Tory says he won't rule out a curfew for Toronto as COVID-19 cases continue to surge

Jan 6 2021, 7:47 pm

Toronto Mayor John Tory says he won’t rule out a curfew for Toronto as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

“If somebody, medical experts, said that some kind of restriction on when people come and go is going to significantly increase our effectiveness in wrestling this virus to the ground, then I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Tory.

During a press conference on Wednesday, the mayor said there has been no official talk on the manner within health circles, but it has been mostly mentioned through the media.

“But, having said that, I wouldn’t rule anything out if it was going to be effective and was going to be consistent with the best advice we can get from the medical and scientific experts.”

Additionally, Chief Matthew Pegg said that while he understands that discussions are ongoing regarding possible curfew on the provincial level, he said there has been no direction or information given at the city level.

“Once any type of restriction or other provisions are enacted by the province, we then need to understand the detail of that, understand the legal framework, then we set about to understand that from the enforcement perspective to make sure we are ready,” said Pegg.

But he said that has not yet begun as there’s no information about this from the province.

In Quebec, Premier François Legault is scheduled to unveil a new set of stricter COVID-19 restrictions this evening.

Quebec is currently under a partial lockdown, initiated on Christmas Day, which includes the closure of schools and all non-essential businesses until at least January 11.

According to La Presse, amid an uptick of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations, Legault is expected to impose a curfew to help contain the surging transmission of COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Toronto confirmed 837 new COVID-19 cases, 181 of which are in patients ages 20 to 29. The youngest person hospitalized today was 23, according to Dr. Eileen de Villa.

DH Toronto StaffDH Toronto Staff

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