Newswatch COVID-19 Digest: Wednesday September 16, 2020

Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Wednesday, September 16, 2020:

  • There have been 45,068 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 251 (or 0.6 per cent) from the previous day. There are 40,091 people recovered from the virus while 2,820 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 3,369,802 of which 24,339 have pending results.
  • Canada’s coronavirus case total is 138,803. The country has 9,188 deaths from the virus – 219 in British Columbia, 254 in Alberta, 24 in Saskatchewan, 16 in Manitoba, 2,820 in Ontario, 5,785 in Quebec, two in New Brunswick, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
  • The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit region added a new case Tuesday – the second one in as many days – to bring the regional total to 368 confirmed cases. There are two active cases – both in Lanark County. There was one additional recovery to bring that total to 314. Fifty-two people have died during the coronavirus crisis.
  • There are four more cases in Prescott-Russell Tuesday to bring the Eastern Ontario Health Unit area to 218 confirmed positive cases. Of those, 25 are active and 181 are resolved. There are no people in hospital and there are 12 deaths to date. Testing increased by 977 to 47,409.
  • Premier Doug Ford was in Guelph Tuesday to announce $2.5 million for Linamar to create ventilator parts for 10,000 ventilators. Premier Doug Ford and Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli spoke about made in Ontario solutions to make sure there’s enough PPE for the second wave. The company normally manufactures power train parts for light vehicles, commercial trucks, as well as Skyjack cherry pickers.
  • Premier Ford says new measures to curb the COVID-19 spread in the Ontario hot spots of Ottawa, Peel and Toronto are coming within days.
  • There’s still time to reverse the surge. That assessment from Canada’s chief public officer of health, Dr. Theresa Tam, as she noted that acceleration of COVID-19 cases in several regions. Tam says most of the new cases are linked to parties and gatherings and also come as more people spend more time indoors. There’s an average daily new case count of 838 over the past week in Canada.
  • The federal government is looking at faster and newer testing methods as some Canadians are facing long wait times or can’t get a COVID-19 test at all in some areas of the country.

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.