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COVID-19 Daily Briefing: April 21, 2020

Mayor John Tory, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, and Toronto Fire Chief and General Manager of the City’s Office of Emergency Management, Matthew Pegg, provide an update of the current situation and City response to COVID-19 in Toronto.

COVID-19 Daily Briefing: April 20, 2020

Mayor John Tory, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, and Toronto Fire Chief and General Manager of the City’s Office of Emergency Management, Matthew Pegg, provide an update of the current situation and City response to COVID-19 in Toronto.

Breaking News Sahar-TV Network

Breaking News & Community response to COVID19,  Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

PM under pressure to flesh out promise to top up pay for long-term care workers

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be under pressure today to flesh out his promise to do more to protect seniors in long-term care homes, which have been hardest hit by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau promised earlier this week that the federal government would provide funding to top up the wages earned by essential workers in nursing homes who earn less than $2,500 a month.

That promise was discussed during a conference call among first ministers late Thursday.

No details of the call were immediately forthcoming, other than a brief summary of the discussion issued by the Prime Minister's Office which said first ministers "agreed on the urgent need to ensure long-term care facilities have the resources they need to protect the health and well-being of their residents and workers."

Since the salaries paid to workers in long-term care homes fall under provincial jurisdiction, Trudeau has been clear that whatever the federal government does must be in collaboration with the provinces.

Seniors Minister Deb Schulte told CBC News late Thursday that the federal government will boost transfer payments to the provinces and territories to allow them to top up wages. She did not say how much money Ottawa is prepared to ante up.

Personal support workers in nursing homes often work poorly paid part-time jobs in multiple facilities, which has contributed to the spread of COVID-19.

Topping up their wages is intended to compensate them for orders in some provinces that ban them from working in more than one facility. It's also intended to encourage them to stay on a job that has become increasingly risky as COVID-19 sweeps like wildfire through long-term care homes across Canada.

About half of Canada's more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 have involved residents of long-term care facilities.

Quebec has already announced it will top up the wages of essential workers in nursing homes; Ontario Premier Doug Ford indicated Thursday that his province will follow suit but first he wanted to see what financial assistance Ottawa would offer.

Trudeau's government will also be under pressure today from the Conservatives to have in-person sittings of the House of Commons throughout the crisis.

Parliament has been adjourned since mid-March, except for two single-day sittings to pass emergency aid legislation. It is to resume business as usual on Monday, unless all four recognized parties in the Commons agree to a further suspension of business.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is insisting that a small group of MPs must sit up to four days each week in the Commons in order to hold the government to account for what he contends is a sloppy response to the health crisis.

Until the logistics for a virtual Parliament can be worked out, Trudeau's Liberals have offered to sit one day a week, with two or three hours devoted to what's called committee of the whole, which would allow for longer questions and more thorough answers than are allowed during the normal 45-minute daily question period.

In a letter late Thursday to Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, Conservative whip Mark Strahl argued that regular sittings could be done safely without putting at risk the health of MPs or Commons staff at a time when all Canadians are being advised to keep two-metres physical distance from one another and stay home as much as possible.

Strahl said only essential staff necessary for the operation of the Commons should be required to work, they should be issued with masks and gloves where necessary and hand sanitizing stations should be set up at entrances and exits of the Commons and other strategic locations throughout the parliamentary precinct.

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

The latest numbers of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. ET on April 17, 2020: 

 There are 30,106 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 15,857 confirmed (including 630 deaths, 2,841 resolved)

_ Ontario: 8,961 confirmed (including 423 deaths, 4,194 resolved)

_ Alberta: 2,158 confirmed (including 50 deaths, 914 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 1,575 confirmed (including 78 deaths, 983 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 579 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 176 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 305 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 219 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 252 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 170 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 239 confirmed (including 5 deaths, 121 resolved), 11 presumptive

_ New Brunswick: 117 confirmed (including 80 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 26 confirmed (including 23 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

_ Yukon: 8 confirmed (including 6 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 2 resolved)

_ Nunavut: No confirmed cases

_ Total: 30,106 (11 presumptive, 30,095 confirmed including 1,196 deaths, 9,729 resolved)

Champagne, Ukraine reject Iran crash report suggesting immunity for Tehran

OTTAWA — Canada and Ukraine flatly rejected a report suggesting the Iranian regime was seeking immunity from future legal action after shooting down a passenger jet in January.

The Iranian military shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on Jan. 8 shortly after it took off from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Iran has yet to deliver on its promise to surrender the flight recorders from the downed airliner to the Ukrainian government, a pledge that came during the March 11 meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal.

