Newswatch COVID-19 Digest: Wednesday May 27, 2020

Ontario Premier Doug Ford addresses apparent neglect at five nursing homes uncovered by the Canadian Armed Forces during a news conference on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. Ford has called for a commission into the issue. (Premier of Ontario/YouTube via Newswatch Group)

Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Wednesday, May 27, 2020:

  • There have been 26,191 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 287 cases (or 1.1 per cent) from the previous day. There are 19,958 people recovered from the virus while 2,123 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 629,414 of which 6,961 have pending results.
  • Canada’s coronavirus case total is 86,647. The country has 6,639 deaths from the virus – 161 in British Columbia, 139 in Alberta, eight in Saskatchewan, seven in Manitoba, 2,123 in Ontario, 4,139 in Quebec, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 59 in Nova Scotia.
  • The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit added another case on Tuesday to bring the number of confirmed cases to 340. The number of deaths remain at 49. Eighty-nine per cent of COVID-19 cases (260) have recovered. For community cases in Leeds-Grenville, there are 21 in the central region (20 recovered), 13 in the west (10 recovered) and 12 in the east (nine recovered).
  • Local testing took its first significant increase as the number of tests jumped by nearly 500 on Tuesday in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit area, instead of the average increase of about 100 a day. The number of confirmed cases was steady at 144. There have been 11 deaths.
  • “There’s going to be justice.” Premier Doug Ford reacted emotionally Tuesday to a disturbing Canadian Armed Forces report alleging atrocities at five long term care homes. Those allegations include COVID-19 positive patients being roomed with uninfected ones, cockroach infestations, aggressive resident feeding that led to choking and residents crying for help for hours. The government has called for a commission.
  • The federal government has signed a deal with General Motors to produce 10 million face masks. There is also production of 10,000 ventilators with Markham-based electronics company Vexos.
  • There are now 36 Canadian Armed Forces members who’ve contracted coronavirus while helping at long term care homes in Ontario and Quebec. Less than a week ago, that number was eight.
  • Still waiting for a parcel? Canada Post says you can expect delays as the mail carrier deals with record levels of parcel and bulky items during the coronavirus outbreak. There was an all-time, one-day record of 2.1 million parcels delivered on Tuesday last week (May 19).

Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Brockville Newswatch. Email editor@brockvillenewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.