TORONTO -- Mayor John Tory says that there is “every possibility” that some restrictions on public life could be lifted by the end of May but he says that residents must continue to be “disciplined” in their physical distancing efforts in order for that to become a reality.

On Monday the province released a framework for restarting the economy, which it said will begin once there is a "consistent" two-to-four-week decrease in the number of new COVID-19 cases as well as a decrease in the rate of cases that cannot be traced to a specific source.

The framework indicates that businesses and outdoor spaces will reopen in three stages and could begin with parks and "select workplaces" that can "immediately meet or modify operations" to adhere to public health directives. The resumption of some non-urgent and scheduled surgeries will also be part of the first stage of reopening.

Speaking with CP24 on Tuesday, Tory said that while there was no specific dates included with the framework the document does give him hope that some businesses might be able to reopen towards the end of May, given that the number of cases of COVID-19 being confirmed each day appear to now be on a downward trajectory.

Tory, however, said that residents have to “hang in there” a little longer, so we can be sure that once restrictions lifted there won’t be a “relapse” that forces the closure of some businesses again.

“It (the framework) said that if we have two to four weeks of steadily declining new cases and what not, then you can move to phase one of the reopening so as much as we don’t want to hear what it is saying that means two to four weeks more of real disciplined physical distancing, staying home and not doing the things that we want to do will get us to the stage where some businesses can start to reopen,” he said. “The worst that could happen is that we would reopen and then there would be some sort of relapse and we would be closed again. I think people would find that much worse than a couple more weeks where we hang in there, do what we gotta do and get it right.”

Tory said that the city will work “glove in hand” with the province on restarting the economy and will ensure that the dates and times that it chooses to lift or ease its own restrictions are “not much different” than Queen’s Park.

He said that conversations are also ongoing around how to reopen things like restaurants, which the provincial framework did not provide specific guidance on.

“Do every table or every second table, do you open them every day or every second day. These are all the questions none of which as of yet we do not have definite answers,” he said.