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Mayor John Tory is urging Toronto residents not to rush to stores to buy non-essential items this weekend amid reports of large crowd scenes in malls and other retail stores.
“Everything I’ve learned … says crowd scenes are a place for the virus to spread. Even if everyone wears a mask in malls, it’s still a threat,” he said.
“Please stay home. People don’t have to go shopping. Some people do it for the essentials but not everyone has to do it today … I think most shopping isn’t essential.”
All non-essential retail stores will be forced to close Monday at 12:01 am as Toronto and the Peel region enter a 28-day lockdown, similar to the one implemented in the spring.
Roadside pick-up and drop-off will still be allowed in all retail stores.
Even the gyms will be forced to close again and restaurants will remain open only for takeout and delivery.
The formations were formed out of the department stores, including most Walmart locations in Toronto, Saturday with sighted customers who did stock up on toilet paper and other household items.
In anticipation of higher volumes of shoppers, some GTA malls have extended their opening hours this weekend.
Tory said while this weekend’s shopping frenzy could lead to further spread of the virus, the province is in a difficult position.
“You’re a little damned if you do, damned if you don’t, to be honest. If you had closed everything Friday at noon, or every time the premier made the announcement, then people would have said you didn’t give us warning, ”Tory said.
“This is a fair comment. There would be no warning. We gave some time, the premier did, to get people to prepare for it … There is no perfect answer. Everyone has done what they thought was the best in all circumstances. ”
The mayor said the response to the blockade was “mixed”.
“I think people in general are very supportive of what needs to be done and they understand that we are putting these restrictions in place and recommending them to the province based on expert advice,” he said.
“I think they also agree with the idea that if this will improve things over the course of several months and will prevent a much worse block for a much long period of time, and if we can keep the schools open now and protect our seniors, this is something that may be needed. “
He recognized that companies “aren’t happy” and understandably he is.
“They’ve been through a terrible, terrible time and are about to go through another 28 days of a terrible time at a time of year when things could have been a lot livelier because of Christmas, because of Black Friday,” he said. .
“But ultimately, you have to have healthy workers to have a healthy economy.”
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