Earlier this week, a report from Radio Farda said Iran wants Ukraine to sign a memorandum of understanding in which the families of the crash victims would sign away their future rights for legal compensation.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired two missiles at the commercial airliner, but Radio Farda says Iran wants Ukraine to accept that "human error" was the cause of the plane's downing.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says he has not seen the proposed Iranian memo, and that there is no chance that Canada, Ukraine or any of the other countries that lost citizens would ever agree to waive their rights to hold Iran to account.

"That would not be in line with the discussion we have had so far and the resolve we have shown to stand up for justice for the families," Champagne said Thursday in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"Some entities may want to spread some information that may not be accurate," the minister added.

"I would be a little bit careful at this time that there might be actors that might want to spread rumours, at a time where the grieving families are looking for facts. They are grieving, and they want to be reassured that we are all working in a similar fashion to achieve that."

Radio Farda is a Persian-language broadcaster that is part of the independent Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty network funded by the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

Thursday marked 100 days since the crash, and Ukraine's ambassador to Canada said his country is losing patience with Iran, regardless of the formidable challenges the country has faced in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andriy Shevchenko, the Ukrainian envoy, said his government may consider other "mechanisms" to force Iran to hand over the black boxes but he declined to say what those might be.

"We are very dissatisfied with the non-progress on this," he said in an interview Thursday. "We've had more than enough time to have some action and some concrete steps on this."

Shevchenko confirmed that his government received a memo from Iran that he called "a working document that does not address all the issues we want to be covered." He said the memo deals with the issue of compensation.

Shevchenko said Thursday's anniversary of the incident was significant.

"It's 100 days today. We have had too much grief, too few answers and too little action."

On Wednesday, the international group comprised of the countries that lost nationals in the crash — Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain — held a teleconference during which they discussed another avenue of compensation for the grieving families.

Champagne said the group received an update from the lawyer representing Ukraine International Airlines and its insurance company to check on the progress of the statutory compensation that the airline is required to pay to the families of the victims under international civil aviation rules.

"It's a private matter between the families and the airline. But since the beginning I've paid a particular interest," Champagne explained. He said he and his fellow foreign ministers want to do what they can to help the process along.

"We got a status report from the law firm," said Champagne, but he had no timeline on when that process might bring results for grieving families.

Last month, the government appointed former Liberal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale as its special adviser to the Ukraine plane crash investigation. The former Saskatchewan MP held many portfolios, including Public Safety, which oversees the RCMP.

Champagne said Goodale has been talking to the victims' families "for a good part of the week."

Grieving families have previously complained the government became too preoccupied with the pandemic to deal with them.

Trump wants some states to reopen soon but new outbreaks continue in nursing homes and food processing plants

President Donald Trump told governors they can reopen their states soon if they want but health officials across the country are still battling numerous coronavirus outbreaks.

"Our national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution," Trump told reporters.

Trump unveiled new guidelines on Thursday to help states loosen social distancing restrictions and restart the economy. The guidelines, which won't be mandatory, suggest a phased approach that will still keep schools closed and allow some restaurants and gyms to operate under social distancing protocols. Each governor will ultimately decide on how and when to open.

We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time," Trump said. "And some states will be able to open up sooner than others. Some states are not in the kind of trouble that others are in. 

 While the number of new cases is dropping in some states, health officials have identified new outbreaks. In New Hampshire, clusters were identified at three long-term care facilities, according to Lori Shibinette, health commissioner with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. 

Where All 50 States Stand on Reopening

Meanwhile, more than half of the 143 new cases of Covid-19 in South Dakota were linked to the Smithfield Foods plant, one of the country's largest pork processing facilities, a spokesman with the state's health department said. 

An influential model previously cited by the White House shows that number of new cases has dropped on a national level while "places like New York seem to be stuck at the peak for longer than we originally expected."

Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told CNN's Anderson Cooper during CNN's coronavirus town hall those hot spots are seeing longer peaks than what Spain and Italy experienced. He noted that Southern states will not be hit as hard as initially estimated.

More than 670,000 people have tested positive in the US with at least 33,101 deaths linked to the virus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. About 4,811 deaths were reported Wednesday alone.

It's unclear whether the latest death toll includes probable cases. Federal health officials have said they'll start including probable cases, which meet clinical criteria for symptoms and evidence of Covid-19 -- but with no lab test confirming the disease.

Governors extended stay-at-home orders and formed pacts

Several governors extended stay-at-home orders to fight the coronavirus and new partnerships had emerged among them before Trump told them they will call their "own shots."

