Premier Ford considering overnight curfew in Ontario: ‘Let’s see where the numbers go’

Doug Ford said that he will sit down with Quebec’s premier to discuss the next steps when it comes to Ontario potentially enforcing an overnight curfew in its latest attempt to curve the spread of COVID-19.

Premier Francois Legault announced that a Quebec curfew will go into effect on Jan. 9 and will last for four weeks, until Feb. 8. Ford said he wants to see where COVID-19 cases go in the next little while before implementing something similar for the province.

“I am going to have a conversation with Premier [Francois] Legault later tonight,” Ontario’s premier said on Tuesday.

“I will have a good chat with him. I will speak to the health table… and we’ll be making that decision within the next few days.”

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The Quebec curfew will begin nightly at 8 p.m. and stay in effect until 5 a.m. each morning.

The logic behind these measures is that they further limit contact between people. While considered radical, a number of jurisdictions have put them in place including Australia, Paris, New York State, and Ohio.

Quebec is the first province in Canada to impose a curfew as a measure to slow the spread of COVID-19.

On Dec. 17, Ford was asked if his government would consider a curfew. The Premier said they were not, only adding that he will sit down with the health table for further discussion.

For a second day Premier Ford does not reject the idea of a possible curfew, says again that any additional measures will be discussed with the chief medical officer of health.

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) January 6, 2021

Ford said “we have to continue practicing social distancing” noting that he will consult with Ontario’s chief medical officer of health before coming to a verdict on the matter.

RELATED: Hospital CEO resigns from Ontario COVID-19 advisory table after holiday trip to Dominican Republic

In an interview with Roz and Mocha on Kiss 92.5, Mayor John Tory weighed in on the possibility of a curfew, reiterating what the premier has said in that they will listen to the health experts before making a decision.

“If the health people came to me and said that a curfew was really going to help and our number one task, which is to try and keep people from being in contact with each other, then that is something I wouldn’t rule out,” Tory said on Wednesday.

“I think Premier Ford has said the same thing. And the question really only is, is that going to be the most effective thing we can do?”

Tory said he believes that if people maintain the same discipline they showed in the spring and stay home, the case counts and number of deaths across the City and province will diminish.

Quebec is reporting 2,641 new cases of COVID-19 and 47 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including 13 that occurred in the past 24 hours.

Health officials said hospitalizations jumped by 76, to 1,393, and 202 people were in intensive care, a rise of eight.

Quebec shut down all non-essential businesses as of Christmas in the latest effort to fight the pandemic’s second wave and a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The shutdown went into effect on Dec. 25 and will remain in place until at least Jan. 11.

With files from 680 NEWS business editor Richard Southern