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The latest novel coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Wednesday (this file will be updated throughout the day). Web links to longer stories if available.
5:41 p.m. Ontario’s regional health units are now reporting more than 25,000 COVID-19 cases following a second consecutive day of case totals that suggest a recent declining trend may be reversing, according to the Star’s latest count.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the health units had reported a total of 25,364 confirmed and probable cases, including 2,065 deaths.
The total of 435 new confirmed and probable cases reported since the same time Tuesday evening was down more than 100 from the previous day’s total, but still up considerably from recent averages.
The number of new cases reported each day had been on a downward trend since hitting a peak of more than 700 in late April. However, the trend in the daily average has begun to rise again after flattening out to an average of about 360 cases per day last week.
The jump in cases reported Wednesday also included a large increase of 263 new cases in Toronto, the second consecutive day the city hit that total. Combined, the 526 cases reported in Toronto since Monday evening were the most in any 48-hour period since mid-April.
Meanwhile, the 47 fatalities reported in the province since Tuesday evening were also well above recent trends. Nevertheless, the death rate has fallen considerably since peaking at more than 90 deaths in a day earlier this month, about two weeks after the peak in the daily case totals.
Earlier Wednesday, the province once again reported the testing labs had completed far fewer tests than its target of 16,000 a day. In its daily data release, the province said the labs had completed just 7,382 tests the previous day, the second in a row after the long weekend to see very few tests completed.
Because many health units publish tallies to their websites before reporting to Public Health Ontario, the Star’s count is more current than the data the province puts out each morning.
The province also reported 991 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 160 in intensive care, of whom 120 are on a ventilator. The province also says more than 18,000 patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus have now recovered from the disease.
The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of total deaths — 1,962 — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, data reported by the health units should be considered the most up to date.
The Star’s count includes some patients reported as “probable” COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive result from a lab test.
5:36 p.m. The online mental health organization #SickNotWeak will host a “virtual kitchen party” this Saturday in support of the residents of Nova Scotia following the mass shooting there last month and the crash of an RCAF Snowbird that claimed the life of Capt. Jennifer Casey.
The event will be hosted by the organization’s founder, media personality Michael Landsberg, and will feature guests including Premier Stephen McNeil, former Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, Sportsnet’s Arash Madani and actor Jonathan Torrens.
It’s scheduled to start at 7 p.m. AT on the #SickNotWeak website, as well as on the group’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
“While 2020 has pretty much sucked for everyone, it’s been particularly hard on folks in Nova Scotia,” Landsberg said.
“The last thing people need right now is some preachy, clinical mental health discussion,” he added. “#SickNotWeak doesn’t do that. We’re here to help people feel connected and supported.”
“People around here need a great big virtual hug,” said Quinn McCarthy of the Bible Hill Kinsmen, who are sponsoring the party.
5:29 p.m. An independent grocery store and garden centre on Christie St. says it has closed for cleaning after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
Fiesta Farms says its store at 200 Christie St. underwent deep cleaning on Wednesday, the same day its management learned the employee had tested positive. The last time the infected employee came to work was on May 16, the business wrote on its website.
Reopening will be postponed until the weekend so that all the store’s employees have a chance to get tested.
“Thanks for your support and understanding. We’ve met every phase of this pandemic head-on and we’re not stopping now,” said a message on the store’s website.
3:58 p.m. Soccer fields, baseball diamonds, basketball courts and skateboard parks are among city of Toronto amenities being reopened, with limits, as COVID-19 restrictions ease.
A total of 850 amenities ordered closed in March will open by the end of the weekend, the city said in a news release.
Restrictions including no team sport play, including on baseball diamonds and basketball courts, unless everyone is from the same household.
Park amenities remaining closed include playgrounds, outdoor exercise equipment, swimming pools and the Toronto Islands.
3:02 p.m. The city of Toronto will expand its ActiveTO road closures this weekend to provide residents with more space to physically distance while outdoors.
The program was launched two weeks ago and is intended to take advantage of the sharp drop in car traffic to allow residents to get outside while practising physical distancing.
The following major road closures will take place this weekend:
- Lake Shore Blvd. W. (eastbound lanes only) from Windemere Ave. to Stadium Rd. The eastbound Gardiner Expressway off-ramp to Lake Shore Blvd. W. (exit #146) will also be closed.
