A summary of the day's activities of Friday, August 28, follows.
Federal Government Relief Measures
There were no new announcements today.
Statement of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not hold a press briefing on COVID-19 today.
Federal Government Briefing
In a tweet sent out this afternoon, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair announced that the Government of Canada is extending the existing restrictions on international travel to Canada by one month until September 30, 2020. This means that the mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the country continues to apply.
Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo gave an update on COVID-19 in Canada.
There have been 126,848 cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including 9,094 deaths. Eighty-nine percent of people have now recovered. Labs across Canada tested an average of almost 48,000 people daily over the past week with 0.7 per cent testing positive. Currently, Canada is testing more than 140 people for every positive case. An average of just over 400 new cases have been reported daily during the most recent seven days.
Both officials dispelled the confusion among journalists regarding Quebec's announcement of a new directive on a 10-day isolation period after the onset of symptoms. Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo explained the difference between the incubation period and the infection period of the virus.
They explained the Quebec directive applied to people who have had COVID-19. People infected with the virus may leave isolation after 10-days, as they are no longer contagious, if they have recovered from COVID-19 within that time. Quebec's directive is consistent with science and aligned with the guidelines of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Asymptomatic individuals who have been exposed to the virus must self-isolate for 14-days because the incubation period of COVID-19 is 14-days.
Dr. Tam also addressed a line of questioning that emerged from media reports that Air Canada plans to test arriving passengers in Canada. Dr. Tam confirmed that public health authorities are considering replacing the 14-day quarantine requirement for international travellers with a testing protocol. She added that public health authorities have not landed on the appropriate testing protocol to date.
Asked to comment on the CanSino vaccine, Dr. Tam appeared to indicate that the trial would likely not go through. She did emphasize that there are over 100 vaccine candidates with at least eight in clinical trials, and added that the Government of Canada has entered into advance purchase agreements with Pfizer and Moderna to secure millions of doses of two of the leading vaccine candidates. She also highlighted that Medicago, a Quebec-based company, was conducting medical trials in Canada.
Statement of Ontario Premier Doug Ford
On Thursday, Premier Ford announced a strategic investment of $500 million over five years to modernize correctional facilities across Eastern Ontario, and support frontline corrections officers across the province, including the hiring of more than 500 new correctional staff.
Emerging from his first Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity on Friday, Premier Ford announced $2.2 million to help train more skilled young workers from underrepresented groups to help in the economic recovery of the province.
Journalists continued to focus their questions on the province's back-to-school plan.
On Thursday, Premier Ford said that he had productive conference call with Chairs and Directors of school boards, some of his fiercest critics on the province's back-to-school plan, and reiterated his confidence in the ability of the province to reopen schools safely, beginning next week. He today confirmed he would be visiting some schools on Tuesday, September 8.
Statement of Quebec Premier François Legault
Continuing his summer tour of the province, Quebec Premier François Legault was in Thetford Mines on Thursday to meet with local elected officials on regional health care and infrastructure projects. Premier Legault continues to positon Bill 61 as an essential tool of economic recovery during his follow-up press briefings.
On Thursday morning, Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge announced that Quebec would use its share of the $2 billion federal fund for the safe reopening of schools to improve school transportation and purchase more protective and disinfecting equipment.
Elsewhere in Canada
Alberta
On Wednesday, a CBC online news story reported that Loblaw Companies Ltd., which began offering COVID-19 testing for patients at number of its Alberta pharmacy locations in June, plans to expand the program to all 234 pharmacies in the province by September 1. The company says it has contacted all ten provinces to discuss in-store testing outside of Alberta. The swab tests are only for those with no symptoms or any known contact with COVID-19 patients.
Yesterday, the province announced that the 2020-21 First Quarter Fiscal Update and Economic Statement forecasts Alberta's deficit at $24.2 billion after the devastating economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price crash. Alberta's economy is expected to contract by 8.8 per cent in 2020, the largest decline in modern-day history and a decrease of 11.3 percentage points from the budget forecast. Minister of Finance Travis Toews, stated that, "the government is developing a path forward - a path of economic recovery that will see job creation, diversification and stability restored to Alberta's finances."
British Columbia
On Wednesday, Minister of Education Rob Fleming announced that back to school plans for K-12 students are posted for all 60 BC school districts. Fleming has directed school districts to contact all families in their communities to share their plans and for parents to confirm if their child will be attending classes in September. School districts have been given the authority to offer remote options to students and the ability to increase existing programs to meet demand. A one-time investment of $45.6 million as part of BC's COVID-19 Action Plan will fund the purchase of up to 1.5 million masks. Canadian Shield, a manufacturer of personal protective equipment products in Ontario, is donating an additional 54,500 face shields to schools in BC.
Yesterday, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Shane Simpson announced $10 million in one-time funding from the Province to aid organizations and agencies in British Columbia's community social services sector in building capacity, supporting recruitment and retention and improving occupational health and safety training programs for staff.
Also yesterday, British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry released a notice on Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C), which advises all British Columbia physicians of a new duty to report each suspected incidence of MIS-C and information about each incident to a medical health officer in their respective regional health authority area. Dr. Henry issued this notice due to reports of children and adolescents in British Columbia presenting with a clinical syndrome that could have been COVID-19 associated MIS-C. None of the cases have been linked to COVID-19.
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