Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Sunday, May 16, 2021:
- There have been 507,117 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 2,584 cases from the previous day. There have been 471,096 people recovered from the virus while 8,455 have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 14,737,404 of which 19,533 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 1,323,681. The country has 24,908 deaths from the virus – two in the Yukon, four in Nunavut, 1,634 in British Columbia, 2,140 in Alberta, 516 in Saskatchewan, 1,006 in Manitoba, 8,455 in Ontario, 11,032 in Quebec, 41 in New Brunswick, six in Newfoundland & Labrador and 72 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit area stands at 4,645 confirmed cases, of which 189 are active and 4,353 are resolved. The number of deaths is at 103. There are 11 people in hospital with five in the ICU. There are three active institutional outbreaks. Testing is at 137,479. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 1,953 cases (82 active), SD&G 1,098 cases (55 active), Cornwall 1,251 cases (42 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 343 cases (10 active). (The health unit doesn’t update statistics on weekends)
- As of Friday, Akwesasne’s Community Health Program says there are 350 cases of which eight are active (not reflected in EOHU statistics).
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area stands at 1,692 confirmed cases, of which 26 are active and 1,606 are recovered. There are 60 deaths to date. No one is in hospital. There are no active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 372 cases (four active), Lanark County West 386 cases (one active), Leeds-Grenville Central 190 cases (five active), Leeds-Grenville East 330 cases (six active) and Leeds-Grenville West 192 cases (nine active). (The health unit doesn’t update statistics on weekends)
- Vaccines: Ontario 6,925,232 (+154,104, last update May 15); EOHU 79,818 (last update May 14, +36 from previous update May 13); LGL 51,935 individuals with at least 1 shot (last update May 10, +6,194 from previous update May 3).
- Across the border in St. Lawrence County (which includes Massena, Potsdam, Canton and Ogdensburg) there were 19 cases added Friday bringing the county total to 7,340. The number of active cases jumped 12 to 102, with most of the active cases in Massena (27) and its surrounding ares (Norfolk-16, Brasher-7), Ogdensburg (7) and Gouverneur (7). There are 7,142 people recovered and 96 have died. One is currently in the hospital. Just over 319,000 people in St. Lawrence County have been tested for coronavirus.
- With the coronavirus pandemic, Canadians are somewhat divided with sending athletes to the Tokyo Olympics. A Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies poll shows 42 per cent say Canadian athletes should not compete – 39 per cent say they should go.
- Like the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that fully vaccinated people can go maskless indoors and outdoors won’t apply to the Ontario and Quebec portions of the territory. MCA’s Department of Health says it will continue to follow the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s mandate that masks are required in public settings.
- The Trudeau government is in preliminary internal discussions about opening the Canada-U.S. border again to non-essential traffic but nothing has been decided yet, according to Bloomberg. It’s been closed to non-essential traffic since March 2020. A week-and-a-half ago, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer visited Massena International Airport on a whistle-stop to push to open the border again to discretionary travel.
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