Ontario projects up to 1,000 new daily COVID-19 cases by October, but no word yet on lockdowns
Province reported 625 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday
As Ontario health officials project some 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in the first half of October, Premier Doug Ford still won't say at what point the province could see rollbacks to Stage 2 of its reopening plan.
"We aren't rolling back today. I'm not saying that's not going to happen, but today that's not a conversation that's going to happen in cabinet," Ford told reporters at a news conference just hours after the provincial government released the stark new forecasting on Wednesday.
The premier, along with Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams, insisted that while the province reached a record-setting new daily case count this week, it would not emulate the widespread lockdowns seen during earlier phases of the pandemic.
"It's a different time," Williams said, indicating the province would go after "target" areas as opposed to moving in "broad strokes," adding for example, that Ontario intends to keep its schools open.