john tory covid

John Tory tests positive for COVID-19 hours after public appearances

It seems that Toronto Mayor John Tory won't be doing much to celebrate Easter weekend this year, as he has just tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced on Thursday morning.

This is despite the fact that he's boosted, advocates vaccination and mask wearing, and appears to take appropriate precautions against the virus, which is infecting an estimated 100,000 people in Ontario per day lately, though this number is thought to be plateauing at this point.

The mayor is said to be feeling fine and isolating at home, and will be taking all of his meetings virtually for the time being.

He has, of course, used his illness as a chance to further push residents to get their third and even fourth doses of the vaccine if they are eligible to do so.

"I am thankful that I have been fully vaccinated and have the best protection possible against COVID-19. I know this also gives me the best chance at a quick recovery so I can be back to a busy in-person schedule as soon as possible," he said in a news release this morning.

"Right now, I feel fine and have extremely mild symptoms so far."

The politician has been subject to daily rapid tests as a part of his extremely hectic, public-facing position full of meetings and speaking engagements, and tested negative on Wednesday morning before his positive test today.

But, many are already expressing some concern over his latest public appearances, including at one of the city's schools on Wednesday.

Tory was also at a housing announcement and a ground breaking ceremony for a community and childcare centre in Scarborough yesterday, and also took part in a provincial announcement alongside Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott.

He later welcomed Ukrainian families to Toronto at City Hall in the evening, but appeared to be wearing a mask throughout his interactions with others.

Thankfully, only 1 per cent of the 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario — this number not taking into account the many more undocumented cases given the province's strict PCR testing parameters — have resulted in death, 0.7 per cent have led to an ICU admission and 3.7 per cent have required hospitalization in general.

So, Tory should be back on his feet in a few days' time, and will be free to stop quarantining in just five days, so long as he has no symptoms at that time.

Lead photo by

@JohnTory


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