Seven states -- Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky -- will work together to reopen the Midwest regional economy, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced.

"We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education," Whitmer said in a statement.

New York and six other Northeast states extended stay-at-home orders through at least May 15. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has said his city will likely not permit public sporting events and concerts until next year.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the creation of the "Resilient Louisiana" task force, which will work toward the reopening of the state's economy.

Edwards says experts will make recommendations on how to reopen businesses in a way that adequately protects public health.

More testing is needed before reopening, officials say

Before social distancing mandates are relaxed, authorities and experts say that increased coronavirus testing will have to be conducted nationwide to track how much the virus has penetrated communities and enable officials to separate those who are infected.

Following Trump's call with the governors, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper emphasized the need for testing and personal protective equipment, noting the federal government should step in.

"We will continue working with our federal and local partners to beat this virus, protect people's health and recover our economy," Cooper said in a statement.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called rapid testing the key to determining when emergency restrictions can be lifted. "We need to build the equivalent of a fire brigade," he said. 

Unemployment claims continue rising

Another 5.2 million Americans filed for their first week of unemployment benefits in the period ending April 11, according to new figures by the US Department of Labor.

In total, 22 million people have filed first-time claims since mid-March as the pandemic forces businesses to close and lay off workers.

The Small Business Administration said it had run out money for the Paycheck Protection Program and was unable to accept new applications.

With the $349 billion emergency small business lending program out of funds, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Democrats will reconvene Thursday on a package to increase funding immediately.

Former Vice President Joe Biden called choosing between reopening the economy and ending the pandemic a "false choice."

"Look, I think it's a false choice to say you have to choose between the economy and our health. If you don't fix the health side of it, the economy is never going to get right," he said during CNN's coronavirus townhall on Thursday.

Protesters rally against restrictions in two states

Medical experts have emphasized that the key to fewer coronavirus cases is for people to practice social distancing. As a result, all but seven states are under stay-at-home orders from their governors.

But in at least two states, protesters rallied against the social distancing mandates, calling them a violation of individual freedoms.

In Lansing, Michigan, vehicles jammed several streets around the Capitol in a protest organized by conservative groups against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

"It's time for our state to be opened up. We're tired of not being able to buy the things that we need," Brenda Essman of Kalamazoo told CNN affiliate WLNS. "We need to open our businesses."

And in Raleigh, North Carolina, demonstrators gathered outside the state legislative building Tuesday to protest the state's stay-at-home order, CNN affiliate WRAL reported. Police officers told them they were defying social distancing rules by standing too close together, and asked them to disperse. Most left.

Michigan is one of the hardest-hit states with nearly 2,000 deaths reported while North Carolina has had 135. 

Companies report changes in testing

Some commercial lab companies say they've seen some recent decline in demand for coronavirus tests following weeks of increases.

Quest Diagnostics said demand declined in recent days, allowing the company to wipe out the remnants of its coronavirus test backlog. Its average turnaround time is now less than two days.

Another company, Eurofins USA, said its labs have excess testing capacity, in part because many hospitals are now testing in-house. A company spokesperson said another contributing factor is some of its labs have been denied entry into some insurance plan networks.

TAY UP TO DATE AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

Canada – Federal: Canada.ca/coronavirus
Ontario – Provincial: Ontario.ca/coronavirus
Toronto – City: Toronto.ca/coronavirus

Thank you for doing all you can to flatten and crush the curve!
We are seeing positive signs that our efforts are working, so stay strong.

All My Best
Lalaka
The Founder/CEO at Sahar-TV Network.

The latest developments on COVID-19 in Canada

Sahar-TV Network, Thursday April 16, 2020

Breaking News & Community response to COVID19, from City Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The latest developments on COVID-19 in Canada
1:45 p.m.

The Vancouver Aquarium says it could be forced into bankruptcy and permanent closure because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aquarium has been closed since March 17 but faces monthly costs in excess of $1 million for animal care and habitat maintenance.

Ocean Wise Conservation Association, which operates the aquarium, says bankruptcy is likely by early summer if funding is not found.

The not-for-profit aquarium currently houses more than 70,000 animals.

It has laid off 60 per cent of its staff while it says the remainder are working reduced hours.

---

1:25 p.m.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault says 143 more people have died of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total to 630.

He says most of the deaths did not occur in the past 24 hours, but have been added the list following a change of data collecting methods by the public health department as well as post-mortem investigations.

There were also 997 new cases, for a total of 15,857.

