Ontario cabinet to debate imposing additional COVID-19 restrictions as cases hit new high

TORONTO – Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet is meeting Thursday to discuss new restrictions necessary to deal with the alarming rise in COVID-19 variant cases that are putting immense pressure on hospitals.

Solicitor General Sylvia Jones would not say what measures the cabinet would consider or if a curfew – similar to the one enforced in Montreal – would be among them.

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“Premier Ford has said from the very beginning of this pandemic, that all options are on the table,” Jones said. “And that continues to be our philosophy as a cabinet and a caucus.”

Jones, however, acknowledged the challenges a curfew would present in Ontario, pointing to the anti-curfew protests in Quebec.

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“I think the Montreal riots speak to the challenge of both enforcing, and people’s willingness to do a curfew,” she said.

The cabinet meeting comes as Ontario reported a record 4,736 new cases of COVID-19 today and 29 more deaths linked to the virus.