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Thursday, April 30, 2020

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COVID-19: Ontario releases workplace guidance for how to reopen; 86 more deaths reported

Taylor Blewett
1 hour ago

a woman talking on a cell phone: A nurse demonstrates to others how to wear a face mask. © Wayne Cuddington A nurse demonstrates to others how to wear a face mask.
The Ontario government issued guidance Thursday for workplaces and businesses on how to safely reopen when the time comes – and it might not be that far off.

On its website , the province has published COVID-19 guidance notes and posters for the construction, food processing, restaurant, food services, agriculture, manufacturing and long-term care sectors, with more to come.
Ontario’s health and safety associations have also developed  detailed guidance documents  for workers and employers in a large swath of sectors – health and safety advice for curbside pick-up and delivery, best practices for sharing tools, and more.
We have many reasons to be optimistic right now … We have thrown everything we have at this virus, and because of that – because of you – we have made tremendous progress,” said Premier Doug Ford.

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Today, we’re on the path to reopening the economy, because that curve is flattening, that surge in our hospitals – we avoided it – and that trend is going down.”
I am laser-focused right now on opening things up as quickly as we can in a safe and measured way.”
More advice is forthcoming for additional sectors of the economy, said Ford. “These guidelines will help Ontario businesses adapt to the new reality we face, and keep workers and customers safe.”
Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton also announced an additional 58 people will join the province’s labour inspectors, who will focus on communicating COVID-19 safety guidelines to essential workplaces, as well as enforcing emergency measures such as physical distancing on job sites and closing non-essential businesses.
McNaughton warned inspectors could issue $750 fines if a business is found in non-compliance.
Ford spoke directly to auto insurance companies at his Thursday press conference, when asked about those who haven’t or have barely offered any rebates to clients, despite the ability to do so.
Lower your rates – people aren’t driving as much … but you keep taking their cheques,” he said.
Ford also said “good news is coming very, very, very shortly” when it comes to reopening garden centres in Ontario.
When it comes to the resumption of elective surgeries, Health Minister Christine Elliott said Thursday the government is putting a process in place to restart these “as soon as possible,” noting cancer and cardiac surgeries will likely be prioritized, as well as orthopaedic surgeries.
We expect to have more to report to you early next week on this issue,” said Elliott.
Ontario reported 459 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, an increase in new cases from the three-week low reported Wednesday, but below the rate of daily case growth seen in recent weeks during what provincial health officials described as the outbreak’s peak in Ontario.
Elliott confirmed the province is starting to see a downward trend in case numbers. “There was a bit of a bump today, but we can expect that. As time goes on, the most important thing is that we are headed in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, the virus continues to infect long-term care homes across the province. An additional nine LTC homes reported outbreaks of COVID-19 in the last day, bringing the total number of outbreaks to 190 (some of these are now resolved).
Overall, the provincial COVID-19 death toll jumped by 86 on Thursday, bringing the total to 1,082 dead since the beginning of the pandemic. While hospitalizations rose – 999 COVID-19 patients were in hospital as of Thursday, compared to 977 the day before – the numbers of patients in ICU and on ventilators were down slightly, to 233 and 181, respectively.

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The number of COVID-19 tests completed in the previous day also rose to nearly 13,000, from 11,554 Wednesday. But it’s still below the goal of 14,000 daily tests by April 29 that the provincial ministry of health set for itself weeks ago.
They fell short, just by 1,000 yesterday – believe me, I was all over it this morning. They absolutely promised it’s going to be over 14,000 tomorrow and moving forward,” said Ford. “We want to continue to expand these tests to our absolute maximum.”
Of all 16,187 COVID-19 cases confirmed in Ontario, 63 per cent are now resolved.
Meanwhile, Ontario high school students won’t have final exams this year, this newspaper reported Wednesday. The Ministry of Education issued a memo on the subject Tuesday.
In order to maximize instructional time for students during this unprecedented time, Minister Lecce has directed that all remaining professional activity days and examination days for the 2019-2020 school year are to be used for instruction,” said the April 28 memo sent to school boards by Lecce and Education Deputy Minister Nancy Naylor.
Local
Mayor Jim Watson has told the city to work with Ottawa Public Health and figure out a way to reinstate family window visits at municipal long-term care homes.
I have asked that a plan be in place by May 7 that will ensure residents and visitors respect the physical distancing rules at the same time,” Watson said in a post on Twitter around noon on Thursday.
The City of Ottawa’s top public health official says the municipal government didn’t check with her before implementing a ban on window visits at city-run long-term care homes.
Looking through a window is not a threat. It can be an important source of reassurance for family members on both sides of the glass,” Vera Etches, Ottawa Public Health’s medical officer of health, said Thursday morning during an interview on CTV Morning Live. “Ottawa Public Health wasn’t consulted or advised before the city decided to issue this directive and I’m sure that they are re-examining it.”
The city, which runs four long-term care homes, asked families this week to stop visiting loved ones at the windows  to ensure physical distancing rules are respected.
Premier Doug Ford called the ban “ridiculous.”
I don’t know who’s come up with this ridiculous idea but they need to rethink it,” he said Thursday. “Put yourself in their shoes. When our family goes to visit my mother-in-law, I think, thank God she’s on the first floor.
Go visit your loved ones, as far as I’m concerned. And hopefully that won’t be the last time you see them,” he said.
There have been 76 deaths and 1,297 confirmed cases of COVID-19 recorded in Ottawa since the beginning of the pandemic, including 76 new cases announced Wednesday and five new deaths. All five deaths were long-term care residents, according to Etches.
In a statement, she noted that “Over the last few days, we have been seeing these larger increases in the number of cases than previous weeks. We anticipated this increase as more people are eligible for testing and therefore getting tested and due to the surveillance exercise that took place last weekend in which all staff and residents of nine long-term care homes were tested.”
OPH advised residents not to expect the usual daily report on details of COVID-19 cases in Ottawa on Thursday because they’re transitioning to a new case management and reporting system. The report will be back online Friday, and will include Thursday’s data.
On Saturday, the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre on Walkley Road will open as a temporary self-isolation centre and emergency shelter for single homeless men, easing some of the load on the city’s already overflowing shelters.
In eastern Ontario, the Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit reported 314 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday, while the Eastern Ontario Health Unit reported 91, and the Renfrew County and District Health Unit reported 15.
National
Canada’s chief public health officer said “things have been a little flat” this week on the COVID-19 epidemic curve, and acknowledges it is making everyone excited about when we are going to be able to get out of our houses.
Dr. Theresa Tam cautions that there are still significant challenges in some settings, including long-term care homes.
There have been 51,587 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,996 deaths reported across Canada, according to federal government statistics updated Wednesday night.
Generally, statistics for official diagnoses should be viewed with caution. Testing does not track down all cases in a community because the mild symptoms most people have aren’t distinguishable from common colds, and because public health can’t test large numbers of people.
Quebec
Quebec has 27,538 cases of COVID-19, an increase of 994 from yesterday, Premier François Legault said in his briefing this afternoon.
The death toll is now 1,859, an increase of 98. On additional case was reported in the Outaouais, for a total of 274, while the number of deaths in the region (which includes Gatineau) remains at three.
With files from Postmedia and The Canadian Press

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