Projections now show Ontario’s COVID-19 outbreak behaving more like best case."

Toronto’s mayor, John Tory, also revealed that he was in the works of creating a plan to re-open the city. However, he has warned that it can take several months for this process to be completed.

Currently, Ontario’s state of emergency will be set in place until May 12.