Tory welcomes Stage 3 reopening but only with extra precautions, vigilance by Torontonians

Mayor John Tory is welcoming Toronto’s move to Stage 3 reopening but he’s warning he won’t hesitate to ask that the provincial decision be reversed if Torontonians act reckless with newfound freedoms and risk a COVID-19 resurgence.

Tory also said Wednesday, while awaiting word from Premier Doug Ford’s government on which extra city-suggested precautions will be approved provincially, that Toronto is ready with its own rules to fill any Stage 3 gaps.

Tory spoke to reporters shortly after the Ontario government revealed Toronto and Peel will move to Stage 3 on Friday, while Windsor-Essex will become the only part of Ontario still in Stage 2.

Stage 3 includes bars and indoor dining allowed to resume, and fitness clubs and theatres allowed to reopen with capacity limits and other anti-virus precautions. Playgrounds will also reopen with precautionary advice for parents.

The news release said some of Tory’s recommended extra measures mostly aimed at bars have been accepted, but did not say which. Tory’s list, sent recently to Ford, included mandatory face mask use when eating or drinking, and people being forced to stay in their seats unless coming or going.

“The hard work really begins now,” Tory told reporters.

Toronto only had one new COVID-19 case in its report Tuesday but infection rates outside the GTA, now well into Stage 3, have started to creep back up.

Torontonians must not relax anti-virus efforts, the mayor said: “COVID-19 doesn’t go away just because we’re in Stage 3.”

In a statement he added: “Toronto is making real progress in our recovery and rebuild . . . We need these additional public health measures to keep Toronto moving forward as we continue to fight COVID-19.”

In a report to city council Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, recommended the following extra precautions:

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Asked on CP24 on Wednesday morning what could cause Toronto to move from Stage 3 back to Stage 2 reopening, Tory issued a warning.

“A widespread kind of frat party response to this, and everybody suddenly having these big mass backyard parties and the beaches are kind of worse than they have been, that would be something that would cause me to pick up the telephone and call the premier and say ‘Look, I’m just not sure this working, I’m not sure people are ready for this because the work is really beginning when we enter Stage 3, not ending, we’ve got to stay where we are.’ ”

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider