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.
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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.
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.
N.B. Premier <a href=”https://twitter.com/BlaineHiggs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@BlaineHiggs</a> says he’s looking to keep provincial border measures in place for at least a few more months. “Our biggest risk will be in relation to borders… we have concerns about the different levels of the covid and the virus in different provinces or states.” <a href=”https://t.co/BUDOYtO3iS”>pic.twitter.com/BUDOYtO3iS</a>
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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After a 100-year-old Nova Scotia woman fully recovered from COVID-19, her daughter says it’s important to share good-news stories during this time of uncertainty. 1:59
Prince Edward Islandreported 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.
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.
WATCH | Senators return to Washington as more states relax COVID-19 restrictions:
As more states relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, senators returned to Washington after an extended absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic with new physical distancing measures in place. 2:00
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.
A New York City MTA transit worker cleans a subway car during the outbreak of the coronavirus in New York City on Monday. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Some states, including the U.S. epicentre New York, are moving more slowly, with restrictions in place at least until May 15.
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.
A specialized helper disinfects a corridor of the Anatole France preschool in Cenon on Tuesday as schools in France are to gradually reopen from May 11, when a partial lifting of restrictions due to the pandemic come into effect. (Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images)
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.
Members of the media are seen standing near an image of an audience before a baseball game in South Korea. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)
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.
Students wearing face masks stand in a line to get their temperatures checked at the Marie Curie school in Hanoi on Monday as schools reopened after an extended closure to combat the spread of COVID-19. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images)
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.
WATCH | COVID-19 pushes move toward online health care:
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed forward a move towards more online health care for Canadians that may become the new normal. 1:57
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