- Lake Shore Blvd. E. (eastbound lanes only) from Coxwell Ave. to just south of Woodbine Ave. (Kew Beach Avenue).
- Bayview Ave. from Mill St. to Rosedale Valley Rd., and River St. from Gerrard St. E. to Bayview Ave.
The initiative creates 57 kilometres of “quiet streets” by closing some to non-essential traffic.
Since the rollout, the program has received mixed responses from the residents of the city – while some are happy about the emptier streets, others were irritated and complained to the city.
Motorists are being asked to plan alternate routes.
2:42 p.m.: New Brunswick has now gone two weeks without any new cases of COVID-19.
The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says all 120 cases in the province have recovered, and there have been no deaths.
She says the province’s position has made it the envy of Canada and much of the world.
Russell says it’s important to continue to follow public health guidelines because there will be a second wave of infections, and no one knows when it will happen.
Meanwhile, Premier Blaine Higgs says essential workers have stepped up since the pandemic began, and deserve a wage top-up.
Higgs says many front-line staff who make less than $18 per hour will receive a monthly top-up of $500 for 16 weeks.
2:24 pm.: Quebec says limited outdoor gatherings will be permitted starting Friday as the province continues to record a downward trend of new COVID-19 cases.
Deputy premier and Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault also announced today that dentist offices across the province — and hair salons outside the Montreal and Joliette regions — can reopen on June 1.
Guilbault says Quebecers will be allowed to host outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, from a maximum of three families, as long as they keep a two-metre distance from one another.
She says the province recorded 71 new deaths from COVID-19, for a total of 3,718, and the number of total cases increased by 578 to 44,775.
Provincial parks began to partially reopen today, which triggered blockades from members of the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, who are preventing access to Oka provincial park, located north of Montreal.
Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon says many trails in the park lead directly to his community, and his members are worried about visitors bringing in the virus.
2:05 p.m.: Provinces across the country are starting to lift their restrictions and this is how some of the hardest hit ones are faring. The Star has compiled eight charts to show you what’s happening with COVID-19 cases and testing across Canada.
1:30 p.m.: Ontario is now working with the business community on wider testing for COVID-19 after facing repeated criticism from scientists for not having a regime in place as more people return to work.
Health Minister Christine Elliott did not say when a plan would be in place but epidemiologists and opposition parties have been urging broader surveillance of COVID-19 as the province allows people with minor symptoms to get tested at assessment centres in addition to testing at retirement homes, group homes, shelters and other congregate living situations.
The Star’s Rob Ferguson has the story.
1:10 p.m. (updated): Canada’s public health experts are now fully recommending Canadians wear non-medical face masks in public when they aren’t sure they will be able to keep their distance from others.
Dr. Theresa Tam said the new recommendation comes as stay-at-home orders are lifting in different provinces and more people are going outside, riding public transit, or visiting stores.
“This will help us reopen and add another layer to how you go out safely,” Tam said Wednesday in her daily briefing to Canadians on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ontario government is also recommending wearing a mask in public where physical distancing is not possible. It is also recommending that passengers use a mask on public transit.
She said a full explanation of the new recommendation by the national special advisory committee on COVID-19 will be published later Wednesday.
The advice is slightly stronger than the suggestions over the last couple of weeks that people should consider wearing a face mask in public. It is a complete turnaround from her advice seven weeks ago that people who are not sick should not be wearing a face mask at all.
Tam said initially it was believed the novel coronavirus was only spreading from people showing symptoms. That understanding has changed, as it is now known people can transmit the virus days before symptoms show up. Some patients may never show symptoms at all and can still spread the virus to others.
She said in future respiratory outbreaks, wearing face masks might become a normal part of the public health response. She did not suggest she regrets recommending against using face masks earlier. She said the tried-and-true public health measures of testing, contact tracing, handwashing and physical distancing have worked to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Canada.
She stressed that a face mask is not to replace other measures like physical distancing, handwashing and staying out of public places when you can. And she said people should see it as a way to protect other people, noting when two people are both wearing masks, they are both protecting the other.
Read the story from the Star’s Robert Benzie and Rob Ferguson.
Earlier this month, the Star’s Laura Armstrong looked at what’s the best mask, and what’s the best way to use it.
