Top COVID-19 stories and news
Doug Ford goes into hiding as his handlers try to figure out their next move
COVID variants have led to a decline in vaccine hesitancy in Canada
Here’s the list of people eligible for vaccines in Phase 2
Here are the rules for Ontario’s new stay-at-home-order
People without OHIP cards can now get vaccinated in Toronto
4:30 pm The city is teaming up with community agencies to help people without OHIP cards book COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
On Friday, Toronto officials said in a news release said that residents without OHIP cards who meet the eligibility criteria can get assistance booking a vaccination appointment at a city-run immunization clinic by contact the FCJ Refugee Centre or Access Alliance.
Although provincial officials have said people who do not have public health insurance cards can book vaccine appointments, a health-card number is required to book online or via phone using the provincial system.
“Residents without an OHIP card may use other forms of identification to book their COVID-19 vaccination appointment through agency partners, including a driver’s licence, passport, piece of registered mail, pay stub or student card,” the city said in a news release. “Government-issued identification from other jurisdictions and countries, including a passport, driver’s license or health card may also be used, even if they are expired.”
People without OHIP cards can also book appointments directly with hospitals and Ontario Health Team-led clinics by visiting vaccineto.ca.
Ford doubles down on border closures calls, insists three paid sick days are enough
3 pm Premier Doug Ford emphasized the need for border closures at a federal level and called for land-crossing quarantines today.
During a press briefing on Friday, Ford called on the federal government to improve “weak border measures,” asking for pre-departure testing for those flying into Ontario and mandatory hotel quarantine for major land crossings.
He said border control will be necessary to control the spread of variants of concern (VOCs) within in Ontario, pointing to data from new modelling from the Ontario science advisory table presented on Thursday that showed that over 90 per cent of cases in Ontario are currently VOCs – namely the B117 variant first identified in the UK.
The advisory table also showed how “effective” sick pay and fewer essential workplaces being open would be necessary to stop the continued spread of the virus, though Ford doubled down on the province’s current paid sick leave program of three days of paid days off up to $200 each day when reporters asked about extending it to 10 days, as recommended by medical advisors.
The premier argued the Tories’ current program covers the three-day waiting period before the federal Canadian Recovery Sickness Benefit program, which will provide employees with up to $1,000 per week for up to four weeks, with costs split between Queen’s Park and Ottawa.
Ford deflected a question about overall dissatisfaction from Ontarians with his pandemic response by pointing once again to open borders and VOCs.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we keep our borders closed,” he answered when asked what he will do to increase sagging public confidence in his pandemic response, adding that he’ll “make sure they don’t come in” in reference to VOCs.
Ontario reports 3,887 new COVID-19 cases, 21 deaths
Ontario is reporting 3,887 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 additional deaths on April 30.
The province detected 3,871 new cases on Thursday, 3,480 on Wednesday and 3,265 on Tuesday. The seven-day average dropped again slightly to 3,722.
Ontario administered 112,214 vaccine doses in the past day, bringing the provincial total to 5,139,984 total doses administered and 371,110 people fully vaccinated.
With 53,074 tests completed in the past 24 hours, the province’s daily positivity rate is at 7.3 per cent.
“Locally, there are 1,331 new cases in Toronto, 871 in Peel, 267 in York Region, 208 in Durham and 204 in Hamilton,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.
There are 38,062 total active cases being reported today, and while hospitalizations have dropped from 2,248 to 2,201, intensive care patients are still hovering around the same high, with just one less patient in the ICU for a COVID-related illness today compared to yesterday – bringing the total to 883 patients. There are also 632 patients on ventilators, up 12 from the day before.
Confirmed cases of the P1 variant increased by 144 in the past day, along with 31 additional B1351 cases.
To date, there have been 463,364 total COVID-19 cases in Ontario and 8,050 deaths.
New COVID-19 cases in Ontario on April 30
The following regions have reported five or more new COVID-19 cases:
Toronto = 1,437
Peel = 871
York Region = 267
Durham Region = 208
City of Hamilton = 204
Ottawa = 196
Niagara Region = 156
Halton Region = 123
Middlesex-London = 85
Simcoe Muskoka District = 62
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph = 54
Region of Waterloo = 49
Windsor-Essex County = 46
Brant County = 37
Eastern Ontario = 27
Haldimand-Norfolk = 22
Southwestern = 17
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge = 16
Hastings Prince Edward = 13
Peterborough = 13
Northwestern = 12
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington = 10
Lambton = 10
Porcupine = 9
Sudbury & Districts = 9
Algoma = 6
Grey Bruce = 6
Huron Perth = 6
Renfrew County and District = 5
