COVID-19 Rundown April 20th, 2020

As we start another week, the total number of people that have COVID-19 continues to grow with a reported 72,280 new cases worldwide as of 8 p.m. today, and 2,478,074 reported cases worldwide, according to World Meters. 

In Canada, as of 7 p.m., there were 1,773 new cases with a total of 36,829 reported cases across the country. 

This weekend it was announced that non-essential travel restrictions between Canada and the U.S. had been extended till May 21, 2020. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many Canadians are in shock over the event that took place in Nova Scotia, where 16 Canadian lost their lives to a lone gunman. The meaningless tragedy is just that meaningless. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.

Daily province rundown below: 

British Columbia

Yesterday Mike Fanworth, B.C. minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, gave police and other enforcement officers the ability to issue $2,000 violation tickets for price gouging and the reselling of medical supplies and other essential goods during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 

Today the government announced a new collaborative framework, which will help ensure people living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities in B.C. have access to critical health care they can count on to meet their unique needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future. 

“People living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities have unique challenges in accessing the health care they need,” said Premier John Horgan. “This new collaborative framework will bring immediate relief to these communities, including a commitment to moving patients to the critical care they need at a moment’s notice. This will help our work to stop the spread of COVID-19, while supporting better health outcomes into the future.”

The framework was developed through a partnership between the First Nations Health Authority, Northern Health and Provincial Health Services Authority. The work is guided by the principles of cultural safety and humility, and adds to work underway by the Rural Coordination Centre of BC. 

Read more here.

Alberta

The Alberta government announced relief coming for continuing care pressures. The new funding will increase staffing of health-care aides to alleviate pressures in contracted continuing care facilities.

In addition, $24.5 million is being advanced to operators to help address immediate cost pressures due to COVID-19.

“Health-care aides are integral to the well-being of residents – and they play a critical role across the health-care system. We cannot overlook their contribution, and we must not lose sight of how the pressures they face can directly impact the functioning of entire facilities. We are confident that these measures will make a difference not only to health-care aides, but to the residents of these facilities who deserve quality and compassionate care,” said Tyler Shandro, minister of health.

Supports include additional funding to allow for:

• • • • Increased health-care aide staffing levels.
      • A wage top-up of an additional $2 per hour for health-care aides.
      • Up to 1,000 paid student practicum positions to fast-track certification and get more staff into our continuing care facilities

The province also released cases in all zones across the province: 

• • • • 1,997 cases in the Calgary zone
      • 429 cases in the Edmonton zone
      • 142 cases in the South zone
      • 137 cases in the North zone
      • 76 cases in the Central zone
      • 22 cases in zones yet to be confirmed

Today 97,180 people have been tested for COVID-19 and a total of 101,323 tests performed by the lab. Four hundred and eighty-eight case are suspected of being community acquired

Manitoba 

Today the Manitoba Government extended the province’s state of emergency. 

“On March 20, the Manitoba government declared a province-wide state of emergency under The Emergency Measures Act, to protect the health and safety of all Manitobans and reduce the spread of COVID-19. This state of emergency is being extended for an additional 30 days,” noted the press release. 

This builds on the expansion of public health orders that limit the size of gatherings, close restaurants and non-critical businesses, require people entering Manitoba to self-isolate for 14 days and restrict travel to northern Manitoba (north of the 53rd parallel of latitude).

Extending the state of emergency will ensure measures can stay in place to protect the health of people across the province. 

Public health officials advise one new case of COVID-19 was identified as of 9:30 a.m. today, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba to 254. In addition, a sixth death has been reported, a woman in her 80s. No other patient-specific information is available at this time.

The data also shows: 

• • • • Eight individuals are currently hospitalized, which includes five individuals in intensive care; 
      • 105 active cases and 144 individuals who have recovered from COVID-19;
      • The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now six.
      • Cadham Provincial Laboratory performed 260 tests on Sunday.
      • A total of 20,012 tests have been performed since early February.

Ontario

In a press release the Ontario government noted that the COVID-19 outbreak had likely peaked

“The modelling clearly demonstrates that we are making progress in our fight against this deadly virus. That’s due to the actions of all Ontarians, those who are staying home and practising physical distancing, and to the heroic efforts of our frontline health care workers,” said Premier Doug Ford. “But COVID-19 continues to be a clear and present danger, especially to our seniors and most vulnerable citizens. That is why we must continue to follow the advice of our Chief Medical Officer of Health and stay the course in order to keep people safe and healthy.”