Legault said 2,000 doctors responded to his call yesterday to come help in the province's overburdened long-term care homes.

---

1:25 p.m.

The British Columbia government is offering cash-strapped communities relief measures that include tax payment delays, debt-borrowing initiatives and a 25 per cent commercial property tax cut, but not an outright financial bailout some cities have requested.

Finance Minister Carole James says most commercial property tax bills will be cut by a further 25 per cent with a second reduction in school property tax payments, which have already been chopped by 50 per cent.

James says in order to give businesses and landlords more time to pay commercial property taxes, the late payment date has been extended to October 1 from July.

She says to better address municipal cash flow and revenue shortfall issues, the province will allow local governments to borrow, interest-free, from their existing capital funds and carry debt into next year.

---

12:58 p.m.

Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting five new cases of COVID-19 today for a total of 252 confirmed cases.

Chief medical health officer Doctor Janice Fitzgerald says the new cases are in the province's Eastern Health zone.

Fitzgerald says 170 cases are considered recovered or resolved.

She's urging people to "stay in their bubble" in order to stay safe.

---

12:57 p.m.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada is talking with the United States about the agreement keeping the border closed to non-essential crossings.

Freeland says Canada's position is that the agreement should be extended.

She says regardless of what U.S. President Donald Trump says about wanting to re-open the border, decisions about opening Canada's side will be made by Canadians only.

Freeland says there are also discussions between premiers about interprovincial travel restrictions.

---

12:52 p.m.

Prince Edward Island is reporting no new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, keeping the provincial total at 26 cases.

The province's chief public health officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, says there is a collective sigh of relief every time there are no new cases on the Island.

Twenty-three cases are considered recovered.

Morrison says all cases on P.E.I. have been travel-related with no cases of community transmission.

---

12:35 p.m.

Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer of Canada, says models are now predicting between 1,200 and 1,620 deaths from COVID-19 by April 21.

Last week the projections expected between 500 and 700 deaths this week, and Canada today has confirmed 1,048 deaths.

Tam says the overall curve is "bending" when it comes to the number of new infections being confirmed in Canada but the death rate is higher than expected because such a high proportion of outbreaks are in long term care centres.

Tam says more than 90 per cent of the patients confirmed to have died from COVID-19 are over the age of 60, and half of them lived in long term care centres.

---

12:25 p.m.

Public Procurement minister Anita Anand says 1.1 million more N95 respirator masks will arrive in Canada from China this week.

She says six flights from China have already arrived, and four more are coming this week.

Anand says already 17 million surgical masks and 800,000 N95 respirators have arrived.

Anand also said Irving Oil is the latest Canadian company that is shifting its business to help in the pandemic, adjusting some of its operations to produce hand sanitizer

12:15 p.m.

Nova Scotia is reporting 30 new cases of COVID-19 today for a total of 579 confirmed cases.

Health officials say that as of yesterday, there are seven licensed long-term care homes in Nova Scotia with cases of COVID-19, involving 42 residents and 23 staff.

While most cases in the province have been connected to travel or a known case, officials say there is now community spread.

To date, Nova Scotia has 18,453 negative test results and three deaths.

---

11:35 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it would be "absolutely disastrous" to reopen the economy too early and allow another explosion of cases that would undo all efforts to date.

Trudeau says reopening is also not possible until Canada has a plan for responding to cases that arise in second or third waves.

He says that response would include "massive" levels of testing, and rapid response plans to trace contacts and isolate patients immediately.

---

11:30 a.m.

The federal government is expanding a loan program for small businesses and introducing a new program to help small businesses pay their rent for the next three months.

The Canada Emergency Business Account was introduced previously to help businesses with payrolls between $50,000 and $1 million. Trudeau says more than 195,000 loans have been approved already, worth more than $7.5 billion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the program will be opened to those with payrolls as low as $20,000 or as high as $1.5 million.

He says there will be more details coming on the rent assistance for small businesses but it has to be done with the provinces because they have jurisdiction over rental relationships.

---

11:25 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Quebec formally requested federal help for its health care workers Wednesday night.

He says the two governments are working on a response, which could involve the Canadian Red Cross, military or volunteers.

---

11:20 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke this morning to other G7 leaders to discuss the ongoing global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau says they are committed to working together to find a vaccine, develop new treatments and expand testing, as well as helping developing nations respond better to the crisis.

---

10:40 a.m.

Ontario is reporting 514 new COVID-19 cases today, and 38 more deaths.

That brings the province to a total of 8,961 cases, including 423 deaths and nearly 4,200 cases that have been resolved.

