As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the country, with 30,031 confirmed cases and 1,193 deaths as of Thursday, and with new outbreaks still emerging, it's going to take some time before any cities can begin reopening — especially here in Toronto.
During an interview with CP24 Friday morning, Mayor John Tory confirmed that there's no firm date for when a reopening could begin.
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“We don’t have a date,” Tory told CP24. “We have to just keep working on the physical distancing and so on to make sure that date comes sooner rather than later – but we don’t have a date."
Tory said when the time comes, the reopening would be a "gradual" process that would be guided by orders from public health officials. However, the City is currently planning for how this could happen.
"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 previously said. “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.
Mayor Tory told CP24 Friday that City staff is holding a meeting on the subject tomorrow to discuss what reopening the city might look like.
This news comes as President Donald Trump revealed new guidelines for states to reopen their economies on Thursday, promoting a phased plan to reopen various businesses and venues on governors’ timelines. Tory said Trump's plan is "ambitious."
As for Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that it will still be "many weeks" before the Canadian economy could begin to reopen.
“I know that everyone wants to know when life will go back to normal. But the reality is that we cannot give you a specific date. But this is what we know: for this to be over, people have to stay home. We have to limit our movements as much as possible and keep a distance of two metres from others. And if everyone does his or her part, we will come through this together,” said Trudeau.
