Top COVID-19 stories and news
- What TTC service cuts and layoffs will mean for riders
- Toronto is providing free internet access to vulnerable people
- Will governments repeat mistakes of pandemics past in Indigenous communities?
- Health-care services grow online amid pandemic
- Ontario announces framework for lifting lockdown, but no dates set
Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus
5:36 pm Four staffers and one child test positive for COVID-19 at Jesse Ketchum
Another staffer and a child have tested positive for COVID-19 at Jesse Ketchum Early Learning and Child Care Centre
The city confirmed the new cases on Wednesday a day after announcing that three staffers had tested positive and the daycare centre had closed for 14 days. Staff and the 58 children who attended the centre between April 21 to April 28 are being asked to stay home for two weeks from their last day at the centre.
The centre is one of Toronto’s seven licensed emergency child-care centres that have reopened to serve frontline workers with no other daycare options.
4:55 pm City to house people living in homeless encampments in midtown apartments
Toronto will house people sleeping in outdoor encampments in two vacant mid-rise apartment buildings in midtown. The interim housing are being leased by the city from developer Times Group for up to six months, the city said in a statement today.
The 125 furnished units are in buildings that will eventually be demolished as part of a redevelopment and are available until construction permits are issued.
The units come with access to laundry, free WiFi and cable television. The building is accessible and pet-friendly and each unit will cost the city $55 per day to rent, plus HST and utilities. There is no cost to clients, the city said.Supports include meals, security, case management and harm reduction. The goal is to bridge the residents into more permanent housing. People living in encampments considered health and safety risks will be prioritized. The clients will be offered “a variety of indoor spaces including this interim housing program” and will be notified of the clearing of the encampment.
Toronto has suspended the clearing of homeless encampments during the pandemic.
4 pm Toronto has 5,360 cases of COVID-19
As of 11 am today, Toronto has 5,360 cases of COVID-19, the city’s medical officer of health Eileen de Villa said today. The number includes 4,845 confirmed cases and 515 probable cases. There are 354 people in hospital, with 111 in intensive care. In total, 347 people have died from COVID-19 in Toronto.
1:38 pm High Park to close on April 30
The city will close High Park to visitors on April 30 to deter large crowds from gathering for the cherry blossom bloom.
Instead, residents are being encouraged to check out the cherry tree grove via the BloomCam, a continuous livestream, as well as multiple live events and videos featuring virtual walk-throughs of the blossoming Sakura (cherry blossom) trees. The BloomCam is now live.
The live events are weather-dependent and will be announced on the city’s website and social media accounts. During two 30-minute livestreams, Indigenous Knowledge Keeper André Morrisseau will recognize the traditional territories of the Indigenous Peoples through a Land Acknowledgement and High Park Nature Centre experts will take viewers on nature and history walks around the cherry blossom trees.
The bloom period typically lasts four-to-10 days and takes place in late April or early May.
Read more here.
1:06 pm More workers now qualify for emergency child care
Ontario is expanding the list workers who qualify for emergency child care. Premier Doug Ford and education minister Stephen Lecce said the list now includes staff in grocery stores and pharmacies, truckers, Canadian Armed Forces members, retirement homes staffers and those who support those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Other works that now qualify are:
- Workers in the food supply chain, including food processing
- Auxiliary workers in health care settings, including cooks and cleaning staff in hospitals and long-term care homes
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) emergency personnel
- Provincial officers and onsite staff in Ontario courts
- Additional workers supporting public safety and correctional services
Lecce added the “phased expansion” is supported by the province’s chief medical officer of health. The centres must follow guidelines and protocols, including no site exceeding 50 people, undergo thorough cleaning, all staff being screened for symptoms before opening and prohibiting visitors.
In March, the province allowed emergency child-care centres to open to support frontline workers with no other options. To accommodate the increased demand that will follow today’s announcement, the province has approved 37 additional centres to reopen in the coming days.
Ford also said the province is expanding testing to include child-care centres.
10:30 am Ontario reports lowest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases in weeks
After Ontario’s new cases spiked following a downward trend, the province has reported an increase of 347 new cases of COVID-19 – an increase of 2.3 per cent. That’s the lowest single-day increase in over three weeks.
Public health officials reported on Wednesday that Ontario now has 15,728 and 996 people have died, an increase of 45 deaths – or 6.3 per cent – from the previous report.
All of the new deaths appear to be long-term care residents. That increase of 45 is exactly the same as the number of deaths reported among residents/patients in long-term care homes since the previous day. In all, 521 long-term care residents have died in Ontario since the outbreak began.
The sector continues to see an increase in outbreaks, with five more reported since yesterday for a total of 181.
There are 977 patients in hospital, with 235 in intensive care and 186 in intensive care on ventilators.
The number of resolved cases in Ontario has passed the 60 per cent mark, with 9,612 cases having recovered from the virus.
In terms of testing, 11,554 tests were carried out since the previous report and 9,530 cases are under investigation. A total of 264,594 tests have been conducted in the province.
9 am Three staff at emergency daycare centre test positive
Three staff at one of Toronto’s seven licensed emergency child-care centres have tested positive for COVID-19, the city said in a statement. Two other staff and two children at Jesse Ketchum Early Learning and Child Care Centre are awaiting test results.
The centre has suspended services for 14 days and undergo deep cleaning. It will reopen pending approval of Toronto Public Health.
The city is reaching out to notify families. Staff and the 58 children who attended the centre between April 21 to April 28 are being asked to stay home for two weeks from their last day at the centre. They are also being excluded from other Toronto emergency child care centres as a precautionary measure during that period.
The province allowed Toronto to open emergency child-care services to serve frontline workers with no other options on March 31. Toronto Children’s Services is using public health guidelines around infection control by having and small group sizes for rooms and daily temperature checks of children and staff.
8:45 am SickKids Hospital declares COVID-19 outbreak
The Hospital for Sick Children has declared a COVID-19 outbreak. In a statement earlier this week, SickKids said a teen patient had tested positive for the virus and was in isolation. The patient’s parents and a member of the patient’s clinical team have since tested positive for COVID-19, the hospital said.
On Tuesday, SickKids also identified a second patient who was admitted and tested positive for COVID-19 but is unrelated to the outbreak.
“While this is certainly not the kind of news we want to be sharing, the fact is we have been fortunate at SickKids thus far – these are our first positive inpatient cases since the pandemic started over six weeks ago,” the hospital’s president and CEO Dr. Ronald Cohn said in a statement. “I have full and absolute confidence in our teams here at SickKids and in our ability to continue to provide the best possible care, while protecting the safety of our patients, families and staff.”
8:30 am Canada has over 50,000 cases of COVID-19
There are 50,026 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 2,859 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.
