Top COVID-19 stories and news
- In Toronto, many small businesses can’t afford to wait for government relief
- Green Beanery shuts down permanently
- Deaths shine a light on precarious work in long-term care homes
- The pandemic is financially blindsiding millennials
- Strike ups pressure on TTC to protect drivers
Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus
5:48 pm Air Canada suspends flights to the United States
Air Canada has announced the temporary suspension of trans-border flights to the United States, effectively April 26.
The airline said the move comes in response to the Canadian and American governments agreeing to extend border restrictions for another 30 days, effective today. Air Canada plans to resume service to the U.S. on May 22 pending further government restrictions.
For passengers scheduled to fly during this period, Air Canada is waiving fees and allowing them to reschedule with no additional fee.
The company reduce its flight schedule by more than 90 per cent in response to the coronavirus pandemic. After Canada and the U.S. announced border restrictions on March 21, the company reduced its service to 11 U.S. destinations from three Canadian hubs to repatriate Canadians stuck abroad.
The last scheduled commercial flight from the U.S. to Canada will be on April 26.
5:40 pm Toronto will experience a second wave of COVID-19: de Villa
As of 12:30 pm today, there are 3,820 cases of COVID-19 in Toronto, including 3,462 confirmed cases and 358 probable cases, the city’s medical officer of health Eileen de Villa said today. There are 281 cases hospitalized, with 109 in intensive care. There have been 190 death – an increase of 9 since the previous day’s report.
De Villa also shared several charts based on modelling data for Toronto. She concluded taht the trajectory for cases of COVID-19 is lower for Toronto, Ontario and Canada than in other places, namely Spain and the United States, which have been hit hard by the virus.
“We believe the number of cases is lower than originally forecasted for Toronto, Ontario and Canada due to the public health measures put in place early in the outbreak and that residents took the measures seriously,” de Villa said, echoing provincial public health officials who presented Ontario-wide numbers yesterday. “We believe we are now in the peak period of the epidemiological curve of our community outbreak.”
She added that the modelling numbers are cause for “cautious optimism” because Toronto’s health-care system is not overburdened at the moment. However, she said the state of the health-care system will be a key indicator in guiding public health around when and how to ease physical distancing measures.
Toronto will also experience a second wave of the virus, she added.
“We know that we will likely experience another COVID-19 wave because we have yet to reach a high level of immunity in our community,” de Villa explained. “We will continue to see COVID-19 spreading in our community until we start to experience herd immunity. This will not happen until many people are infected with COVID-19 and recover and they build immunity that lasts, or we develop a vaccine.”
A treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is several months if not more than a year away.
3:47 pm Paramedics are now using TTC buses to transport patients
Toronto’s Paramedic Services are using five decommissioned TTC buses to transport ambulatory and stretcher-bound patients, including those on ventilators, the city said in a statement on Tuesday.
The buses, which have been modified, can transport three stretcher-bound patients, eight to 10 ambulatory patients plus three paramedics and one driver. The idea is to give paramedics extra capacity when responding to cases in congregate settings, such as homeless shelters.
“These vehicles provide a variety of multi-patient options, including inter-facility patient transfers, the provision of a staging area for large incidents, and shelter for facility evacuations,” the city said, adding that the buses add “surge capacity” to the paramedic services during the coronavirus pandemic.
The buses will be driven by TTC drivers while paramedics attend to patients.
2:27 pm TTC blocks off seats to encourage physical distancing
The TTC has begun blocking off seats with signage on buses, streetcars and subways so that passengers can practice physical distancing.
“You may notice caution tape placed over seats, more formal seat coverings and notices will be installed over the coming days,” the transit agency said in a statement.
1:55 pm Ontario spends $11 million on meal deliveries, Ford grilled on reopening plans
At today’s Queen’s Park press briefing, Ontario premier Doug Ford announced an $11-million fund to support seniors and persons with disabilities. The money will go toward community organizations that deliver meals, medicine and other essentials.
However, much of the questioning again focused on the government’s plan to reopen the economy in phases. Ford said the plan is still being worked out and that Ontario is weeks away from easing physical distancing measures.
“People are going to have to hang in there. I’m getting lobbied hard by so many groups and organizations,” Ford said. “It’s easy to say open, open, open until we get a second wave of this and it bites us on the backside.”
Ford added he’ll share details of the plan over the next few days. Initially, Ontarians can expect that “certain areas where you don’t have to worry about working side-by-side on a line” will be the first to return to work.
“Maybe outdoor activities,” he added. “In some cases, [we have to] make sure there’s proper PPE for people going back to work.”
Ford said he has recently spoken with British Columbia premier John Horgan and noted that province is further along in its COVID-19 timeline than Ontario by “about three weeks.”
