Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday – CBC.ca

The latest:

Canada now has more than 60,000 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases, but as numbers continue to climb in some provinces, parts of Atlantic Canada have gone several days without any new cases.

New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have had extended runs with no new cases reported, while Newfoundland and Labrador has now gone three days without any new cases.

Federal health officials and politicians have stressed that the reopening process will vary depending on where people live, noting that while there are shared guidelines, provincial leaders and health officials will make their own decisions based on the reality in their region. 

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As of 7:30 a.m. ET, Canada had 60,772 confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19. Provinces and territories listed 26,030 of those as either recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally based on provincial data, regional health information and CBC’s reporting put the COVID-19-related death toll in Canada at 3,981, plus two known deaths of Canadians abroad.

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said no matter where they are, all Canadians will need to reconcile living with COVID-19. That means continued physical distancing, frequent handwashing and covering coughs with elbows.

“And, although we’ll be getting out of our homes more and more, it will be vitally important that at the slightest sign of symptoms, we stay home to save lives,” Tam said.

The novel coronavirus, which causes an illness called COVID-19, first emerged in China in late 2019 before spreading around the world. There are no proven treatments or vaccines for the virus, which causes mild to moderate symptoms in most but can cause serious illness and death.

What’s happening in the provinces and territories

British Columbia’s top doctor, Bonnie Henry, says the time is coming when people in the province will be able to see more people. “Our challenge, and our work together, is to find that sweet spot — somewhere around increasing our contacts by twice as many as we have now, but without allowing those opportunities for rapid exponential growth in our communities.” Read more about what’s happening in B.C.

In Alberta, elective surgeries were allowed to resume as of Monday as the province lifted some of the restrictions imposed to deal with the novel coronavirus. Alberta reported nine more COVID-19-related deaths on Monday, bringing the provincial total to 104. Read more about what’s happening in Alberta.

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Saskatchewan reported its largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases yet on Monday, when health officials reported another 34 cases. The province said 29 of the new cases were in the far north region, four were in the north, and one was in the Saskatoon area. Read more about what’s happening in Saskatchewan, which lifted some COVID-19 restrictions on Monday.

People who get tested for COVID-19 in Manitoba can now go online to see if they have a negative result. Those who test positive will still get a phone call from public health officials. Read more about what’s happening in Manitoba, which also lifted some restrictions on Monday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province may be “getting close” to opening public parks and more curbside pickup in retail on Monday. But David Williams, the province’s top doctor, had a cautious message, saying: “We’re in the range of the possible, but we’re not in the range of the probable at this stage.” Read more about what’s happening in Ontario.

Montreal won’t reopen its retail stores until May 18 amid concern about the coronavirus. Stores with doors that open onto the street had been set to reopen on May 11. Dr. Mylène Drouin, public health director in Montreal, said the city is “not lowering the epidemic curve.” Read more about what’s happening in Quebec. 

A person who passed through the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport in New Brunswick late last month tested positive for COVID-19, the airport announced on Monday. The person was travelling from Toronto and arrived in Moncton at 1:52 p.m. on April 27, an airport spokesperson said. Read more about what’s happening in N.B.

In Nova Scotia, drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites are allowing health workers to conserve personal protective gear. Raj Makkar, health services manager at the Colchester East Hants Health Centre, said “you could see 30 patients and still use the one gown, for example.” Read more about what’s happening in N.S.

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Prince Edward Island reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. Health officials report that 25 out of the 27 reported coronavirus cases in the province have recovered from the illness. Read more about what’s happening on P.E.I.

Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the third straight day on Monday. Read more about what’s happening in N.L.

Nunavut is once again the only jurisdiction in Canada to have zero confirmed coronavirus cases after the territory’s top doctor said the first reported case was actually a false positive. Read more about what’s happening across the North.

Here’s a look at what’s happening in the U.S.

From The Associated Press and Reuters, updated at 7:30 a.m. ET

In the U.S., states are taking halting steps to lift some restrictions even as thousands of new cases continue to be reported each day.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the first governors to impose a statewide stay-home order, announced that some businesses can reopen as early as Friday, with restrictions.

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In Louisiana, state lawmakers were restarting their legislature — but feuded over whether they should return at all. Political battles have become increasingly embedded in U.S. coronavirus policy.

Texas, Oklahoma, and Montana are among those newly allowing restaurants to reopen. Malls, movie theatres and other venues are reopening in several states. Some states have outlined phased reopenings — North Carolina’s governor said he hopes to start such a process after this week if virus trends allow.

Some states, including the U.S. epicentre New York, are moving more slowly, with restrictions in place at least until May 15.

According to the coronavirus case tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has more than 1.1 million reported coronavirus cases, with almost 69,000 known COVID-19-related deaths.

Here’s a look at what’s happening around the world

From The Associated Press and Reuters, updated at 7:30 a.m. ET

Britain’s death toll from the pandemic appears to have surpassed Italy, making it Europe’s hardest-hit nation. The government said 28,734 people with COVID-19 had died in U.K. hospitals, nursing homes and other settings. But official U.K. statistics released Tuesday that take into account people who died with suspected, rather than confirmed, COVID-19, put Britain’s toll at more than 30,000 dead. Those figures also suggested the true toll could be a third higher than the government virus figure. Italy has reported 29,079 fatalities.

Tallies from both nations are likely to be underestimates because they only include people who tested positive and testing was not widespread in Italian and British nursing homes until recently.

In Russia, the number of infections rose sharply again, with Moscow reporting more than 10,000 new cases for three days in a row.

At the same time, many European countries that have relaxed strict lockdowns after new infections tapered off were watching their virus numbers warily.

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“We know with great certainty that there will be a second wave — the majority of scientists [are] sure of that. And many also assume that there will be a third wave,” Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s national disease control centre, said Tuesday.

The death toll in Iran rose by 74 in the past 24 hours to 6,277.

Widely seen as a success story, South Korea reported only three new cases of the virus, its lowest total since Feb. 18. Schools will be reopened in phased steps, starting with high school seniors on May 13, but the highlight Tuesday was the baseball season.

Cheerleaders danced beneath rows of empty seats and umpires wore protective masks as one of the world’s first major professional sports returned to action in games broadcast to starved sports fans around the world.

The Korea Baseball Organization employed other protective measures, including fever screenings for players and coaches before they entered the stadiums.

Other places in the Asia-Pacific region have also suppressed their outbreaks, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, which has had zero new cases for two days. Bu experts say India, a nation of 1.3 billion people, has yet to see the peak of its outbreak.

Uganda began to loosen one of Africa’s strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns on Tuesday after President Yoweri Museveni declared the infection “tamed.” The country of 42 million reported 97 confirmed cases and no deaths in 45 days of restrictions, and Museveni said it was now better equipped to trace and detect new infections faster.

“We have somehow tamed the virus,” Museveni said in a televised address late on Monday. “It is high time we … start slowly and carefully to open up, but without undoing our achievements.”

Schools and international borders were to remain shut, Museveni said.

There have been 4,075 new cases in Brazil and 263 deaths over the last 24 hours and Indigenous leaders in the country have asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to set up an emergency fund to help protect their communities.

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