1 p.m.: Ontario Premier Doug Ford is addressing reporters at his daily briefing. A livestream of his news conference will be available at thestar.com
12:50 p.m.: Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting no new positive cases of COVID-19, marking nearly two weeks without a new case.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says 253 people have now recovered from the virus out of 260 confirmed cases.
Three people are in the hospital including one in intensive care. Three people have died from the illness in Newfoundland and Labrador.
More than 10,000 have been tested.
12:35 p.m.: With the City of Toronto’s decision to cancel permits for all concerts and other large gatherings this summer, organizers of the annual Beaches International Jazz Festival said it will now be a virtual event.
“The free 32nd Annual Virtual Beaches International Jazz Festival will bring musicians and fans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic together for an innovative virtual live music experience to help sustain and connect the local/global music community during this trying and unprecedented time,” said a news release by the organization.
The festival will be online July 17-26 in support of the Michael Garron Hospital front line workers.
The festival will also have free virtual workshops, master classes and interactive sessions with artists and industry leaders.
12:30 p.m.: Downsview Long Term Care Centre is reporting that 46 residents have now died from COVID-19, according to a news release by GEM Health Care Group which runs the facility.
As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, a total of 104 residents and 100 employees at the facility have tested positive for COVID-19. Six of those residents are still in hospital.
“We offer our deepest sympathies to the residents’ families and friends,” the operator of the North York nursing home said in a news release.
12:20 p.m.: The use of non-medical masks is being recommended when physical distancing is difficult, Canadian health officials said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has started wearing a mask when he is out of his home and can’t be two metres away from others at all times.
He wore one today when he arrived at the House of Commons for an in-person sitting but said he would take it off once he gets to his desk in the chamber and is at least two metres away from any other MPs.
Canadian health officials once recommended against the wearing of face masks but adjusted that advice in early April when it became clear COVID-19 can be spread by people who aren’t showing symptoms.
The officials say wearing a non-medical mask mainly helps protect others from you if you are carrying the virus.
Earlier this month, the Star’s Laura Armstrong looked at what’s the best mask, and what’s the best way to use it.
12 p.m.: As COVID-19 tests processed remained well below the lab capacity of 20,000 again (it was 7,382 on Tuesday), Health Minister Christine Elliott is urging anyone in Ontario with symptoms to go to an assessment centre as she faces questions about strategy going forward.
11:50 a.m.: Health authorities in Nova Scotia are reporting one new death linked to COVID-19 and one newly confirmed case of the viral infection.
The latest fatality was reported at the Northwood long-term-care facility in Halifax, which is the scene of the province’s worst outbreak.
A total of 57 people in Nova Scotia have died from COVID-19 — 51 of them at Northwood.
As of Wednesday, Nova Scotia had 1,045 confirmed cases of the infectious illness, though 956 people have recovered.
11:30 a.m.: Ontario’s regional health units are reporting another 477 COVID-19 cases and 14 new deaths since Tuesday morning as testing levels remain well below provincial targets, according to the Star’s latest count.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the health units were reporting a total of 24,962 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, including 2,019 deaths.
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The rate of new cases reported each day has fallen since hitting a peak of more than 700 cases in a day in late April. However, the trend in the daily average had largely flattened out to about 360 cases reported daily over the last 10 days, and Wednesday’s total was up from even that.
The significant jump in cases reported over the last 24 hours also included a large increase of 263 new cases reported Tuesday afternoon in Toronto, the city’s largest jump in nearly a month.
Earlier Wednesday, the province once again reported the testing labs had completed far fewer tests than its target of 16,000 a day. In its morning data release, the province said the labs had completed just 7,382 tests the previous day, the second in a row after the long weekend to see very few tests completed.
Meanwhile, the total of just 14 deaths reported in the province since Tuesday morning was well below the recent average, a sign the rate of new fatal cases in the province has turned a corner after peaking a more than 90 deaths in a day earlier this month, about two weeks after the peak in the daily case totals.
Because many health units publish tallies to their websites before reporting to Public Health Ontario, the Star’s count is more current than the data the province puts out each morning.
The province also reported 991 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 160 in intensive care, of whom 120 are on a ventilator — numbers that have fluctuated up and down in recent weeks. The province also says more than 18,000 patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus have now recovered from the disease — about three-quarters of the total infected.
The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of total deaths — 1,962 — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, “data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date.”