The premier said Ontario’s plan will involve setting benchmarks and balancing the need to restart the economy with the fact that deaths will continue, particularly in long-term care homes.
“Even when we open up – when we start opening the tap up in a trickle – sadly and unfortunately people will still be dying,” Ford said. “We’re seeing a tremendous death toll every single day. I can’t even comprehend all these families every day – 30, 40, 50 people passing away.
“That weighs on you, believe me. You’re trying to do a balancing act,” he added.
1:13 pm Toronto will livestream the High Park cherry blossoms this year
Toronto is going to livestream the cherry blossoms in High Park this year, city spokesperson Brad Ross tells NOW.
Speaking in the latest episode of our NOW What podcast, Ross says residents hoping to catch peak bloom will be able to do so online.
“We are going to have a virtual experience form high park – a live streaming of the cherry blossoms,” he told host Norman Wilner. “It won’t be quite the same – we get that – but nothing’s been quite the same since five weeks ago. The cherry blossoms will be there but High park will be closed off to public access.”
He urged residents not to go to High Park, Trinity Bellwoods Park, Centennial Park or any parks with cherry blossoms. The website tracking blooms has been suspended due to the pandemic.
Details of the livestream will be announced this week.
Read more here.
11:57 am Wage subsidy applications open on April 27
Companies can start applying for the emergency wage subsidy on Monday, April 27, prime minister Justin Trudeau said today.
The wage subsidy gives eligible employers up to $847 per week per employee and is intended to encourage employers to keep workers on the payroll during the pandemic.
Trudeau said the government is launching a calculator on the Canada Revenue Agency website later today that employers can use to determine how much they can claim. Treasure Board president Jean-Yves Duclos will outline specifics later today.
11:45 am Canada sets up $350-million emergency fund for community groups
The federal government is setting up an $350-million “emergency fund for community support” to help non-profits and community organizations weather the pandemic, prime minister Justin Trudeau said today.
Part of the funding will “go directly to small independent organizations,” Trudeau said, and the rest will be distributed via national organizations such as United Way and the Red Cross. The money could be used to train volunteers, increase deliveries at home for seniors or provide transportation for people with a disability to appointments, the prime minister added.
“We are giving more resources to charities and non-profits so they can adapt to the new realities and difficulties brought on by this pandemic,” he said.
10:50 am Ontario’s COVID-19 cases go up by 551
There are 11,735 cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, public health officials report. As of April 20, the province’s cases went up by 551 – or 4.9 per cent – since the previous day’s report.
The number of resolved cases is 5,806 and 622 people have died. That’s an increase of 38 deaths since the previous report and 24 of those deaths were in long-term care homes. Overall, 273 deaths in the province have been in long-term care homes.
There are now 121 outbreaks in long-term care settings, an increase of seven since the previous report.
There are 859 COVID-19 patients in hospital, with 250 in intensive care and 194 in intensive care on ventilators. In total, 11.9 per cent of cases in the province were hospitalized.
In terms of testing, 9,330 tests were carried out since the previous day. A total of 174,170 tests have been conducted since the outbreak began.
On Monday, provincial health officials said the province is seeing peak cases in the community but outbreaks in long-term care and congregate settings, such as homeless shelters, continue to be a serious problem.
9:45 am Willowdale Welcome Centre as 74 COVID-19 cases
There are 74 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Willowdale Welcome Centre, Toronto’s medical officer of health Eileen de Villa confirmed on Monday.
The 200-bed North York refugee shelter is among the 78 congregate and long-term care settings experiencing outbreaks.
Homes First Society, which runs the centre, said in a statement that mass testing of staff and clients took place on April 17 and 18 and test results are continuing to be delivered.
Staff who tested positive are self-isolating at home and Homes First and the city are working to relocate shelter clients “to appropriate locations as per physical isolation guidelines.”
“We continue to take the safety and health of our staff and clients very seriously,” Homes First said in the statement. “Staff from North York General Hospital have been asked to provide clinical supports on site, and we continue to implement measures and precautions such as personal protective equipment, enhanced infection protection and control measures and maintaining six feet distance between beds.”
De Villa said on Monday that while the virus is peaking in the wider community in Toronto, spread in shelters and care homes is still a serious problem. The latter setting is driving Toronto’s mortality rate, she added.
9 am Canada has over 36,000 cases of COVID-19
As of April 20, there are 36,831 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 1,690 people have died.
The outbreak is a serious public health threat though most people who contract the virus have not been hospitalized.
Symptoms include cough, fever, difficulty breathing and pneumonia in both lungs and may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure. People age 65 and over and people with compromised immune systems and/or underlying medical conditions have a higher risk of contracting a severe case.
@nowtoronto