Top COVID-19 stories and news
- Canada’s worker benefits: What we know so far
- Can’t get grocery delivery? Here’s what to do
- Ontario’s list of essential workplaces (updated)
- Opinion: We can’t police our way out of a pandemic
- OCAD U producing 3D-printed face shields for hospitals
Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus
5:54 pm Tory calls on landlords to provide relief to small businesses
Mayor John Tory is asking commercial landlords who have shops and restaurants as tenants find ways to offer short-term relief during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a video posted on YouTube on Saturday, Tory said the province should ban evictions for commercial tenants as it has done for residential tenants. He also asked landlords to sit down with their tenants and work out arrangements, like spreading out rent over the rest of the year.
3:33 pm Toronto has 1,026 cases of COVID-19
There are more than a thousand known cases of COVID-19 in the city. As of 12:30 pm on Saturday, Toronto Public Health reported there are 1,026 cases, up by 101 cases over the day before. Of those cases, 823 are confirmed and 203 are probable and 66 have recovered. There are 125 people in hospital with 53 in intensive care units. There have also been 25 deaths
Officials say 27 per cent of the city’s cases were transmitted through community spread.
1:40 pm Ford slams U.S. “shenanigans” after 3M told to stop sending gear to Canada
Ontario Premier Doug Ford had strong words for the current U.S. administration during a press conference Saturday after Minnesota-based 3M was told to stop exporting N95 masks to Canada.
“In a major crisis, they want to cut everyone else off? That is totally unacceptable,” Ford said. “Just imagine if Canada had one item, and we all of a sudden cut the U.S. off, and they were in desperate need in a desperate time? I tell you, Canadians wouldn’t do that.”
He added it was like telling a family member to “go starve”.
“I am just so, so disappointed right now. We have a great relationship with the U.S. and now all of a sudden they pull these shenanigans?” he said.
3M had expressed concerns around the Trump administration’s decision, adding it would have “significant humanitarian implications”.
Ford said that going forward, Ontario will be “making our own N95 masks and ventilators and nitrile gloves”.
Currently, he says, the province is putting pressure on the federal government and Health Canada to obtain protective equipment, which is in critically short supply in health care facilities.
Ford said roughly 50 million masks are on the way to Canada, and added that he hoped Ontario would receive an amount proportional to the province’s population (roughly 40 per cent).
1:25 pm Ontario to issue emergency alert today
In a press conference Saturday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province will issue a second emergency alert this afternoon regarding isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The message will be clear: ‘Stop the spread, COVID-19 can be deadly,'” Ford said.
He again urged Ontarians who are not essential workers to only go out “when it necessary, to get groceries, prescriptions, or attend medical appointments.”
“If it takes standing here every single day – if it takes mass messages to every single person in Ontario – to save even one life, I’m prepared to do that,” he added.
1:14 pm Ontario launches web portal to fill food supply chain jobs
The province has launched a web portal to help agri-food businesses fill jobs in the province’s food supply chain.
“Right now, there are important jobs that need to be filled,” said Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, in a statement released this afternoon.
According to the statement, the need for workers in many parts of the food system, including grocery retailers, bakeries, cheese processing, farming and transportation “remains strong.”
11:24 am Trudeau announces $40M for women’s shelters
The federal government has pledged $40 million for emergency shelters and sexual assault centres to help women experiencing domestic violence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday during his daily press briefing.
The government will also spend an additional $10 million on emergency shelters for shelters serving Indigenous women and children and boost the Reaching Home program by $157 million, he said.
The prime minister also said the country is expecting a shipment of “millions of masks by a chartered cargo flight” in the next 48 hours.
11 am Ontario has 3,630 cases of COVID-19
There are 3,630 cases of COVID-19 in the province, public health officials said on Saturday. The number of cases went up 375 over the day before – an 11.5 per cent increase. There have been 94 deaths and 1,219 cases have been resolved.
The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is 506, there are 196 people in intensive care units and 152 are in ICUs on ventilators.
There are 1,336 cases under investigation and 71,338 have been tested.
9 am Toronto International Film Festival will return to its roots as a “festival of festivals”
TIFF Bell Lightbox will remain closed until July 1 due to COVID-19, but this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is not cancelled.
TIFF co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey said in a video posted on social media this week that they are continuing to program the September festival, but are collaborating with other festivals that have been cancelled or postponed “in the hopes of supporting them and our film industry at TIFF 2020,” Vicente said.
“Our goal is to offer a united platform to share programming,” she added. “Effectively returning returning to our roots as a ‘festival of festivals,’ which is how we started out nearly 45 years ago.”
Bailey added there is still uncertainty around what “people coming together will look like come September” so TIFF is looking at new digital and on-site options to present films and industry events.
Since the Lightbox closed, TIFF has been hosting director Q&As on streaming platform Crave and programmers are looking at hosting more virtual events during the province-wide lock down.
April 3 Ontario to close cannabis stores
Cannabis stores are no longer deemed “essential” by the province of Ontario.
At 11:59 pm tonight (April 4), the 52 cannabis stores in the province will close for two weeks after province updated the list of essential businesses and workplaces allowed to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ontario Cannabis Store will continue to take online orders and licensed producers will continue to operate.
The shops were initially allowed to remain open following a March 24 emergency order that closed most businesses in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-10.
Beer, wine and liquor stores are still considered essential and remain open.