The Star’s count includes some patients reported as “probable” COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.
11 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be addressing reporters at his daily briefing. A livestream of his news conference will be available at thestar.com
10:45 a.m.: Families of a Pickering long-term-care home’s residents — some of whom died during the COVID-19 outbreak — are calling for a criminal investigation into the care their loved ones received at the facility.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Durham Regional Police Chief Paul Martin, the 41 families say what occurred at Orchard Villa is “completely out of proportion to what has occurred in other facilities in this province.”
Seventy residents at the 233-bed facility have died of COVID-19, the most deaths recorded at any long-term-care home in Ontario. Another 200 residents and 99 staff members have tested positive for the virus.
Read the Star’s exclusive story here.
10:24 a.m.: What’s happening to Canada’s economy during this pandemic? Toronto Star economics columnist Heather Scoffield is answering reader questions right now until 11 a.m. Join in on our conversation here.
10:15 a.m.: As Ottawa gears up to bring further commercial rent relief to small- and mid-sized businesses, Premier Doug Ford is warning “greedy landlords” to be reasonable to tenants.
“I’m trying to be fair, but don’t push me,” Ford said on the eve of Wednesday’s expected announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to help companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more from the Star’s Robert Benzie.
9:15 a.m.: Oprah Winfrey is giving grants to the cities she’s called home through her $12 million coronavirus relief fund.
She announced Wednesday that her Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation will donate money to organizations dedicated to helping underserved communities in Chicago; Baltimore; Nashville, Tennessee; Milwaukee; and Kosciusko, Mississippi, where she was born.
8:37 a.m. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. will have a “test, track and trace” system for the coronavirus in place by June 1.
Johnson told lawmakers in Parliament the government was making “fast progress.” He says there will be 25,000 trackers in place by June 1 who will can trace the contacts of 10,000 new cases a day. The current level is 2,400 daily cases.
Keir Starmer, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, criticized Johnson and his government for not having an effective track and trace system in place nearly 10 weeks into the coronavirus crisis. He says that has been a “huge hole” in the country’s defence against the coronavirus.
8:34 a.m. Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate turned negative in April as the economy came to a standstill in the first full month of the pandemic.
The agency reports the consumer price index for April fell 0.2 per cent compared with a year ago as energy prices plunged.
It was the first year-over-year decline in the CPI since September 2009.
The reading compared with a year-over-year increase of 0.9 per cent in March when the pandemic began.
Economists on average expected a reading of -0.1 per cent for April, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
7:45 a.m. Global stock markets were subdued Wednesday as investors weighed hopes for a recovery as economies gradually reopen against worries over the havoc wreaked by the pandemic.
Experts also raised doubts over a potential vaccine being developed by Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc. that on Tuesday had driven Wall Street’s biggest rally in more than five weeks. Scientists noted that data from early clinical trials of the vaccine were too limited to yield any conclusive results.
“Doubts cast over the Moderna vaccine trial results knock out one leg from under the market rally,” Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group said in a commentary. “Investors are trying to bake in a scenario where economies reopen and a vaccine is available in time to prevent a second wave. But there are still many unknowns.”
7:28 a.m. Spain’s prime minister is appearing before parliament on Wednesday to ask for its endorsement to extend the state of emergency that his government has used to rein in the country’s coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 27,000 people.
It would be the fifth two-week extension to the state of emergency, which is currently set to expire on Sunday. The government wants to extend it until June 7.
“The path we are on is the only one that can possibly beat the virus,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told a chamber with only a handful of members to limit contagion risks. “Thanks to all the parliament members who have supported the state of emergency because with their vote they have saved thousands of lives.”
Since the start of the national lockdown on March 14, Spain has lowered a rampant COVID-19 virus contagion rate that was well over 20% to under 1% over the past week. More than 230,000 infections have been confirmed by laboratory tests in Spain.
7:20 a.m. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed on tougher standards for the domestic meat industry after coronavirus hot spots at slaughterhouses prompted reports of inadequate working and hygiene standards.
From the beginning of next year, meat packers will no longer be able to subcontract workers and will face stiffer fines for violating labour laws, the government announced on Wednesday. They will also face more frequent inspections by authorities.
“Better worker protection is urgently needed in the meat industry,” Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said after the cabinet decision. “This is no longer about individual cases; there are structural problems we need to address,” said Heil, a member of the Social Democratic party.
