Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Monday, December 14, 2020:
- There have been 140,181 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 1,677 (or 1.2 per cent) from the previous day. There are 120,028 people recovered from the virus while 3,949 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 6,962,643 of which 51,051 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 460,743. The country has 13,431 deaths from the virus – one in the Yukon, 598 in British Columbia, 719 in Alberta, 89 in Saskatchewan, 490 in Manitoba, 3,949 in Ontario, 7,508 in Quebec, eight in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit region stands at 1,067 confirmed cases, of which 292 are active and 743 are resolved. The number of deaths is 32. Eight people are in hospital. There are 10 active outbreaks (includes nursing and retirement homes, lodging homes, group homes, schools and daycare). Testing is at 87,900. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 642 cases (133 active), SD&G 208 cases (90 active), Cornwall 181 cases (68 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 36 cases (one active). (The health unit doesn’t update statistics on weekends)
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit stands at 569 confirmed cases, of which 59 are active and 457 are recovered. The number of deaths to date is 53. There are two active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Leeds-Grenville East (12 active), Leeds-Grenville Central (eight active), Leeds-Grenville West (28 active), Lanark County West (nine active) and Lanark County East (two active). (The health unit doesn’t update statistics on weekends)
- The first set of the initial batch of 30,000 Pfizer vaccines for Canada arrived by air. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Sunday night that while it’s good news, Canadians must continue to keep up their vigilance against the virus. The vaccines will be distributed to 14 sites across the country. Quebec is expected to be the first to give the shots, starting today.
- Akwesasne’s Emergency Operations Center has imposed new restrictions on gatherings after a “significant rise in recent weeks” of coronavirus cases. As of this past Friday (Dec. 11), indoor gatherings who are not members of an “immediate family bubble” are limited to 10 and outdoor groupings are limited to 25. Violating the rule could lead to a civil fine up to $1,500 U.S. on a first offence and up to $5,000 for repeat offences.
- The Upper Canada District School Board has sent out notices about three more COVID-19 cases at its schools. Two of them are at Glengarry District High School in Alexandria, though the health unit says they are unrelated within the school environment so there’s no outbreak declaration. Another case is at Russell Public School. In all cases, the schools remain open and there’s no change to operations.
- Someone at Gananoque Secondary School has tested positive for the virus, school board officials said Sunday night. The school remains open, no changes to the schedule and the health unit is doing contact tracing for high risk contacts.
- Alberta is having a tough time flattening the curve. On the first day of its four week measures to slow the viral spread, it had a record 22 new deaths from COVID-19. There’s another 1,717 new infections.
- The first shipments of the vaccine for the U.S. are about to be distributed. As far as deliveries, UPS is handling the eastern half of the country while FedEx is taking care of the west.
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