Ford open to closing borders to visitors during pandemic, not to commerce

• UPDATE: Hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford made these comments, the federal government announced it would close the border to visitors to Canada who are not citizens or permanent residents. Immediate family members of Canadian citizens, diplomats, U.S. citizens and air crew members will be exempted from the entry ban.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is open to closing Canada's borders to visitors amidthe current COVID-19 pandemic, but stressed that commerce cannot be blocked.

"I'd be open to closing the border to visitors, but not to trade and commerce," Ford said during a Monday morning news conference.

"We have to keep the supply chain going."

Ford also said he has not been having conversations with other leadersabout restrictinginter-provincial movement.

"That hasn't come up right now," he said.

In a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canadian government is closing the border to foreign nationals, thoughAmerican citizens are exempt from the entry ban.

"At the moment, the measure does not apply to U.S. citizens," Trudeau said. "We will have more work to do in the coming days to ensure we're doing everything we need to do to keep Canadians safe and to ensure the flow of goods and necessary equipment to Canadians."

On Monday morning, Ford threw his support behind the work of Deputy Prime MinisterChrystia FreelandandTrudeau.

"He's showing good leadership," he said of the prime minister.

Provincial health officials saidon Monday morning that there are 177cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, which isa jump of 32 cases from yesterday afternoon's official tally. All but nine of those are in the GTA. Five of them have been resolved.

Asked about the possibility of shutting down non-essential businesses, Ford said that "everything's on the table" but that for now they are heeding the advice of the province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams.

Meanwhile, more businesses are voluntarily reducing their hours or outright closing, and stock markets in Toronto and New Yorkplunged when they opened on Mondaymorning.