Newswatch COVID-19 Digest: Tuesday June 30, 2020

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit office at 1000 Pitt Street in Cornwall, Ont. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Tuesday, June 30, 2020:

  • There have been 34,911 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 257 (or 0.5 per cent) from the previous day (all but 80 cases [177] are from the Windsor-Essex region). There are 30,196 people recovered from the virus while 2,665 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 1,383,566 of which 16,701 have pending results.
  • Canada’s coronavirus case total is 103,918. The country has 8,566 deaths from the virus – 174 in British Columbia, 154 in Alberta, 13 in Saskatchewan, seven in Manitoba, 2,665 in Ontario, 5,485 in Quebec, two in New Brunswick, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 63 in Nova Scotia.
  • Three more people (all in the City of Cornwall) have recovered from the virus in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit area Monday, bringing the total resolved cases to 141. The regional total of confirmed positives stands at 163. Two people in hospital, one in ICU and there have been 11 deaths to date. The number of tests increased by 248 to 15,234. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 112 cases (97 resolved), SD&G 29 cases (25 resolved) and Cornwall 22 cases (19 resolved).
  • No change in numbers Monday for the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area. It’s 352 confirmed cases and 52 deaths with 299 cases (99 per cent) resolved. There have been 53 community cases in Leeds-Grenville with no active cases.
  • The Ontario Ministry of Health says it won’t be mandating wearing of masks at the provincial level. That will be up to local medical officers of health. Kingston’s medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, ordered mandatory masking inside many public venues after an outbreak at a nail salon, which has now resulted in 27 confirmed cases of the virus. Some GTA mayors were calling for mandatory masking.
  • The Canada Emergency Rent Assistance program will be extended by one month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is working with the provinces on the extension, designed to help small businesses with rent.
  • Federal data modelling shows the COVID-19 hot spots in Canada are Montreal, Toronto, Windsor and parts of Saskatchewan. The models also suggest there will be 108,000 cases and 8,865 deaths by the second week of July.
  • With shows on hold during the pandemic, Cirque du Soleil has filed for bankruptcy protection. The company will be in Quebec Superior Court today. Nearly 3,500 employees have been let go.

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.