Among the industry shortcomings raised by Heil are overcrowded and overpriced living quarters for workers, violations of coronavirus regulations and of minimum-wage legislation.
Germany is coming down on the meat-packing sector amid concerns that looser restrictions on public life could spark a renewed spike in coronavirus infections, prolonging the crisis.
5:44 a.m.: Police in the Philippines raided an illegal hospital and drugstore that were secretly treating Chinese citizens suspected of being infected with the coronavirus, police officials said Wednesday.
Two people were arrested and one patient was found during Tuesday’s raid at the residential villa that had been illegally turned into a seven-bed hospital and drugstore, police Brig. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento said.
4:16 a.m.: The federal government is beefing up efforts to persuade businesses to rehire workers now that Canada’s economy is starting to emerge from the COVID-19 lockdown.
It is expected today to unveil more details of its promised loan program for large corporations and commercial rent relief for small- and mid-sized businesses.
That includes more information on how businesses can apply for the programs and what conditions will apply.
Today’s focus follows last week’s extension of the 75 per cent wage subsidy for three months, to the end of August, and Tuesday’s announcement that the government is expanding the eligibility criteria for its small business loan program.
The latter program provides interest-free loans of $40,000 for eligible small businesses to cover costs like rent and utilities, with the possibility of forgiving one-quarter of the amount if it is paid off by the end of 2022.
Tuesday’s fix extended the program to companies that don’t have traditional payrolls, such as family-run businesses that pay themselves in dividends and companies that employ only contractors.
4:10 a.m.: As provinces take their cautious first steps to allow people back into local businesses, a new poll suggests most Canadians don’t think province-wide measures are the best way to reopen the economy.
The latest poll on the COVID-19 pandemic by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies suggests only 35 per cent of people thought restrictions should be loosened for entire provinces.
In contrast, 47 per cent thought those decisions should apply to specific regions within each province. Just 18 per cent said reopening measures should apply to all of Canada at once.
Still, just over half of those polled said they trust provinces to make the call about what businesses should reopen and when, whereas about one-third said that should be up to Ottawa and 14 per cent said local governments should decide.
3:55 a.m.: A Canadian pastor charged in Myanmar with violating a ban on large gatherings made his first court appearance after being released from a quarantine reportedly because he had contracted COVID-19.
David Lah was charged in mid-April and faces possible punishment of up to three years in prison, a fine, or both. The law was invoked in mid-March to combat the spread of the coronavirus, and the charge involves a religion gathering Lah held on April 7 in Yangon.
The judge at Wednesday’s hearing ordered Lah’s detention for 15 days pending a possible trial while police continue their investigations. Lah made no public comment.
The evidence against Lah comes from videos he posted online of his own sermons. One video purportedly showed him making false claims that Christians were immune from contracting the coronavirus. Another clip that caused outrage in the predominantly Buddhist country had him saying that the teachings of Buddhist monks are responsible for making people “sinful.”
Tuesday 8 p.m.: Another resident has died at Hawthorne Place Care Centre in North York, the home said Tuesday.
The COVID-19 outbreak at the home has killed 39 so far.
Ninety-six residents and 103 staff at the home tested positive for the virus. Many remain at home in self-isolation, and 21 have since returned to work.
A team of military personnel has been assisting at the nursing home since late April.
“Hawthorne Place engages with Public Health on a daily basis and we continue to follow all isolation, screening, and enhanced cleaning protocols as directed by local and provincial health authorities,” said Gale Coburn, executive director of the home.
Tuesday 5:55 p.m. Day camps in Ontario will be permitted to open for July and August, the premier’s office announced Tuesday, but overnight camps will not be permitted to operate.
The opening of day camps will depend on whether COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to decline. Camps will be required to follow “strict health and safety” guidelines with oversight from local public health departments and the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, a statement from the premier’s office said.
The statement said day camps would be allowed to operate in order to support parents, who learned Tuesday that schools would not reopen until the fall.
“Our plan will ensure students receive the best educational experience, both inside and outside the classroom, during this difficult time. That is why we are strengthening summer learning opportunities, reopening summer day camps, and it is why we will continue to make the case for synchronous, live, and dynamic learning,” said Education Minister Stephen Lecce.
The province will also launch an optional summer learning program for students who want to continue studying remotely.
