Newswatch COVID-19 Digest: Tuesday October 13, 2020

Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Tuesday, October 13, 2020:

  • Public Health Ontario did not report numbers on Thanksgiving Monday. The next report will be today at 10:30 a.m. which will include yesterday’s numbers and today’s update. The following is a repeat of the statistics from Sunday: There have been 59,139 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 649 (or 1.1 per cent) from the previous day. There are 50,437 people recovered from the virus while 3,005 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 4,394,461 of which 45,837 have pending results.
  • Canada’s coronavirus case total is 182,839. The country has 9,627 deaths from the virus – 245 in British Columbia, 282 in Alberta, 25 in Saskatchewan, 34 in Manitoba, 3,005 in Ontario, 5,965 in Quebec, two in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
  • After saying it wouldn’t report cases on statutory holidays, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit made the surprise move of adding nine cases to its tally on Thanksgiving Money to bring the regional total to 340 confirmed positive cases. Of those, 90 are active cases and 238 are resolved. There are now four people in hospital, up from two. There have been 12 deaths to date and three active institutional outbreaks (Embrun, Hawkesbury and one other undisclosed location). Testing total unchanged at 67,422. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 230 cases (67 active), SD&G 74 cases (19 active) and Cornwall 36 cases (six active).
  • The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit region stands at 402 confirmed cases, of which seven are active and 343 recovered. The breakdown is: Leeds-Grenville East (three active), Leeds-Grenville Central (one active), Leeds-Grenville West (two active), Lanark County West (one active) and Lanark County East (zero active). There have been 52 deaths to date. (The next update is Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.)
  • The federal government’s new financial support programs rolled Monday but the Canada Revenue Agency reported issues with the online application system but those problems have been resolved, the government says.
  • It’s unethical to pursue herd immunity, according to the head of the World Health Organization. Tedros Ghebreyesus says too little is known about COVID-19 immunity to know if herd immunity will work.
  • France is not ruling out further lockdowns after 43,000 new infections over the weekend. Nine large cities, including Paris, have been placed under the maximum alert level.

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