Скачать или смотреть Coronavirus outbreak: Toronto mayor calls again for federal support for cities amid COVID-19 | FULL

On Friday, Toronto Mayor John Tory once again called on the federal government to address the financial pressure cities around the country are facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that the city of Toronto is facing $1.5 to $2.8 billion of financial pressure this year alone due to a combination of the cost of funding of daily on-ground response to the pandemic and the loss of revenue from city services such as the massive decline in Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) ridership due to the ongoing restrictions and lockdowns.

Tory said the city can't and will not stop services nor will it raise taxes on residents to cover the costs, adding that it will take a 47 per cent hike in property taxes to cover the pandemic costs "which is not fair and not practical."

He also laid out what a cost containment plan for the city would look like. He said the city would have to cut public transit services by half due to the implementation of a $575 million reduction to the TTC, $73.6 million reduction in the wheel trans service, $31.3 million budget cut in Toronto Police services, more than a $23 million reduction in Toronto Fire services cut, among other budget cuts for city services.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health reported a total of 9,615 COVID-19 cases in Toronto and said there has been a rise in the number of cases, pointing out that any reported cases go back to two weeks or more and calling for people to try not to publicly gather as much as possible as restrictions are being eased.

Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said that the city will be closing some streets again this weekend to assist pedestrians with physical distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. The closures are a part of the ActiveTO program, aimed at allowing people who are walking, running, and cycling to get around the city while still having enough space between each other.

Ontario reported 441 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, the highest case number reported this week, bringing the provincial total to 24,628 cases. The death toll has risen to 2,021 as 28 more deaths were reported.

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