By Zahraa Al-khalidi
The Ontario Government is considering extending the stay-at-home order but will begin to slowly reopen the economy in some areas as early as February 11th.
Premier Doug Ford met with his cabinet to discuss an announcement and what type of measures to be taken to control the spread of COVID-19. Ford’s cabinet also urged by public health officials to extend the stay-at-home order for at least one more week – until Feb. 16 for most province while pushing it an additional two weeks – until Feb. 22 – in Toronto, Peel Region and York.
I’ve spoken to local residents that are being affected by the pandemic that have many different opinions in terms of the latest update.
“I’m happy about the government deciding to reopen the economy slowly. I just hope that the plan they have for reopening the economy isn’t going to be like the first time and that in a few months from now we are going to have to go back into a lockdown right before the summer.” Said Jenny Khoury who has been laid off from her full time serving job due to the pandemic is very optimistic. “I think we are all tired of being locked inside and we need a plan that is going to be progressive and that will help us finally be done with the coronavirus for good.”
As others feel the opposite.
I think the lockdowns are horrible. You can’t justify locking down a whole economy for the couple thousand people that are in the hospitals right now.” Said Jenna Cobb who has also lost her full time job due to the pandemic. “Thousands of people that lost their businesses, have lost their assets as a result and the people are suffering severely with mental health and abuse. To add to that, the people who are sick can’t even see their family members.
While essential workers like Gadir Hamed who manages a dispensary and Delon James who works at LCBO opinions differ
“As far as a being an essential worker at the LCBO and re-opening things, nothing really changed for us.” said James who has been working full time since the pandemic started “Personally, this lockdown is stressful, not being able to go out with friends, and family ya but to think about re-opening things this early? We aren’t ready yet and it would only drag on this pandemic and make things worse.”
“Although most of us like myself want things to reopen, I’m not sure that its safe to do so based on the numbers. Facilities set to reopen need to be given ample time to put strict protocols into a place to keep the staff and patrons visiting these facilities safe, unlike previous times where there were given a few days.” Said Hamed “ I would just urge anyone visiting these facilities re-opening to consider the health and safety of those workers before your own personal pleasure.
Frustrated Ontarians from all different backgrounds and jobs all agree on one thing. When will things change?
Premier Doug Ford met with his cabinet for an official announcement to made on Monday.
( I struggled with ending this article sir, not sure if I did it right at all due to only doing this via ENG videos )
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