Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Wednesday, October 28, 2020:
- There have been 72,051 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 827 (or 1.2 per cent) from the previous day. There are 61,530 people recovered from the virus while 3,103 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 4,961,368 of which 22,636 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 222,887. The country has 10,001 deaths from the virus – 259 in British Columbia, 309 in Alberta, 25 in Saskatchewan, 58 in Manitoba, 3,103 in Ontario, 6,172 in Quebec, six in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- There were eight newly reported COVID-19 cases in the City of Cornwall Tuesday – among the 11 new cases that pushed the Eastern Ontario Health Unit regional total 561 confirmed cases. The other three were in SD&G (one in North Dundas, two in South Glengarry). Of those, 218 are active and 326 are resolved. There are six people in hospital (one fewer than Monday), two of those are in ICU. There are five institutional outbreaks. Testing increased by 604 to 73,008. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 400 cases (164 active), SD&G 104 cases (32 active) and Cornwall 57 cases (22 active).
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit added four new cases on Tuesday to bring the regional total to 443 confirmed cases, of which 19 are active and 371 are recovered. The breakdown is: Leeds-Grenville East (two active), Leeds-Grenville Central (three active), Leeds-Grenville West (one active), Lanark County West (three active) and Lanark County East (nine active). The total number of deaths is 53.
- The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe will be doing additional COVID-19 drive-through testing next month. It will focus on Akwesasne residents and non-member employees of local schools and businesses. The tests will happened the first three Tuesdays in November at the former IGA building on State Route 37 in Akwesasne from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- As part of a staged reopening, the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort started select table games on Wednesday last week (Oct. 21). The seating is limited three people per table, instead of six, to allow for social distancing. The casino has a capacity limit of 1,200 guests. It’s been open for about two months.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the situation with the pandemic “sucks” for Canadians. The PM made his remark as the country topped 10,000 deaths Tuesday. Trudeau says he understands the frustrations of Canadians about the restrictions and lockdowns.
- Quebec Premier Francois Legault says COVID-19 restrictions will continue for another month. But he sounded a little optimistic that those could be eased in time for the holidays. Quebec had another 963 cases on Tuesday and another 19 deaths.
- A University of Toronto study on the movements of some 870,000 cell phones shows people dramatically stopped travelling far from home and kept away from others starting Friday, March 13 – two days after the WHO declared a global pandemic. While travelling had some rebound, people were still steering clear of others through the summer and beginning of fall.
- The Vatican says it’s working on making sure Pope Francis wears a mask after some in his inner circle were worried about him because he hasn’t been wearing one. The 83-year-old pontiff is considered high risk as he had part of his lung removed as a child.
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.