A summary of the day's activities of Monday, August 10, follows. 

Federal Government Relief Measures

There were no new funding announcements today.

Statement of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister Trudeau did not hold a press conference today.

Federal Government Briefing

  • Dr. Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Tam provided her daily COVID-19 update. There have been 119,451 cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including 8,981 deaths. Eighty-seven percent of people have now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested 4,447,810 people for COVID-19 to date. Over the past week, an average of 48,360 people were tested daily, with one percent testing positive and an average of approximately 400 cases were reported daily from across the country.

Dr. Tam is hoping that a successful vaccine will be developed to reduce the burden of illness and contribute to long-term disease control. She reiterated that vaccines have been one of public health's most successful achievements, greatly reducing illness and death due to serious infectious diseases. Until now, the world has never before worked as quickly and with such global solidarity on the technology and science required to produce a vaccine that can save lives and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained the development of a vaccine is no small feat, as there are many steps and partners needed to produce and rapidly deliver a safe and effective vaccine. From developing and testing for safety and effectiveness, manufacturing at scale to acquiring, distributing and finally administering and monitoring vaccine programs, many partners must work together.

Dr. Tam affirms Canada has engaged domestically as well as internationally, involving scientists, researchers, health professionals, regulators, manufacturers and many others, to expedite the careful processes of vaccine development, evaluation and production. At the same time, decision makers, vaccine program experts and public health authorities are among the many involved in procurement, vaccine program planning and delivery across Canada.

The ultimate success of a COVID-19 vaccine in Canada will depend on Canadians across the country taking the vaccine to build up immunity at the population level.

Dr. Tam reiterated that while waiting for a vaccine, Canadians must carefully balance the risks associated with spread of COVID-19 with the unintended social and health consequences of restrictive public health measures. This requires action from each one of us, including being aware of the risks for exposure and making informed decisions based on the advice and recommendations of our local public health authorities.

She concluded by adding that taking appropriate precautions and avoiding high-risk settings and situations will help to keep Canadians safe.

Statement of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones provide an update on their government's response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The province has had less than 100 daily new cases in seven days straight which demonstrate a steady progress on the road to recovery. Public health measures, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask and limited group gatherings, are to continue to be respected.

Windsor-Essex has now been given the go-ahead to join the rest of Ontario in Stage 3 of the province's reopening plan as of this Wednesday, August 12th. There is more daily testing and mobile units are going to the farms.

While unrelated to COVID-19, the government today announced that 6 million dollars over three years will be made available through the Ontario CCTV Grant, a new program designed to support police services in their efforts to enhance public safety and fight against guns and gangs. It is critical that all men and women in uniform have the tools and resources they need to do their job and keep the people safe.

Pertaining to Education, Premier Ford said the reopening of schools in September will follow every single protocol in order to eliminate risk as much as possible and further increase safety for the kids. The effectiveness of the plan is predicated on the willingness of the population to continue to do their part. Community transmission has a lot to do with the possibility of keeping school opened. He added that the government has the will, the determination to put the necessary protocols, investments, staffing, cleaning and testing in place to ensure that the kids can return to school safely this September.

Statement of Quebec

The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, gave an update on the plan for the new school year 2020-2021, accompanied by the Minister of Health and Social Services and Minister responsible for the Montérégie region, Christian Dubé. The National Director of Public Health, Dr. Horacio Arruda, was also available to answer questions from media representatives.

Before unveiling Quebec's back-to-school plan, Dr. Arruda announced that children aged 10 and over will now be required to wear masks in enclosed public places and on public transit as of August 24, 2020. This decision follows the Canadian government's announcement last week that strongly recommended the use of masks for these children.

Regarding the use of masks, the Minister of Education said it will be mandatory for students from grade 5 to Secondary 5, as well as for adult education, to wear masks in common areas, in hallways, on school buses, but not in classrooms. In addition, teachers and school staff will also be required to wear masks in common areas and hallways. Asked whether masks will be provided to teachers, the Minister of Education said it will be up to school boards to provide masks free of charge.

Regarding group size, groups of 20 to 25 students will be formed and will remain in the same room for the entire school year. Teachers and staff who will move from one room to another. 

Parents and relatives who live at the same address and who are medically vulnerable may refuse to send their child to school if proof of a medical exemption is provided to the school. Students will have access to "distance education" to take advantage of online courses and access to a teacher.

