Top COVID-19 stories and news
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- Toronto Public Health to collect race-based data
- Toronto to livestream High Park cherry blossoms
- The pandemic is financially blindsiding millennials
- This map shows where face masks are needed around the world
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5:54 pm Toronto has 4,347 cases of COVID-19
At today’s city news conference, medical officer of health Eileen de Villa noted that it’s been one month since Toronto declared a state of emergency to curb the spread of COVID-19. At that time there were 304 cases of COVID-19, 14 people in hospital and one death.
Today, she said there are 4,347 cases, including 3,933 confirmed cases and 414 probable cases. There are 293 people in hospital, with 106 in intensive care. There’s been 222 deaths.
5:01 pm Doug Ford’s mother-in-law diagnosed with COVID-19
The premier became visibly emotional while discussing his mother-in-law during today’s press conference.
Ford’s government rolled out plans to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the hard-hit long-term care sector, including enhanced screening measures, making masks mandatory in high-risk settings, limiting staff mobility between homes and education and training.
When asked if the province is failing the long-term care home sector given more than 500 long-term care residents have died in the province, the premier seemed to fight back tears in his response.
“When I think of the long-term care my heart breaks for the people in the families. Can we do better in the system? Absolutely,” he said. “I relate to it in our own family with my wife Karla.”
“Our family is going through it, along with 70,000 other families that have a loved one in these homes and it’s very difficult,” he added.
Ford’s office later confirmed to media outlets that his 95-year-old mother-in-law, who resides in a care home, has tested positive for COVID-19.
1:20 pm Canada puts more than $1.1 billion into medical research strategy
The federal government is spending more than $1 billion to fund vaccine development and research, prime minister Justin Trudeau said today.
The national medical research strategy to fight COVID-19 will include vaccine development ($115 million), the production of treatments and clinical trials ($626 million) and tests to model the disease via an immunity task force.
The task force will coordinate blood tests to trace the virus to understand how to develop immunity from COVID-19. Trudeau said testing will be the most important component of the plan.
The government is conducting more than 20,000 tests per day and plans to increase that number, he added.
Trudeau also said the federal government has granted Ontario’s request to send Canadian Forces into long-term care homes to assist medical staff. He called the state of long-term care homes “unacceptable.”
“We are failing our parents, our grandparents, our elders,” Trudeau said. “We need to care for them properly.”
The PM said the government must take a “a long, hard look” at what led to the current state of long-term care homes.
12:15 am TTC to lay off 1,200 employees
The TTC has announced it will temporarily lay off 1,200 employees in the wake of plunging ridership and revenue.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an 85 per cent drop in ridership and a loss of $90 million in monthly revenue – money that is essential to sustain operations,” the service said in a release.
The layoffs consist of 1,000 transit operators – subject to negotiations with ATU Local 113 – as well as 200 non-union staff positions. The service will additionally be pausing salary increases for non-unionized staff, cutting overtime and forgoing seasonal hires.
The TTC has found savings in fuel use and “PRESTO commission costs” taken together, the cost-savings measures will defray losses at a rate of roughly $25 million per month.
Service will be maintained at roughly 70-80 per cent of regular levels, which the service says is in line with current demand.
10:30 am Ontario’s COVID-19 cases go up by 634
There are 12,879 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, public health officials reported this morning. That’s an increase of 634 cases or 5.2 per cent since yesterday’s report.
The number of people who have died is 713, up by 54 since yesterday. Of those deaths, 358 are among residents/patients in long-term care homes. That’s an increase of 63 deaths from the previous report. There are now 135 outbreaks reported in long-term care homes, up by 10.
There are 6,680 resolved cases – more than half of the province’s overall cases. The number of patients in hospital is 887 – or 11.7 per cent of all cases – with 233 in intensive care and 155 in intensive care on ventilators.
The number of tests conducted continues to surpass the 10,000 mark. There were 10,214 tests carried out since yesterday and 6,757 cases are under investigation. In all, 194,745 tests have been conducted in Ontario since the outbreak began.
Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 59.6 per cent of Ontario’s cases.
9:15 am Ontario extends emergency orders to May 6
Non-essential workplaces will remain closed to May 6. Ontario is extending the emergency order shutting down outdoor amenities in parks and recreational areas, non-essential workplaces, public places and bars and restaurants, and prohibiting social gatherings of more than five people.
The previous emergency order closing businesses was set to expire today.
Several other emergency orders issued since the province declared a state of emergency, including limiting staff from working in more than one retirement home or long-term care home, the ban on price gouging and pickup and delivery of cannabis, are extended to May 6 as well.
Though provincial health officials said this week that Ontario has made progress in fighting spread of COVID-19 in the wider community, Premier Doug Ford said in a statement that the extension is necessary “to continue keeping all Ontarians safe and healthy.”
The government also issued a new emergency order to allow mental health and addictions agencies to “redeploy staff within different locations or between programs, and employ extra part-time staff, temporary staff or contractors.”
9 am Canada has over 40,000 cases of COVID-19
There are 40,190 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 1,974 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.
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