Here is a roundup of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Wednesday:
550 new coronavirus cases in Ontario, total surpasses 5,000 cases with 174 deaths
Ontario reported 550 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, and 21 more deaths, bringing the provincial total to 5,276 cases.
The death toll has risen to 174.
Wednesday’s increase in cases is the highest the province has seen in a single-day jump.
However, provincial officials also reported that 2,074 patients have recovered from the virus.
Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 51.8 per cent of all cases in the province.
Status of COVID-19 cases in Toronto
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, said as of Wednesday afternoon, there were 1,332 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 238 probable cases.
Of the confirmed and probable cases, she said 71 of the 156 hospitalized Toronto residents were in ICU beds.
To date, 49 Toronto residents have died from COVID-19.
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Homeless advocates slam Toronto’s COVID-19 response, while long-term care fears continue -
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Coronavirus: Food delivery couriers providing essential service -
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Toronto-area Jews celebrating Passover with physical distancing -
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Coronavirus: Former CEO now working as frontline doctor -
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Coronavirus: Ontario looks to free up long-term care beds and move hospital patients in nursing homes -
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Coronavirus: Mirvish Productions looking for inspirational sign slogans -
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Richmond Hill doctor and toddler son stuck in India with COVID-19
8 more dead at east-end Toronto nursing home
Toronto’s medical officer of health says eight more residents at an east-end Toronto nursing home have died from coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to at least 16.
Dr. Eileen de Villa made the announcement during a news conference at Toronto city hall Wednesday afternoon, noting there were still four more deaths of residents being investigated.
“Unfortunately we anticipate that there may be additional deaths among those residents who have become ill with COVID-19 over the past few weeks,” she told reporters.
De Villa said as of Wednesday, there were 45 confirmed cases and 56 probable cases of COVID-19 among 249 residents. There were also 13 confirmed cases among staff members.
READ MORE: 8 more dead from COVID-19 at Toronto nursing home, 101 confirmed and probable cases
Advocates for Toronto’s homeless plead for more accommodations, testing
Advocates for Toronto’s homeless population are pleading for urgent action to prevent a large outbreak of coronavirus in the community and in shelters.
“Time is not on our side. This needs to happen right now,” Anne Egger, a nurse practitioner who works with people experiencing homelessness, said during a news conference outside Toronto city hall Wednesday afternoon.
“They live, eat and sleep in overcrowded shelters within a couple of feet of each other. Add in a communicable infection into this mix, and you have a disaster with epidemic proportions ready to explode with catastrophic consequences.”
The calls for increased assistance come after officials announced on Tuesday that an individual at Seaton House, one of Toronto’s largest shelters, tested positive for COVID-19. Officials said to date, eight people in the shelter system are confirmed to have the virus.
READ MORE: Advocates for Toronto’s homeless plead for major increase in accommodations, testing
City of Mississauga cancels all public events until July 3
City of Mississauga officials announced all public events and spring registered and drop-in programs are cancelled until July 3.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, 368 events are being cancelled. Among the events impacted are six Canada Day celebrations, the Mississauga Marathon and the Mississauga Waterfront Festival.
Groups that received municipal grant funding will continue to receive money, but the organization will need to show the impact of COVID-19.
Toronto Caribbean Carnival cancelled due to COVID-19
Organizers of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival said in a statement this year’s events are being cancelled due to COVID-19.
“For the past 52 years, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival (formerly Caribana) has delivered an exciting summer festival featuring elaborate costumes, Caribbean music, and food in our Grand Parade. This festival is a labour of love created by our extraordinary talented artistic stakeholders, and supported by participants and volunteers,” the organization said on Wednesday.
“Taking into consideration the mass crowds that attend the events present a tremendous risk regarding the spread of the virus, it is therefore unanimous that the priority must be the health and safety of our patrons and having weighed all these considerations there is no choice but to cancel this year’s festival.”
Organizers said if circumstances change and the City of Toronto allows events after July 1, there will be a “non-traditional format” celebration during the weekend of Aug. 1.
City of Toronto receives 200K surgical masks from Ontario government
An Ontario Ministry of Health spokesperson said the government has sent 200,000 surgical masks to a central location for use in Toronto.
The masks were requested by the City of Toronto.
The delivery comes after City officials announced more than 62,000 masks distributed to municipal long-term care homes were being recalled, citing “poor quality.”
BACKGROUND: Toronto recalls $200K worth of ‘poor quality’ masks distributed to long-term care homes
Toronto police, bylaw officers blitzing parks ahead of, during holiday weekend
Toronto Mayor John Tory said 200 bylaw officers and 160 police officers will be visiting hotspots to enforce municipal and provincial orders banning gatherings of more than five people and enforcing two-metre physical distancing.
He said they will be out to educate the public and potentially issue fines, which are a minimum of $1,000.
Tory said people have continued to use closed down parks amenities, including recent incidents such as trespassing onto the Don Valley Golf Course to play a round of golf and having campfires at Humber Bay Park.
“People continue to risk their health and the health of loved ones,” he said.
“We’re doing everything we can to discourage that right now … This is all about making sure you don’t get COVID-19.”
Tory encouraged people to stay home. But if people need to go out for exercise, they were encouraged to go by themselves during off-peak hours and at quieter parks and trails.
BACKGROUND: Toronto issuing fines up to $5K for people using prohibited amenities at parks
ONroute service centres give free coffee to truck drivers on Wednesday
ONroute says it is offering free medium coffees to truck drivers on April 8 to show appreciation for their work maintaining provincial and national supply chains during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have the opportunity to serve our trucking and supply chain sectors and hope that this small token of appreciation demonstrates our gratitude for the many ways they are helping our province and country during this challenging time,” CEO of ONroute Melanie Teed-Murch said.
All 23 pit stop centres along highways 401 and 400 across the province will be able to provide the free beverages for the entire day. ONroute said it requests truck drivers show proof such as a trucking licence or association membership.
Premier Ford says low amount of COVID-19 testing in Ontario ‘unacceptable’
Ontario has been completing fewer tests for the novel coronavirus over the past week – just 2,930 on Tuesday. This is well short of the 19,000 daily tests the province said it would be completing by mid-April and raising concerns health officials aren’t capturing the full spread of the virus.
The latest Health Canada data for Ontario shows the 2,930 new tests are less than 20 per cent of the total daily testing capacity in the province of over 13,000. It’s also just over half the daily target of 5,000 that the government promised to target for the first week of April.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday afternoon that his “patience was running thin” with the low amount of testing in the province, calling it “unacceptable.”
Grocery stores, pharmacies to close Friday, Sunday of long weekend
Premier Doug Ford announced a break for grocery store and pharmacy workers — Friday and Sunday off for the upcoming holiday long weekend that includes Easter and Passover amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The truth is that everyone working in our grocery stores and pharmacies, our truck drivers and those working the line, they have been working day and night for weeks to keep the food and medicine we need on the shelves,” Ford said during an announcement at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
Ontario government ramps up essential construction projects
The Ontario government says it is accelerating the construction of essential projects in response to the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
Essential construction projects, Ford said, include work on new hospital builds and expansions as well as COVID-19 assessment centres. He also said construction hours will also be expanded.
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