As Torontonians prepare to begin their second month living under the province's state of emergency orders, Mayor John Tory says planning is currently underway on how the city could eventually be reopened.
On Tuesday morning during an interview with CP24, Tory said he would be participating in a "fairly lengthy" briefing on the City's "recovery plan" later in the afternoon, coinciding with the Ford government meeting at Queen's Park to extend the province's state of emergency order that will require the closure of non-essential businesses for another 28 days.
READ: Toronto Man Makes “Social Distance Machine” to Demonstrate the City’s Need to Open Streets
In his interview, Tory said any decisions on when certain restrictions in the city will be lifted will be based solely on the basis of advice from public health officials. However, efforts are being made to plan for how Toronto could eventually reopen in an "orderly fashion".
“We are planning for it. I don’t want people to think that means it will happen tomorrow afternoon because it won’t, but we are very conscious of the fact that people want this,” said Tory. “That is why we are saying please stay home and please stay two metres apart from each other so the day can come sooner,” he said.
Premier Ford echoed a similar sentiment during his COVID-19 briefing on Monday and said the province needs to "hang in there a little bit and not jump the gun" before things can return to normal.
"I know everyone is getting antsy. I see it, I hear it, people want to get out there but what if we do that and all of a sudden this just comes back with a vengeance and bites us in the backside? I would rather be safe than sorry."
While this news does sound reassuring, as Tory has previously said, "the war against COVID-19 is far from over." Perhaps we can find some reassurance at least knowing our government is planning for the day Toronto can return to normal.
Small victories. For now.