The province completed 9,001 tests in the previous day, surpassing a target the health minister set last week after the premier expressed frustration that Ontario had been testing well below its capacity.

---

10:30 a.m.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. says it will lay off 1,700 pilots as the company continues to struggle with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Air Line Pilots Union says 700 employees received layoff notices effective May 1, with 1,000 more kicking in on June 1, depending on seniority.

One week ago, the Calgary-based company announced it would bring back nearly 6,400 laid-off workers to its payroll using Ottawa's emergency wage subsidy program.

The earlier layoffs did not affect pilots, who had signed a memorandum of understanding to stay on board through April. WestJet says the 1,700 laid-off pilots will be placed on inactive status and be able to access the federal wage subsidy.

---

9:10 a.m.

The 2020 RBC Canadian Open has been cancelled, a casualty of the PGA Tour's announced shortened schedule because of the novel coronavirus.

The four-day competition was scheduled to begin June 11 at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

The Canadian Open was first contested in 1904 and is the third-oldest continuously running tournament on the PGA Tour behind the British Open and the U.S. Open.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy won the title last year at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

---

6:50 a.m.

The Toronto Transit Commission says 38 of its bus drivers refused work on Wednesday over safety concerns related to COVID-19.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said five of the drivers initiated work refusals on Wednesday morning, followed by another 33 in the evening.

The Ministry of Labour said the report by the five workers did not meet the requirements of a work refusal, and the inspector is still ruling on the second round of claims.

Green said the Ministry of Labour cited the TTC's practices of rear-door boarding on busses, blocking of seats nearest to the driver and availability of hand sanitizer as examples of physical distancing measures in place to protect workers

The latest numbers of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 10:41 a.m. on April 16, 2020:
There are 28,893 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.
_ Quebec: 14,860 confirmed (including 487 deaths, 2,146 resolved)

_ Ontario: 8,961 confirmed (including 423 deaths, 4,194 resolved)

_ Alberta: 1,996 confirmed (including 48 deaths, 914 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 1,561 confirmed (including 75 deaths, 955 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 549 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 137 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 304 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 205 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 247 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 159 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 231 confirmed (including 5 deaths, 108 resolved), 15 presumptive

_ New Brunswick: 117 confirmed (including 77 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 26 confirmed (including 23 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed

_ Yukon: 8 confirmed (including 6 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 2 resolved)

_ Nunavut: No confirmed cases

_ Total: 28,893 (15 presumptive, 28,878 confirmed including 1,048 deaths, 8,926 resolved)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2020.

STAY UP TO DATE AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

Canada – Federal: Canada.ca/coronavirus
Ontario – Provincial: Ontario.ca/coronavirus
Toronto – City: Toronto.ca/coronavirus

Thank you for doing all you can to flatten and crush the curve!
We are seeing positive signs that our efforts are working, so stay strong.

