Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Friday, August 28, 2020:
- There have been 41,813 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 118 (or 0.3 per cent) from the previous day. There are 37,940 people recovered from the virus while 2,803 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 2,852,346 of which 26,179 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 126,848. The country has 9,102 deaths from the virus – 204 in British Columbia, 237 in Alberta, 24 in Saskatchewan, 14 in Manitoba, 2,803 in Ontario, 5,750 in Quebec, two in New Brunswick, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit region added three more cases on Thursday – all in Prescott-Russell – to bring the total confirmed cases to 194. There are 15 active cases. The number of resolved cases remains at 168. There are no people in hospital and there are 11 deaths to date. Testing numbers increased to 39,098. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 128 cases (10 active), SD&G 39 cases (three active) and Cornwall 27 cases (two active).
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area added two more cases on Thursday to bring the regional total to 363 confirmed cases. There are seven active cases in the community – five in eastern Leeds-Grenville and two in eastern Lanark County. The number of deaths and recoveries remains the same at 52 and 304.
- Thousands of Montreal children in French-language schools returned to the classroom Thursday under new COVID-19 rules. Those rules include hand-washing, mask-wearing in hallways and common areas for Grades 5 and up as well as classroom bubbles. Critics say the plan doesn’t go far enough. There were already reports of infections connected to schools on the first day.
- In Nova Scotia, people in long-term care homes are now being allowed to leave for medical appointments with family members. A cap on visitors indoors has also been lifted.
- Saskatchewan’s finance minister believes the province will have to run deficits for the next few years to recover from COVID-19 and won’t be back financially to where it was before the pandemic until 2022. In Alberta, the province is projecting a record $24 billion deficit this year.
- Nearly two-thirds of Canadians surveyed who have long-term conditions or disabilities say they are struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic, according to a Statistics Canada study.
- A vaccine development between Canada and a firm in China has been scrapped. Clinical trials were to take place at Dalhousie University’s research lab but the vaccine has not been approved by Chinese customs for Canada.
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.