Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Wednesday, January 13, 2021:
- There have been 222,023 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 2,903 (or 1.3 per cent) from the previous day. There are 186,829 people recovered from the virus while 5,053 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 8,592,816 of which 43,154 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 674,473. The country has 17,233 deaths from the virus – one in the Yukon, one in Nunavut, 1,019 in British Columbia, 1,345 in Alberta, 204 in Saskatchewan, 748 in Manitoba, 5,053 in Ontario, 8,782 in Quebec, 11 in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit added one new case Tuesday to bring the regional total to 749 confirmed cases. There are 29 active (down two) and 666 recovered (up seven). There is one more death, bringing the total to 54. Two people are in hospital, one more than Monday. There is one institutional outbreak. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 118 cases (four active), Lanark County West 130 cases (six active), Leeds-Grenville Central 78 cases (seven active), Leeds-Grenville East 112 cases (eight active) and Leeds-Grenville West 111 cases (four active).
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit added four cases Tuesday to bring the regional total to 1,975 cases. There was one new case in Cornwall, five in Prescott-Russell and two cases were subtracted from SD&G. There are 649 active (down 246 from Monday) and 1,287 resolved (50 more than Monday). The number of deaths to date is 38. The number of people in hospital is 17 (one fewer) with five in ICU (no change). There are 13 active institutional outbreaks, one fewer than Monday. Testing increased by 649 to 96,063.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a state of emergency and a mandatory stay-at-home order. The order takes effect Thursday where people will be required to stay home except for essential trips like groceries, the drug store and doctor’s appointments. The order is in effect for 28 days. Any business who can have employees work from home, must work from home. Any retail allowed to stay open during the current shutdown or that is offering curbside pickup will be limited to operating hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Standalone grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations, convenience stores and restaurants with take out and delivery are exempt.
- New Ontario modelling suggests the number of daily deaths from COVID-19 will reach 100 by the end of next month. With the new United Kingdom variant circulating in the province, cases could spike to 12,000 per day. Not counting the UK variant, modelling shows the daily case count could be 6,000 by the end of February.
- Schools in the hot spot areas of Toronto, Peel, York, Windsor-Essex and Hamilton will not have in-class learning until at least Feb. 10. There are new measures as well requiring children in Grades 1 to 3 to wear masks in school and at recess.
- Canada-U.S. border land crossings will remain closed to non-essential traffic until at least Feb. 21.
- The federal government has reached a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That means Canada will get a total of 80 million doses this year from Pfizer and Moderna combined.
- Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the current health measures in the province will continue until at least Jan. 29. The premier believes a ban on household visits has been working over the last month. There were another 248 cases Tuesday and five more deaths – cases attributed to holiday gatherings.
- Nunvut’s health minster believes 60 per cent of the adult population needs to receive the Moderna vaccine before restrictions can be lifted. Around 400 people have received their first dose.
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