Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Wednesday, July 22, 2020:
- There have been 37,942 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 203 (or 0.5 per cent) from the previous day. There are 33,605 people recovered from the virus while 2,753 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 1,910,109 of which 11,842 have pending results.
- Ontario Deputy Premier Christine Elliott says the fact 57 per cent of the newly confirmed COVID-19 cases are people 39 years old or younger is “concerning” and people need to stick to public health guidelines. The new case load above 200 – the first time in about three weeks – is largely due to pockets of new cases in Ottawa, Peel and Windsor-Essex.
- Nationally, the country’s deputy chief public health officers believes a feeling of invincibility could be behind a rise in COVID-19 cases in Canada among young people. Dr. Howard Njoo says the uptick is a cause for concern.
- Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie says there was a misrepresentation in Tuesday’s Ontario numbers for the Peel Region. Crombie told a news conference that due to a backlog in migrating data, there were actually 22 new cases, not 57.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 111,697. The country has 8,862 deaths from the virus – 189 in British Columbia, 172 in Alberta, 15 in Saskatchewan, seven in Manitoba, 2,753 in Ontario, 5,658 in Quebec, two in New Brunswick, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 63 in Nova Scotia.
- A new case in the City of Cornwall has increased the regional total in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit region to 172 confirmed cases with 151 resolved. The latest case is a man in his 20s. There are two people in hospital. There have been 11 deaths to date. Testing increased by 777 to 24,413. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 115 cases (100 resolved + 11 deaths), SD&G 32 cases (28 resolved) and Cornwall 25 cases (23 resolved).
- There are now no active coronavirus cases in the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit region. There are 303 cases recovered. The number of cases was 355 cases with 52 deaths (deaths are not included in ‘recovered’ case counts).
- The province will use an accelerated build pilot project to build two long-term care homes with 640 beds in Mississauga by next year. Premier Doug Ford made the announcement during the daily coronavirus briefing. The pilot is part of the province’s $1.75 billion over five years to address long-term care.
- The SD&G Library will be opening up six branches for people to go inside and pick up self-service “holds” of books and other materials, materials from the Library of Things and the Wi-Fi hot spots. It’s part of a phased opening. Everyone visiting a branch must wear a face mask.
- There was a hoax call at the beginning of the pandemic in B.C. that caused a “great deal of harm” to front line resources at the long-term care home that had the first COVID-19 death in Canada. That’s according to an open letter from Lynn Valley Care Center. The Mounties are investigating.
- In response to the slowdown in hiring during the pandemic, LinkedIn is shaving six per cent of its workforce or roughly 1,000 employees from the global sales and hiring sections. The layoffs take effect late next month.
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.