Top COVID-19 stories and news
- Meet five Torontonians who launched businesses during the pandemic
- Warm weather won’t save us from coronavirus, Toronto researchers say
- The 2020 CNE is cancelled
- Almost half of small businesses fear they will be locked out over unpaid rent
- More stores asking customers to wear masks
Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus
4:52 pm Toronto begins closing streets to weekend car traffic
Toronto will ramp up the ActiveTO program on Victoria Day weekend with major road closures.
As the city’s public health advice shifts from telling people to stay home to it’s okay to go outside if you keep your distance from others, city hall is shutting down 57 kilometres of streets to car – except local traffic – to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists.
The first quiet street has already been installed in Kensington Market, on Shaughnessy between Van Horne and Havenbrook and Havenbrook between Shaughnessy Boulevard and Manorpark Court. Temproary barricades and signage are going up indicating the road way is now a shared space.
The full list of streets that will be closed can be found here.
Toronto Public Health and Transportation Services are also closing down major roads near trails to avoid crowding on the holiday weekend.From Saturday, May 16 at 6 am until Monday, May 18 at 11 pm, all eastbound lanes on Lake Shore West between Windermere and Stadium will close, as wil Bayview from Mill to Rosedale Valley and River from Gerrard East to Bayview.
Future weekend closures will begin at 6 am on Saturdays until 11 pm on Sundays. Locations will be announced as they are finalized.
4:38 pm Toronto reports 153 new COVID-19 cases, 14 deaths
Toronto Public Health has reported 153 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the city’s total cases to 8,097. Of those cases, 5,851 people have recovered, an increase of 196 since yesterday.
Another 14 people have died in Toronto since yesterday. In all, 648 people have died since the outbreak began.
1:30 pm Ontario to reopen retail, resume scheduled surgeries on May 19
Phase one of Ontario’s reopening plan will begin May 19, Premier Doug Ford said today. The following workplaces and public spaces will be allowed to resume with physical distancing measures in place as of next Tuesday:
- Retail stores with street entrance that are not located in malls with strict social distancing measures in place
- Some outdoor amenities, including outdoor sports fields, tennis courts and off leash dog parks
- Vets, animal shelters and pet grooming services
- Household cleaning and maintenance services
- Scheduled surgeries and in-person counselling
The province will also lift the ban on non-essential construction, meaning all construction can resume on May 19.
Additionally, the province will reopen private parks and campgrounds, marinas and boat clubs, golf courses and businesses that board animals this Saturday (May 16) at 12:01 am.
“Businesses should open only if they are ready,” Ford said. “And we need to keep in mind that all of this is dependent on the numbers.”
Read more here.
11:25 am Canada’s national parks to partially reopen in early June
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that some national parks will partially reopen in the beginning of June so people can use trails where physical distancing is possible.
“Fresh air is important, but we all have to be responsible about,” he said.
The feds are also bringing in boating regulations that will ban pleasure crafts from operating in the Arctic coastal waters or in the coastal areas of Northern Quebec and Labrador. The ban, which is effective June 1, doesn’t include local community use or essential fishing.
11:11 am Jesse Ketchum child care centre reopens after outbreak
Toronto is reopening Jesse Ketchum Early Learning and Child Care Centre, one of the emergency daycare centres that reopened during lockdown measures to serve essential workers.
The centre, which reopens today, suspended operations at the end of April due to a COVID-19 outbreak among staff and children. Three rooms accommodating up to 21 kids will reopen first, followed by two additional rooms, bringing the centre up to its capacity of 30 children.
Child care will be available five days a week, from 6 am to 8:30 pm.
Staff will be required to wear surgical masks when two-metres distance cannot be maintained. Children and staff will be screened daily, group sizes will be reduced, among other public health measures.
As of May 7, Toronto Public Health reported 13 staff and seven children had tested positive for COVID-19.
11:02 am Ontario expands COVID-19 testing criteria
The province is expanding COVID-19 testing criteria to “anyone with symptoms,” Health Minister Christine Elliott wrote in a tweet on Thursday.
“As we plan for a gradual reopening, today the Chief Medical Officer of Health will expand #COVID19 testing guidelines so that anyone with symptoms can be tested,” she said. “Doing so will help identify and contain new cases and monitor any shifts in community spread to keep Ontarians safe.”
Elliott added that the province has nearly completed testing all long-term care home staff and residents. “We will also expand testing for other vulnerable populations, including those in retirement homes and other shared living spaces like shelters and group homes,” she added.
As per the province’s reopening framework, increased testing capacity and contact tracing is a key element that must be in place before the government eases lockdown measures. Premier Doug Ford will detail the first phase of that plan at 1 pm today.
There were 17,429 tests completed in Ontario since yesterday and another 17,578 cases are under investigation.
10:50 am Ontario reports lowest number of new COVID-19 cases since March
Provincial public health officials have reported a 258 – or 1.2 per cent – increase in new COVID-19 cases. That’s the lowest increase since late March, suggesting the provinces new cases are on a downward trend.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario is now 21,494 and just over 75 per cent of those cases – or 16,204 – are considered resolved.
Overall, the province’s cases are on downward trend but officials have not yet declared that Ontario has passed the “peak” period yet.
There have been 33 more deaths since yesterday’s report, bringing the provincial death toll to 1,798.
There are 1,026 people in hospital, with 184 in intensive care and 141 in intensive care on ventilators.
There were 17,429 tests completed in Ontario since yesterday and another 17,578 cases are under investigation.
8:45 am Doug Ford to details first phase of Ontario’s reopening plans
This afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford will announce stage one in the province’s reopening plan. The first stage of the three-pronged reopening plan is expected to include a list of “low-risk” workplaces, seasonal businesses and essential services that will reopen next.
A date for when the first stage will begin has not been announced yet. Ford said on Wednesday that the province is not ready to initiate the first stage of the plan. “We aren’t at stage one quite yet. We’re asking people to get ready for stage one,” Ford said during his daily news conference.
8:45 am Ontario offers prescription drug relief during pandemic
People using the Ontario Drug Benefit Program are no longer required to pay a co-payment, at least until July 1, for prescriptions of over 30 days, the provincial government said on Wednesday.
In order to maintain supply during the pandemic, pharmacists and doctors have been dispensing medication for 30 days or less at a time.
Additionally, people who are part of the Trillium Drug Program can apply for an income reassessment to help ease any financial burdens. That means any family in the program that has experienced an income change in 2019 or 2020 of 10 per cent or more compared to their 2018 income can apply to have their deductible recalculated by submitting the Annual Deductible Re-Assessment Form.
Those who are eligible but not currently enrolled in the Trillium Drug Program and have high prescription costs can also submit an application and re-assessment form.
8:30 am Canada has over 72,000 cases of COVID-19
There are 72,278 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 5,304 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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