John Tory Said 'The Time Has Come' To Start Talking About Reopening Toronto
John Tory delivered some promising news for residents who are anxiously waiting for the Toronto lockdown end date.
Tory told reporters on Wednesday that he believes "the time has come" to begin early conversations about when the city can safely reopen.
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[From a] non-medical perspective ... I believe the time has come to start to talk about it.
John Tory, Mayor of Toronto
At the press conference, Tory said the city should think about reopening in order to have a "proper, thoughtful" plan in place for when it does happen.
He said the reopening shouldn't and won't happen in one day, and instead be balanced between public health and the "realities" faced by businesses, students and city residents.
Also speaking at the press conference, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa agreed with Tory and said that the earlier planning starts, the more "thoughtful" the reopening plan can be.
But Dr. de Villa said that talking about reopening doesn't change the fact that "there is still quite a bit of COVID-19 activity" in Toronto right now.
"We should be concerned around the presence of variants of concern. So at this point in time, we must still be incredibly vigilant," Dr. de Villa said.
Despite the presence of the U.K. variant in the province, Ontario recorded its lowest number of new cases in two months on Wednesday.