Toronto sets January date for city workers to return to the office, amid rising COVID-19 cases, Omicron uncertainty
Mayor John Tory issued a statement saying the city is moving into Phase 2 of the lockdown where only essential services and operations will continue to take place.
“The City will be following the instructions of the province with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic and that means only essential services and operations,” wrote Mayor Tory in the statement. “The City has made an appointment with our health authority to discuss the next phase of action in the next 48 hours.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory announced he will introduce an emergency plan for the city.
Toronto Mayor John Tory will introduce an emergency plan to take effect the morning of March 17, he said Thursday during a daily news conference at city hall.
Tory will be introducing an emergency plan, he announced, which will be in force for all but essential services and operations.
“It will be one that we will consider in consultation with municipal governments across the province, but the goal is to ensure that critical services are protected and continue to operate,” said Tory, who took the same position in the wake of a decision by the Ontario government last month to phase out its COVID-19 response.
The province of Ontario announced it will phase out its COVID-19 response and will no longer provide new funding over the next two months.
“The province made that decision in order to allow it to reassess and review its plan in the light of new information,” explained Tory. “Clearly it is an unprecedented situation and we all will have to learn how to adapt and prepare.”
Tory said he hopes to see cities like Toronto that have already enacted emergency orders to protect essential services that continue to operate.
“I hope that we can get to one where it is not only an essential service for the city, but that the services will be protected and continue to operate,” he said.
He also suggested that the city may also consider taking steps to suspend some services and operations, such as garbage collection, that are not “essential,” but that would be done after the city has done due diligence and taken into account the effect of the coronavirus on