All My Best
Lalaka
The Founder/CEO at Sahar-TV Network

BREAKING NEWS & UPDATE COVID19, CITY TORONTO

Charities, groups adapt Easter programs for those in need amid COVID-19 TORONTO — For almost a decade, the Easter long weekend has brought almost 500 Haligonians in need to the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, where they tuck into a free, three-course meal surrounded by other diners and volunteers. They still got to enjoy their hot ham, mashed potatoes and many of the other fixings this year, but one thing was off the menu: company. "It's a really nice sight, but obviously we are not doing it this year," said Michelle Porter, the chief executive of the charitable organization, which cancelled its annual Easter gathering and instead has offered takeout holiday meals Souls Harbour Rescue Mission is not alone. Many organizations serving people most in need had to call off or adjust their typical Easter plans to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and abide by demands from politicians and public authorities to limit gatherings. People recognize the need to be safe in these uncertain times, but for the community, the meal's shift was a "disappointment," said Porter. "It's even more important that we're able to serve a meal because we're the only place serving lunch (to them) right now," she said. "We got a few requests or Facebook messages from people who wouldn't normally come to Souls Harbour for a meal, but are looking for something special for Easter because they haven't been able to either go shop or are not able to afford a ham or turkey this year." Keith Hambly, the chief executive at Fred Victor, a Toronto organization that operates shelters and affordable and transitional housing, was also seeing that need first-hand. His charity's Friends Restaurant, a Queen Street East spot offering weekday brunch or dinner for free or at a low cost, is a hit around the holidays. Like Souls Harbour, it had to switch up its usual traditions. "Since the COVID-19 declaration of emergency a few weeks ago, we've had to do takeout meals as opposed to congregate dining," said Hambly. "We actually had staff and management deliver the meals on Good Friday and again ... on Easter Monday." Hambly was looking forward to his Easter Monday shift delivering some of the roughly 300 prepared meals put together by Fred Victor. Turkey, he thought, had been on the menu for Good Friday, but Easter Monday would likely see ham distributed. Over at Salvation Army, "it's a very different Easter," said spokesperson John Murray. The charity with branches throughout Canada helps over a million people through housing, food, disaster aid, and camps and church services, but the organization has had to make adjustments quickly during the crisis. Its Easter church service was hosted online this year and its community feeding programs, where members of the public in need could visit some Salvation Army sites for food or a meal, are being adjusted. "We've taken those feeding programs out into the community and we're delivering them through our emergency disaster vehicles," Murray said, rattling off a list of locations being targeted by the service, including Hamilton and London, Ont. Over in Halifax, he said the Salvation Army is focusing much of its energy on feeding people in a series of pop-up shelters erected to combat COVID-19. The work the Salvation Army is doing this year has particular importance, said Murray, because of COVID-19. The federal government has committed $100 million for organizations that help get food to Canadians who can't afford groceries or who have uncertain access to food and other basic necessities, including Indigenous Peoples and remote northern populations. That funding is being allocated to groups like Food Banks Canada, the Salvation Army, Second Harvest, Community Food Centres Canada, and Breakfast Club of Canada, who have been calling for donations and support because of an uptick in demand for their services. "We're seeing people who have never come to the Salvation Army before who never thought for a minute they would need the services of a not-for-profit organization, all of a sudden going, 'Wow, I don't have a job. I've got mortgage payments I've got car payments. I've got to pay the heating bill, and I need more food,'" Murray said. "The pandemic is just an extraordinary situation for us." News that deal to cut global oil production has been finalized is welcomed in Canada. News that a deal was finalized by OPEC and other oil producing nations to cut production by nearly 10 million barrels per day is being welcomed in Canada, where provinces have suffered drastic revenue losses due to rock-bottom crude prices. "This is good. We welcome any news that brings stability to global oil markets," Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan said in an emailed statement Sunday. The agreement between the cartel, Russia and other countries came late last week and followed a supply battle that began last month when Russia refused to cut its output amid plunging demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production and reduce its price. Video conference negotiations were held last week, which included representatives from the Alberta government. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who commented Saturday on the negotiations and the hope for their success, noted his province had not been asked to constrain production. "We've been very clear in conveying to OPEC, the United States and others around the world that Alberta has already been in curtailment of production for the past 15 months and that we cannot really affect global prices because we do not have global market access. We don't have those pipelines to the coast," Kenney told reporters during a teleconference on Alberta's pandemic response. "Even if we wanted to surge production, we would be capped out at about four million barrels per day that we could ship through existing pipelines plus crude by rail," he added. The deal that was finalized Sunday reportedly allows Mexico to cut only 100,000 barrels a month, which had been a sticking point after the talks last week. Mexico's energy minister tweeted that the group of nations agreed to cut 9.7 million barrels a day to begin May 1, and energy officials from other countries shared similar information Sunday. O'Regan, who participated in a conference call Friday with G20 energy ministers, had refused to speculate on whether Canada might consider curtailing its production as part of the broader multilateral effort, but said it's no secret that production has dropped