Elsewhere in Canada

Alberta

On August 7, 2020, Alberta Health reported 134 new cases of COVID-19, the largest single-day total in over two weeks. No new outbreak locations were announced.

Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education, announced how Alberta will procure reusable masks for students and staff for the 2020-21 school year. Alberta has ordered a total of 1.7 million masks – one to IFR, an Alberta-based company, and the other to Old Navy. The total value of the mask contracts is $4.2 million. Given the expediency required to produce the mass quantities of masks, the Provincial Operations Centre, in conjunction with Alberta Education, directly approached the two distributors; although local businesses offered to help with the effort.

Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Advanced Education, announced that Alberta will provide each of Alberta's five First Nations colleges with $100,000 in one-time funding for COVID-19 supports, for a total of $500,000. The grant will address technology and Wi-Fi access, support online programming development and delivery, and assist with improved cleaning protocols to meet COVID-19 standards.

Prasad Panda, Minister of Infrastructure, announced $43 million in funding for six rural Alberta infrastructure projects to help create 244 construction-related jobs and benefit economies in four communities as part of Alberta's Recovery Plan. The funding is being injected into the communities of Taber, Raymond, Brooks and Acadia Valley. This investment will help support local economies and create job opportunities by upgrading or replacing water/wastewater treatment systems, an emergency spillway, a wetlands area, and a community hall. Alberta is investing more than $15 million, while the Government of Canada is providing about $16.7 million through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

Also as part of Alberta's Recovery Plan, Jason Kenney, Alberta's Premier, announced that Alberta is providing a grant of $1.8 million for a wastewater collection upgrade in Plamondon as a part of $150 million in water infrastructure grants supporting Alberta's economic recovery. Two new lift stations will move wastewater from PLamondon to Lac La Biche.

Tanya Fir, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, issued a statement following the release of Statistic Canada's Labour Force Survey for July 2020. Alberta announced job increases for the third straight month, with 187,000 Albertans returning to work over this period. Fir recognized that many Alberta families are still out of work, and took into consideration that many Albertans have never fully recovered from the downturn in 2014-15. Fir also briefly outlines Alberta's Recovery Plan efforts to help Albertans, including investing in infrastructure; accelerating the Job Creation Tax Cut; introducing the Innovation Employment Grant; investing in agriculture and agri-food industries; and launching the Invest Alberta Corporation. Finally, Fir confirmed that Alberta will not pursue a hike taxes on job creators by 50%, stating, "we've seen before the disastrous effects of such policies in economically uncertain times."

Also a part of Alberta's Recovery Plan, Premier Jason Kenney and Sonya Savage, Minister of Energy, announced that Alberta will enter into an agreement with Ontario, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick to support the development of versatile and scalable small modular reactors (SMRs) that could lower emissions and help diversify the energy sector. SMRs are smaller than traditional nuclear reactors and scalable to suit local needs, with lower upfront capital costs and enhanced safety features. This new and versatile technology could supply non-emitting, low-cost energy for on-grid and off-grid communities in Alberta, including remote and rural areas of the province, as well as industries with a significant need for steam, such as Alberta's oil sands.

British Columbia

On August 7, 2020, Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer, announced 53 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 386 active cases in the Province. There are 11 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, four of whom are in intensive care. There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Derby Manor in the Fraser Health region. In total, five long-term care or assisted-living facilities and one acute-care facility have active outbreaks. There are no new community outbreaks. The COVID-19 cases from the weekend will be released later today.

On August 7, the Province released an updated Provincial Health Order on Gatherings and Events for the owners and operators of places and persons who organize or attend events at vacation accommodation, such as conferences held in hotels or other anywhere else. The Order limits gatherings of more than fifty patrons at a place for the purpose of an event, and stipulates further conditions for holding such events. 

Michelle Mungall, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness, issued a statement following the release of Statistic Canada's Labour Force Survey for July 2020. The Labour Force Survey showed British Columbia created 70,200 jobs for the month of July, which shows British Columbia has recovered about 58% of the jobs lost in March and April. The Survey also showed the total job losses since the start of the pandemic stand at 164,900, and that British Columbia's unemployment rate fell by about two percentage points, to stand at 11.1%. For the first time, Statistics Canada has included data on visible minorities in its monthly survey, which will help provide a fuller picture of who's being impacted by changes in the job market. From this first report, we see that South Asian, Arab and Black Canadians are seeing significantly higher unemployment rates across the country.

Originally published 11 August, 2020

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