Government released updated COVID-19 modelling, which shows that the enhanced public health measures, including staying home and physically distancing from each other, are working to contain the spread of the virus and flatten the curve. 

However, the Chief Medical Officer of Health says emergency measures must remain in place to continue reducing the number of cases and deaths.

“The information released today shows early but unmistakable signs that our efforts are working,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “These numbers are not an accident. They are the result of months of planning and collective action to stop the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve. However, in order for these projections to become reality, each of us must continue to stay home as much possible and practise physical distancing.”

Key highlights from the modelling update include: 

• • • • The wave of new community spread cases of COVID-19 in Ontario appears to have peaked.
      • Outbreaks in long-term care and congregate settings continue to be a major concern. Concerted actions are underway to protect vulnerable people in these settings.
      • Ontario is now trending toward a best case scenario rather than a worst case scenario and has significantly improved its standing as compared to March modelling.
      • The province has avoided a significant surge in cases. Total cumulative cases are forecast to be substantially lower than worst case or even moderate case scenarios projected by previous models.
      • While several hundred new cases are identified daily in Ontario, hospitals across the province have not been overwhelmed by the COVID-19 outbreak as a result of capacity planning and the public health measures currently in place. The rate of growth day-over-day is declining.
      • To further reduce the number of cases and deaths, it remains critical that Ontarians continue to adhere to public health measures, including staying home and practicing physical distancing if they must go out for essential reasons only.

New Brunswick

Today the New Brunswick Public Health reports no new cases of COVID-19 today. This is the sixth day in the last 10 that a new case of COVID-19 has not been reported. In the past week, there have been just four new cases.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said patience and vigilance are still required to further slow the spread of the virus.

“Make no mistake – this pandemic is not over, in this province or anywhere else in the world,” said Russell. “We must remain on our guard and keep doing what has gotten us to this stage. That means continuing to stay at home, in your own home, as much as possible.”

• • • • Of the 118 cases previously confirmed, 66 are travel-related, 42 are close contacts of confirmed cases and 10 are the result of community transmission.
      • There are no cases currently under investigation.
      • So far during the pandemic, 13 people have been hospitalized and eight have since been discharged.
      • Two of the five patients remaining in hospital are in an intensive care unit.
      • As of today, 10,970 tests have been conducted.
      • To date, 98 people have recovered.

The Premier, Blaine Higgs thanked New Brunswickers for their hard work and sacrifice in keeping the cases of COVID-19 at a minimum.

“Because you paid attention and put the health and safety of your fellow New Brunswickers first, we have been able to slow the virus’s spread,” said Higgs. “We have been fortunate in New Brunswick, but we must not take this for granted. We must continue to follow the directives of Public Health.”

Nova Scotia

Reeling from the tragedy that took place over the weekend where 16 people were killed by a lone gunman, the province announced 46 new cases were reported yesterday bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 721. 

The QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab completed 874 Nova Scotia tests on Sunday, April 19 and is operating 24-hours.

To date, Nova Scotia has 21,769 negative test results, 721 positive COVID-19 test results and nine deaths. Confirmed cases range in age from under 10 to over 90. Twelve individuals are currently in hospital, four of those in ICU. Two hundred and forty-eight individuals have now recovered and their cases of COVID-19 are considered resolved. Cases have been identified in all parts of the province.

PEI

On Saturday the Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, says Prince Edward Island has received 43 additional negative COVID-19 test results as of that morning.

To date there have been 26 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in PEI to date, 23 of which have recovered.

Newfoundland & Labrador 

On Sunday, April 19, Newfoundland and Labrador government report there were no new confirmed cases of COVID-19. 

The total number of confirmed cases in the province remains at 257. 

• • • • • Fifty-two per cent of cases are female and forty-eight per cent are male.
        • By age, there are 22 people 19 years old and under, 37 between 20-39, 37 between 40-49, 56 between 50-59, 58 between 60-69, and 47 who are 70 years old and above.
        • Six people are in hospital due to the virus. Of these patients, three are in intensive care.
        • One hundred and ninety one people have recovered.
        • There have been three deaths from COVID-19.
        • To date, 6,144 people have been tested.