TORONTO -- Ontario Premier Doug Ford has slammed the United States for their "reckless" approach to reopening as new cases in the country reach record highs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States recorded 40,588 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, bringing the country’s total to over 2.4 million.
Florida alone recorded nearly 9,000 new cases on Friday, sparking the southern state to ban alcohol consumption at bars.
"If we continue moving forward in a very cautious approach, we won't see the same events that are happening down south of the border in the U.S right now," Ford told reporters at Queen’s Park on Friday. "If I'm not mistaken, the other day they had 36,000 cases in the U.S in one day."
"We had 300 cases in all of Canada. I know they are 10-times the size, (but) even if we multiply that 300 by 10, that's 3,000 versus 36,000."
"What I'm saying is that that's the comparison, being cautious and everyone following the protocol …versus the reckless approach, in my opinion, south of the border, that goes hog-wild and don't worry about anything."
"Well, that's come back to bite them."
The sharp uptick in cases in the United States prompted Ford to reiterate on Thursday his support for keeping the Canada-U.S. border closed past July 21.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced earlier this month that an agreement with the United States will see the borders between the two countries remain closed to non-essential travellers until July 21.
It's the third time the border agreement has been extended after first being imposed in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"I just think we are opening it up too early if the decision is made on July 21," Ford said Thursday. "I just don’t think we’re ready for people south of the border."
"Believe me, I love the Americans, make no mistake about it, but not when their COVID cases are just spiking right now and I’m just not in favour. I got to protect the people of Ontario."
