Top COVID-19 stories and news
- Canada’s worker benefits: What we know so far
- How to do laundry during the coronavirus pandemic
- Toronto realtors are selling through the pandemic
- Should clean or disinfect my groceries?
- Ontario allows cannabis shops to do curbside pick-up
Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus
4:10 pm Ethnic communities being missed in coronavirus messaging
Canada’s ethnic media organizations say the Trudeau government is not doing enough to reach out to ethnic communities with information about coronavirus.
In an open letter released this afternoon, the Canadian Ethnic Media Association (CEMA), which represents some 1,200 ethnic media entities across the country, says they haven’t been included in the $30-million coronavirus awareness advertising campaign announced by the government and targeting media outlets.
CEMA Chair Madeline Ziniak says the group could be playing an important role in getting information out to ethnic communities, especially vulnerable elderly populations, in their own language.
She says that there is “fear and confusion” among elderly populations whose first language is not English about the disease and its spread. And that “navigating the intricate labyrinth of applying for financial assistance can be made less daunting if explained in the mother tongues of the ethno-cultural communities.”
Ziniak says all three levels of government should set up systems to communicate directly to ethnic media organizations who have had to rely on mainstream media reports to inform their audiences.
4:10 pm Toronto has 1,769 cases of COVID-19
As of 12:30 pm on Thursday, there are 1,769 cases of COVID-19 in Toronto, the city’s medical officer of health Eileen de Villa reported. The number includes 1,519 confirmed cases and 250 probable cases. There are 174 people hospitalized and 76 in intensive care units. There have been a total of 54 deaths in the city.
2:50 pm Doug Ford launches jobs and recovery committee
Ontario premier Doug Ford announced today that the province is launching a jobs and recovery committee to create an action plan for economic recovery, post-pandemic.
Earlier today, Statistic Canada reported that Ontario lost 403,000 jobs in March.
“These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg,” Ford said during his daily press briefing. “They’re just a snapshot of what we’re dealing with. These aren’t just numbers – these are real people who are struggling out there.”
1:50 pm Ontario’s COVID-19 cases goes up by 483
Ontario reported 483 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the provincial total to 5,759. The number of resolved cases in the province is 2,305 and 200 people have died.
There are 632 cases in hospital, 264 in intensive care units and 214 in intensive care on ventilators.
The province has tested 88,698 people are 1,208 tests are under investigation.
1:42 pm Brampton hospital worker dies of COVID-19
The William Osler Health System announced on Thursday that a health-care worker has died from COVID-19.
The long-time environmental services associate with Osler’s Brampton Civic Hospital was being cared for in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
“Our entire organization is devastated by this news, and our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this difficult time,” the hospital system said in a statement.
11:22 am Trudeau says “it will take months” to get on the other side of the pandemic
The Prime Minister outlined a new reality in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at his regular daily briefing.
He said it will take until at least the end of the spring or summer to get on the other side of the pandemic curve.
The PM evoked the Battle of Vimy Ridge to outline what’s ahead for Canadians.
“We stood together united and strong,” the PM said. “It was a moment ordinary people did extraordinary things.”
He warned that COVID-19 arrived in Canada later than other countries. So we’re earlier in the trajectory. “We’re at a fork in the road between the worst and best-case scenarios. This will be the new normal until a vaccine can be developed.”
He called the fight against COVID-19 “The challenge of this generation.”
The PM said that more than four million Canadians have applied for financial help so far through the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit.
10:08 am Federal projections estimate up to 22,000 deaths from coronavirus in Canada
Federal public health officials estimate that the coronavirus pandemic may claim between 11,000 and 22,000 lives in Canada.
The numbers, based on a number of different projection models, were released at a press briefing this morning. The numbers suggest that the spread of the disease has been slowed, with rates of infection of the disease doubling every three to five days.
But Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, stressed that the situation is “dynamic” and that social-distancing measures will have to be kept in place even after the current wave passes if Canada is to meet its best-case scenario.
“We cannot prevent every death but we must prevent every death that we can,” Tam says.
Tam says it’s unclear whether Canada has reached the peak of the pandemic. Tam says the answer to that question won’t be known for some time.
But even as the curve of new infections bends downward, she said Canada will be taking a “very cautious approach” to lifting public health measures in order to mitigate the effects of future waves of the disease.
“If we let up, new chains will take off and reignite,” Tam says. “We must stay the course until we have reached a low number of patients.”
9:15 am Canada lost more than one million jobs in March
Employment fell by more than one million in March and the unemployment rate shot up to 7.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported on Thursday.
The country’s first labour market report since the coronavirus pandemic showed that Canada’s employment rate fell 3.3 percentage points – or 1,011,000 jobs – to 58.5 per cent, its lowest rate since April 1997. The total number of Canadians affected by job loss or reduced hours due to COVID-19 is 3.1 million.
In Ontario, employment fell by 403,000 jobs or 5.3 per cent.
The unemployment rate went up 2.2 percentage points to 7.8 per cent, the largest one-month increase since comparable data became available in 1976. The increase is mostly due to temporary layoffs, meaning that workers are expected to return to their job within six months.
The data is based on a survey of households from March 15 to March 21.
More than four million people have applied for federal government aid since March 15.
9 am Canada has 19,289 COVID-19 cases
As of Wednesday, there are 19,289 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 435 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.
April 8 Toronto Caribbean Carnival is cancelled
The organizers of Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival have cancelled this year’s festival due to COVID-19.
Participants spend six months preparing for the Grand Parade and the King and Queen Show on the August 1 long weekend. If the city eases even permit restrictions by July 1, organizers say they plan to find a “non-traditional format” to celebrate.
Read more here.
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