in Newfoundland, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also wouldn't say Friday whether Canada would take measures to reduce its output, although he noted that Alberta has already curtailed production and that Canada would "continue to look to make sure that other countries are doing their part." On Sunday, O'Regan said Canada is committed to achieving price certainty and economic stability. "The federal government is deeply concerned about oil price instability and the impact on thousands of workers in Canada's energy sector, and their families," the email stated. Kenney on Saturday chastised the "reckless actions of the Saudis and Russians" which he said flooded global inventories to the point that extremely low prices would continue for at least 18 months. "There's just no sugar-coating that," he said, adding he awaits news of federal plan to help the energy industry. O'Regan said last week that the long-awaited bailout would contain measures to improve "liquidity" for Canada's energy sector and is coming soon, but he didn't say when. Refugee shelter in Toronto reports outbreak of COVID-19. A refugee shelter in downtown Toronto is reporting four cases of COVID-19, a problem the organization managing the facility said extends to other shelters in the city. Homes First Society said it was first notified about the cases at Willowdale Welcome Centre on Thursday and the organization is waiting to hear back on multiple other tests. The facility currently houses more than 200 people. "People are very frightened, these are things that don't make us comfortable," said Patricia Mueller, CEO of Homes First Society, which operates other shelters in Toronto for people who are homeless or struggling with addiction. "This is all new ground for our staff in terms of trying to educate about physical distancing." Mueller said staff have erected plexiglass shields at counters and have shuffled residents to different shelters to space out occupants, but it can be difficult to get people to take physical distancing rules seriously. She added that other shelters her organization manages have also seen COVID-19 cases. In some of the organization's shelters for people with addictions, she said staff can't leave out hand sanitizer because residents will consume it. Mueller said staff and residents have all been given personal protective equipment like surgical masks, but she said the organization will likely run out of supplies in two or three weeks. "We are, in the shelter sector, forgotten about when it comes to personal protective equipment," said Mueller. "We have had some donations and for that I'm eternally grateful, but we haven't become the cause celebre of any movie star or any famous hockey player yet." Still, Mueller said she is not aware of any staff having walked out or refused work out of fear of the coronavirus. Earlier this week, dozens of staff walked out of a group home for disabled adults in Markham, Ont., after multiple staff and residents tested positive for the coronavirus. Management said they had to pitch in to help run the home after all but four workers left their posts out of fear of COVID-19. And in the Montreal area, 31 residents at a long-term care home have died in less than a month after workers walked off the job there. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said workers and residents at shelters and care homes will be prioritized for COVID-19 screening as the province plans to increase testing to 8,000 per day by the coming week. Ford has said the province plans to test 16,000 people per day by early May. The province reported another 401 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to above 7,000. Health officials also reported 21 more deaths for a new total of 274. Meanwhile in Toronto, the municipal government said officers issued 48 tickets to people who weren't following physical distancing guidelines on Sunday The city announced on Saturday that officers would start immediately issuing tickets instead of trying to educate residents first. Toronto has been one of the hardest hit cities with over 2,225 confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 and 85 people in intensive care. Boosting PPE supply ‘not a top priority’ in years before outbreak: minister: Hannah Jackson Increasing Canada's strategic stock of personal protective equipment (PPE) was "not a top priority," in the years before the novel coronavirus outbreak, the country's minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion said. In an interview with The West Block's Mercedes Stephenson, Carla Qualtrough, who served as Canada's minister of Public Services and Procurement (PSPC) from 2017 to 2019, said during her tenure with PSPC, officials "didn't turn our minds as much" to updating Canada's PPE reserve despite warnings after the SARS outbreak that another pandemic could occur. "We were very focused, as you know, on defence procurement, on getting the coast guard the ships they need, on getting the navy, getting--fixing-- Phoenix," Qualtrough said. "We had a lot on our plate as PSPC and that was not a top priority, no." She said the Canadian government moved to acquire more equipment in mid-to-late January. "I would say in mid-to-late January, we knew that this was an issue in terms of getting all of our ducks in a row, working with provinces and territories, and PSPC working with Public Health Agency, working with Health Canada, working with the provinces, took a number of steps to ensure that we had a proper inventory of what was out there, that we identified gaps that we looked around the country to see who was producing what, that we looked around the world to see where we could get further material and devices from, and the collaborative effort really started to ramp up then," she said. Asked if she thinks the federal government moved too slowly in preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic, Qualtrough said officials were making the "best decisions" with the information available to them. "You always look back and say, 'what if I had done this?' Or 'could I have done that?'" she said. "But right now, as we’re living it in real-time, what we are endeavouring to do every day is keep at it, keep making the best decisions. Rely on the science, rely on the experts, deliver as quickly and reliably as we can for Canadians and I think history will tell the broader question of how and if it was enough." Now, up against a highly competitive market and global shortages, Canadian officials have been working desperately to source PPE for the country's frontline workers. Asked by reporters