Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Friday, April 10, 2020:
- There have been 5,759 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 483 cases (or 9.2 per cent) from the previous day. There are 2,305 people recovered from the virus while 200 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 88,698 of which 1,208 have pending results.
- Canada’s confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 case total is 19,774. The country has 461 COVID-19 related deaths – 48 in British Columbia, 29 in Alberta, three in Saskatchewan, three in Manitoba, 200 in Ontario, 175 in Quebec, two in Newfoundland & Labrador and one in Nova Scotia.
- Cornwall, SD&G and Prescott-Russell added two more positive COVID-19 cases to its tally on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 49 (previously 47).
- The province recorded what is believed to be the first health care worker death related to COVID-19. A Brampton man in his 50s was an environmental services associate at a Brampton hospital. Public health officials believe he caught the virus in the community and not at work.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit wants people to physical distance even though the temptation may be there to get together with family during the Easter weekend. “Gathering with more than five people, even in someone’s home, is prohibited unless all the individuals live together,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said Thursday. “The whole essence is, you don’t want people who don’t live together to get together because you want to be socially distance.”
- A fifth testing and assessment center opened Tuesday in Rockland. It’s been added to the other centers in Cornwall, Winchester, Alexandria and Casselman. Like the other centers, it’s for people with moderate and worsening symptoms of COVID-19.
- Getting out for a walk at a local conservation area is still possible in some places in SD&G over Easter. The South Nation Conservation Area says Two Creeks Forest in Morrisburg, Robert Graham in Glen Stewart, Warwick Forest in Berwick and Reveler in Crysler remain open for walk-through access only, provided you practice physical distancing. All amenities like washrooms and seating are closed.
- The Ontario government has launched a Jobs and Recovery Committee which will plan to get people and business back up and running after the pandemic is over. Statistics Canada released jobless figures Thursday showing more than 400,000 people lost their jobs in March. Over a million jobs were lost across the country.
- Happy Face Chesterville in North Dundas will open for child care for health care and front line workers, MPP Jim McDonell announced Thursday. Earlier this week, McDonell also announced that the Estrie Family Resource Center (CRFE) on Holy Cross Boulevard in Cornwall would also be a front line worker child care center.
- Even with strong control measure in place, the Public Health Agency of Canada projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians will still die from COVID-19 in the coming months. The agency released its modelling data Thursday morning but suggested to take the data with a grain of salt. “Models are not crystal balls and we cannot predict the future with them,” it said.
- St. Lawrence County, which includes the towns of Massena, Potsdam and Canton, recorded its first COVID-19 related death on Wednesday. It was a person in their 70s who died from complications association with the virus. There are at least 70 cases in the county with eight people in hospital.
- A curfew is in place on the U.S. portion of Akwesasne. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe issued a stay-at-home order on Wednesday where people in the southern portion of the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation must be in their homes between 10 p.m and 6 a.m. except for essential services and government. Businesses also have to close by 9 p.m. every night.
- An Akwesasne-wide fire ban is in place in order to protect fire department resources during the COVID-19 outbreak. The order went into effect Wednesday (April 7), which includes all types of fires including ones in a “burning barrel.”
- With adoptions on hold, the Ontario SPCA has set up an Urgent Animal Care Fund to cover the cost of housing, feeding and caring for the animals.
Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Cornwall Newswatch. Email editor@cornwallnewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.