Ontario Premier Doug Ford is signaling an easing of COVID-19 restrictions as public health officials say infection and hospitalization cases are expected to peak by end of January. “We’ll have some positive news. I believe we’re going to make some announcements later this week about going back to other levels of restrictions,” Ford said Tuesday in an interview with the Ottawa-based radio station CFRA. Ford’s comment came days after Ontario’s chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore said he “couldn’t guarantee” the province will lift the COVID-19 restrictions on Jan. 26 as previously scheduled. While Ford did not provide specific details of the reopening plan during the interview, Moore also seems to have become more optimistic as growth in infection cases slowed. “I’m starting to have much more hope,” Moore said on Jan. 17, during CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll. On Jan. 3, Ontario returned to a modified “step two” of …