Top COVID-19 stories and news
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- Podcast: How to protest during a pandemic
- Ontario loosens patio rules even further
Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus
6:31 pm Loblaws cuts pandemic pay for essential workers
Loblaws will be ending pandemic pay for workers at its retail stores across the country. The move will affect workers at its Shoppers Drug Mart, Superstore and No Frills stores.
According to Unifor, one of several unions representing Loblaws workers, the company will be ending the $2 per hour boost in pay beginning this weekend. Instead of continuing to receive the pay, they will be given a one-time bonus in July based on their hours of work. Unifor says that bonus works out to $160 for a worker who works a 40-hour week.
At press time, a spokesperson for Loblaw Companies Ltd. was not immediately available to respond to an email request for comment from NOW. The company announced the temporary pay raise back in late March. Read more Unifor’s statement here.
4:33 pm Ontario appoints Cathy Fooks as new patient ombudsman
The provincial government has named Cathy Fooks as Patient Ombudsman. She will begin a five-year term on July 13.
The Patient Ombudsman investigates complaints about public hospitals, long-term care homes and home and community care, and makes recommendations to the government to prevent issues from recurring.
She will also lead an investigation into patient experiences in the long-term care sector during COVID-19, the government said in a statement. This work will complement an independent commission into the long-term care system set to begin in July.
Fooks previously served as the president and CEO of The Change Foundation.
4:29 pm Toronto reports 114 new COVID-19 cases, nine more deaths
Toronto Public Health has reported an increase of 114 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the city’s total to 13,063
There are 306 patients in hospital with 72 in intensive care. In total 10,558 people have recovered from COVID-19, an increase of 248 cases since yesterday.
Another nine people have died. There have been a total of 965 COVID-19 deaths in Toronto.
1:50 pm Long-term care and retirement home visits to resume on June 18
The province will start allow a “cautious” resumption of visits to long-term care, group homes, retirement homes and other congregate living settings on June 18.
At today’s Queen’s Park press conference, Premier Doug Ford and Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton outlined several rules around the visits as part of the “phased visitation plan.”
The homes must not be experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak. For long-term care homes, residents are allowed one visitor per resident at a minimum of one visit per week for an outdoor visit only. For retirement homes, visits can be outdoors and indoors and the number of visitors allowed is up to the discretion of the home. Visitors must have tested negative for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, pass an active screening questionnaire, clean their hands when they arrive, wear a mask, stay in designated areas, maintain physical distance.
“Today we are taking the first steps to help reunite families, to help reunite loved ones,” Ford said. “We can’t forget that these settings are still vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks… We must move forward but we must do it so carefully.”
In March, the province restricted visits to long-term care and retirement homes to essential visitors only in order to curb spread of COVID-19.
1:30 pm Ford and Elliott test negative for COVID-19
Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott have tested negative for COVID-19, the premier’s office has confirmed.
They were tested after Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he had come into contact with someone who had tested positive. Lecce announced yesterday that he tested negative.
Ford, Elliott and Lecce appeared together a press conference at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.
10:54 am Ontario reports 203 new COVID-19 cases, 12 more deaths
Provincial public health officials have reported an increase of 203 new COVID-19 cases, bringing Ontario’s total to 31,544. That’s the lowest increase since late March.
The province has now had four straight days of new case increases of below 300, suggesting a downward trend. There were 251 new cases reported on Wednesday, 230 new cases reported on Tuesday and 243 new cases confirmed on Monday.
Another 505 people have recovered. In all, 25,885 – or 82.1 per cent – of cases are resolved.
Testing is shot up to 24,341 tests completed since yesterday. Another 16,359 cases are under investigation. The government’s target has been 16,000 tests per day.
There are 538 people in hospital, with 120 in intensive care and 87 in intensive care on ventilators.
Twelve more people have died. In total, the virus has killed 2,487 people in Ontario.
10:38 am Toronto makes face masks mandatory on public transit
Toronto plans to make face coverings mandatory for all passengers and staff on public transit.
Mayor John Tory said on Thursday that TTC CEO Rick Leary and Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa have made that recommendation as ridership is expected to increase as lockdown measures ease, making it harder for passengers to keep a distance.
“That is a recommendation I fully support,” he said. “This will help to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our city.”
The recommendation will be made at next week’s TTC commission for meeting next week and if it’s approved, the bylaw would take effect on July 2.
Tory said the TTC will not enforce the new rule with penalties. “I know a crackdown and enforcement blitz will not be needed,” he said. “We will focus on public education and the importance of following this new rule.”
The city will also undertake a “one-time targeted strategy” to distribute on-million non-medical masks to residents, with a focus on lower-income neighbourhoods, Tory added.
The mayor said staffing will be increased in stations and decals have been added to encourage people to follow physical distancing rules and wear face coverings.
“I want to be clear: No one will be refused a ride on the TTC for not wearing a face covering,” Leary said, adding there will be exemptions for people with medical considerations and children under two years of age.
“Given the exemptions and based on the experience from other jurisdictions where compliance has been high, like New York City, we don’t believe strict enforcement is necessary. We will continue to monitor and determine of further action is necessary.”
Employees who work behind a shield or in isolated cabs will have a choice to wear a mask or face covering.
Tory is also recommending the TTC Commission refund monthly pass holders for March and April based on usage.
9 am Canada has more than 97,125 cases of COVID-19
There are 96,653 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 7,960 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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