Advertisement

News

Toronto reports 249 new COVID-19 cases Ottawa, provinces reach deal on $3B wage top-up

Top COVID-19 stories and news


Follow the latest Toronto news on coronavirus


4:26 pm Tory asks Ottawa for $10 billion bailout for cities

Mayor John Tory reiterated the plea from Canadian mayors for a $10 billion federal bailout to mitigate the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic on cities.

Speaking during his daily press conference, the mayor said Ottawa should commit to the emergency operating funding immediately. 

“This funding should be straightforward, it should be direct, it should be flexible, and it should be timely – meaning the commitment should be made now,” he said. “That means a single transfer that municipalities can be used as needed with not matching funds from the provinces, though they should participate.”

The funding should include $7.6 billion in direct allocations to all cities based on population and $2.4 billion to cities with comprehensive transit systems based on ridership.

Tory explained that Toronto is facing a “best case scenario” projected shortfall of $1.5 billion based on a three-month lockdown period and six-month recovery.

“We have serious problems as cities. It is a national problem affecting all Canadian cities and we simply can’t afford to have constitutional or intergovernmental wrangling standing in the way of cities getting the help that they need,” he added.


4:14 pm Toronto reports 249 new COVID-19 cases, 53 deaths

As of May 6, Toronto Public Health reported 249 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the city’s total cases to 6,914. The number of people who have recovered is 4,364 and 522 people have died – an increase of 53 deaths since the previous report. There are 117 outbreaks in long-term care homes in Toronto.


2:43 pm Greyhound Canada suspends all bus service

Greyhound Canada has temporarily suspended all bus service due to the coronavirus pandemic “until passenger travel demand recovers,” the company said in a statement.

The suspension will take effect on May 13. The company had already scaled back service, but said that ridership has dropped 95 per cent. Around 400 employees will be temporarily laid off.

“While we have made every effort to reduce costs and have made significant outreach efforts to the provincial and federal governments, we cannot continue operations absent financial support,” the company said.

Greyhound will monitor federal and provincial restrictions and infection statistics to determine when service will resume.

The company previously scaled back service in Western Canada in 2018. 


1:35 pm Ontario plans gradual resumption of non-emergency surgeries

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said today that non-emergency scheduled and elective surgeries will start up again, beginning with urgent cancer and cardiac surgeries.

The dates or timeline for when non-COVID-19 surgeries still begin again will vary depending on hospital’s meeting criteria laid out in a government framework, including the stability of COVID-19 cases, adequate personal protective equipment and staff.

“We’re asking each hospital to come up with a plan based on their community’s needs and the trends they’re seeing on the ground,” Ford said.


11:30 am Ottawa announces $3 billion for essential worker wage top-up

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced Ottawa has reached a deal with the provinces to top-up wages of essential workers. The feds will distribute up to $3 billion to the provinces and territories, which will determine who will receive the top and by how much.

Trudeau said the federal government will cover 75 per cent of the wage top-up and the provinces and territories will cover 25 per cent.

“If you’re risking your health and you receive minimum wage, you deserve to earn more,” Trudeau said.


11:20 am Sidewalk Labs walks away from waterfront development

Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs is walking away from its “smart city” proposal on Toronto’s waterfront.

The company is citing “changing economic circumstances” for the decision, according to a statement from Councillor Joe Cressy, a member of the Waterfront Toronto board. Waterfront Toronto had just released its report on community feedback on the project on May 1.

The project has been dogged by questions and concerns, including by its own citizens advisory committee, over data collection and governance over digital information that would have been collected as part of Sidewalks’ proposal to automate city services – and critics say, “normalized surveillance.” Read more here.


11:11 am Ontario reports 399 new COVID-19 cases, 48 deaths

Ontario has 19,121 cases of COVID-19, an increase of 399 – or 2.1 per cent – since the previous day’s report.

Public health officials have said increases in the province’s new cases is slowly decreasing, allowing some lockdown measures to be eased. Today’s report marks a slight drop from Wednesday’s increase but the numbers are higher than earlier in the week.

Another 48 people have died, bringing Ontario’s death toll to 1,477. Two more outbreaks were reported in long-term care homes, for a total of 225.

There are now 13,569 resolved cases – or 71 per cent of overall cases.

Testing capacity continues to increase, with 15,179 tests completed since yesterday and another 13,012 cases awaiting results.

There are 1,033 people in hospital, with 220 in intensive care and 155 in intensive care on ventilators.

9 am Doug Ford discourages cottage visits over long weekend

After a conference call with cottage country mayors, Premier Doug Ford is telling cottage owners travelling to seasonal residencies during the Victoria Day long weekend to proceed with caution – and visitors to stay home.

The statement takes a firmer stance against inter-provincial travel to cottages after Ford said earlier this week that he can’t “hold back taxpayers” from visiting their vacation properties. 

“We are asking seasonal residents travelling to their cottages to practice the same public health measures as usual, including no public gatherings, avoiding non-essential travel as much as possible, and continue to practice social distancing,” he said.

The statement also discourages tourists from travelling to the region to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Cottage country residents are known for their hospitality and normally they would be welcoming tourists with open arms right now. This year, however, they are asking visitors to help them fight the spread of COVID-19 and hold-off travelling to these regions until it is safe to do so.

“I know Ontarians are eager to enjoy the great outdoors, but there will be plenty of long weekends to come,” Ford added. “Right now, we need to focus on doing everything we can to protect the health and safety of all Ontarians.”


9 am Canada has over 63,000 cases of COVID-19

There are 63,496 cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 4,232  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.

@nowtoronto

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.