Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Thursday, April 16, 2020:
- There have been 8,447 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 494 cases (or 6.2 per cent) from the previous day. There are 3,902 people recovered from the virus while 385 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 119,092 of which 4,429 have pending results.
- Canada’s confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 case total is 28,381. The country has 1,010 COVID-19 related deaths – 75 in British Columbia, 48 in Alberta, four in Saskatchewan, five in Manitoba, 385 in Ontario, 487 in Quebec, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and three in Nova Scotia.
- Leeds, Grenville and Lanark added another 29 coronavirus cases and recorded another two deaths. The total number of cases in the tri-counties is 235 and the total number of dead is 27 – 24 of those in long term care homes.
- The City of Brockville has put a freeze on events in parks and facilities through the end of June. Read more here.
- The province has announced a plan to aggressively test long term care homes across Ontario. The three point plan will also better manage outbreaks and moving medical staff to long term care homes to respond to outbreaks.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the partial economic shutdown will continue for a weeks more to get coronavirus under control. The economy is already feeling the effects as the gross domestic product (GDP) shrank nine per cent in March.
- A ban on non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border is scheduled to expire next week and U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested the border controls could be loosened sooner than later. Trump believes Canada has a good handle on the disease. On the flip side, the U.S. has more cases than any other country in the world with New York State being the hotbed of coronavirus.
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.