earlier this week just how dire the situation is in Canada, the country's deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, said it is difficult to provide specific numbers because the situation is dynamic with supplies being delivered and used each day. But, Canada's current Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Anita Anand, confirmed on Tuesday that Canada had received a shipment of eight million surgical masks, as well as other supplies ordered directly by Nova Scotia and hard-hit Quebec. Speaking at a press conference, Anand said Ottawa is expecting other deliveries from China “in the days to come.” “The reality is that we are operating in a highly competitive global environment and international logistics are challenging,” Anand told reporters. “We are working closely with our partners around the world, including embassies, as well as with on the ground logistics and coordination firms, to ensure that supplies come more from the source to where they are needed in Canada right here, right now with hundreds of millions of pieces of equipment ordered.” According to Anand, Canada has also sourced more than 230 million surgical masks, and has ordered roughly 75 million N95 masks. “Amongst other supplies, we have also ordered over 113,000 litres of hand sanitizer, most of which is expected to be delivered this month,” she said. “There is no question that a lot of work is going into sourcing all of these health supplies and many more supplies in Canada and around the world,” Anand said. “But I know that the work does not end there. "We will not rest until these supplies are in Canada, in our hands and ultimately in the hands of the many health care workers on the front lines of this crisis.” Canada has also ramped up domestic manufacturing, and is looking into whether some PPE, including masks, can be disinfected for reuse. On Saturday, Alberta’s health minister Tyler Shandro said the province would be sending N95 and procedural masks, gloves, goggles and ventilators to Ontario, Quebec and B.C., as the province has enough PPE to meet demand. He said healthcare experts are “very confident in the modelling data and in the expected need for PPE and ventilators.” What's more, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week that his government is working with several Canadian companies in order to manufacture 30,000 ventilators. According to Trudeau, the government has signed letters of intent with a number of partners, including Thornhill Medical, CAE, Ventilators for Canadians and a group led by Starfish Medical. “These purchases will help increase our capacity to make sure these life-saving machines are made right here at home,” he said. anada building its own supply chain of personal protective equipment in China When Cargojet flight 1392 touched down in Hamilton on Saturday it brought with it millions of badly needed N95 respirator masks to help in the fight against COVID-19. It was the third delivery of critical supplies arriving under a made-for-Canada plan set up with the help of diplomats and consultants in China, a warehouse in Shanghai, and two of Canada's airlines. The plan was born out of urgency. With the global market for medical supplies overwhelmed by chaos and acts of piracy, Canada needed to take some of the risk out of securing everything from badly needed medical masks to gowns and gloves. Federal bureaucrats and political staff handling procurement of medical supplies were frustrated by deliveries showing up late. Unreliable and profiteering brokers were driving prices through the roof. Rival countries were buying shipments out from under each other. What Canada hopes will be a partial solution got its start in the embassy in Beijing. Dominic Barton, Canada's ambassador to China, redeployed much of the staff at Canada's embassy, consulates and trade offices all over China. The diplomatic staff flipped their role from selling Canada to the Chinese, to buying Chinese medical supplies for Canada. While shipments are arriving, Canada's plan isn't foolproof. The Toronto Star reported that Canada recently got a shipment of testing swabs that were found to be contaminated with what is believed to be mould. "Cutting deals and securing quality supplies quickly is probably the biggest challenge in this entire thing," a federal official working directly on Canada’s procurement efforts told CBC News. Coronavirus in N.Y.C.: Latest Updates The governor and the mayor disagree over the school shutdown. A day after Mayor Bill de Blasio said that New York City schools would be closed for the remainder of the academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo continued to insist that the final decision was his. “We won’t open schools one minute sooner than they should be opened,” the governor said Sunday, “but we won’t open schools one minute later than they should be opened either.” “I do not know what we will be doing in June,” he added, in a seeming rebuke to the mayor. “Nobody knows what we will be doing in June.” Earlier on Sunday, Mr. de Blasio said that the governor had “done a very good job in this crisis” but that it was clear that schools should be closed until September. Mr. de Blasio had informed Mr. Cuomo of his school-closing plan in a text message on Saturday. [Get the latest news and updates on the coronavirus in the New York region.] Statewide, 758 more people died, bringing the total to 9,385. Mr. Cuomo said on Sunday that 758 more people had died in New York, bringing the total number of people killed by the coronavirus in the state to 9,385 as of Sunday evening. Other indicators were on the positive side, the governor said, continuing last week’s pattern: even as hundreds of people died daily, rates of hospitalization and other data suggested that the spread of the virus had slowed. [Coronavirus in New York: A map and the case count.] New testing sites are planned for hard-hit communities. New York City last week released preliminary data showing that the coronavirus was killing black and Latino people in the city at twice the rate that it is killing white people. On Sunday, Mr. Blasio announced that the city would open testing centers to begin addressing those disparities. “We cannot accept this inequality,” he said. He said that in the coming days, the city would open the testing centers in East New York, Brooklyn; Morrisania, the Bronx; Harlem, Manhattan; Jamaica, Queens; and Clifton, Staten Island. Stay up to date at all levels of government Canada – Federal: Canada.ca/coronavirus Ontario – Provincial: Ontario.ca/coronavirus Toronto – City: Toronto.ca/coronavirus