A summary of the day's activities of Wednesday, August 19, follows.
Note: Yesterday's prorogation of Parliament has suspended all parliamentary business, including the investigation of Parliamentary Committees into the WE Affair. The Liberal minority government will use the five weeks between now and the Throne Speech to reset its government agenda in response to the pandemic. Consequently, COVID-19 briefings are expected to focus more on provincial rather than federal matters until September 23, 2020. As provinces are moving from crisis to recovery mode, our audience can expect to receive the COVID-19 briefings three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, unless a significant development emerges requiring an immediate information update.
Federal Government Briefing
In lieu of an in-person update to the media, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, issued the following statement today:
“There have been 123,154 cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including 9,045 deaths. Eight-nine per cent of people have now recovered. Labs across Canada have tested 4,880,172 people for COVID-19 to date. Over the past week, an average of over 48,700 people were tested daily, with 0.8 per cent testing positive. Over the last several weeks, national daily case counts have ranged from 350 to 500 cases, with just over 390 cases being reported daily during the most recent 7 days.”
According to Dr. Tam, the COVID-19 spread is under “manageable control”. As for reopening, particularly in schools, Dr. Tam expressed confidence in our ability to manage the spread going forward. She said, “This won't be 2019's back to work and school, but back to modified spaces, adapted routines, and mitigation protocols that are an integral part of our cautious approach to reopening to keep the COVID-19 infection rate down. There will be uncertainties ahead but we have shown strength and adaptability throughout and Canada's children will continue to show their resilience as they get back to in-school learning and socializing that is key to helping them achieve their best long-term outcomes.”
Statement of Ontario Premier Doug Ford
At a news conference in Mississauga, Premier Ford announced the province was set to issue Request for Proposals to advance tunnelling work to move forward with the Eglinton Crosstown West Tunnelling Projects, one of the four subway extension projects in the Greater Toronto Area. Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney, Associate Minister of Transportation Kinga Surma, and Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, joined the Premier.
Premier Ford said he was confident the federal government would contribute 40 per cent of funding for Ontario's subway extension plan. The plan includes four priority transit projects - the all-new Ontario Line; a three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension; the Yonge North Subway Extension; and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension - with an estimated cost of $28.5 billion. Minister of Transportation Mulroney shared the Premier's confidence.
Journalists asked Premier Ford to provide specifics on plans from school boards for the start of the school year. The Premier said that he would provide specifics closer to the beginning of the school year. He pointed out that 60 per cent of school boards have finalized their operational plans for the start and the remaining 40 per cent are close to finalizing their plans.
Statement of Quebec
There were no statements from Quebec today.
Elsewhere in Canada
Alberta
On August 18, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced 89 new cases of COVID-19, for 1,169 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta. The entire city of Edmonton is now under a COVID-19 watch, as it has 56 cases for every 100,000 people.
Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health, and Dr. Hinshaw, announced expanding COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic Albertans. Albertans with no symptoms of COVID-19 will now be able to access timely testing in their community by booking asymptomatic test appointments at Shoppers Drug Mart and pharmacies in stores owned by Loblaw. This is in addition to province-wide testing offered via AHS assessment centres and about 75 other community pharmacies that already offer tests.
Asymptomatic Albertans are still encouraged to complete the AHS self-assessment tool to book a test. Any Albertan with symptoms of COVID-19 must book testing through AHS, via www.ahs.ca/covid. Further, asymptomatic testing is recommended for all teachers and staff in the Early Childhood Services to Grade 12 education system prior to the start of the 2020-21 school year.
British Columbia
On August 18, Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Réka Gustafson, British Columbia's deputy provincial health officer, announced 83 new cases of COVID-19, for 755 active cases of COVID-19 in British Columbia. Most of the new cases are tied to private gatherings. The government promised to introduce stricter penalties for rule breakers before the end of the week.
The government has formally extended the provincial state of emergency through the end of the day on September 1, 2020, to allow government to continue to take the necessary actions to keep British Columbians safe and manage immediate concerns, such as recent outbreaks in some areas of the province.
The Minister of Labour, Harry Bains, released a statement on the improvements to the Workers Compensation Act, which he says are long overdue. Over the summer, the government has made significant changes to the Workers Compensation Act (WCA), many of which shift the balance from benefiting the employer to a “more balanced workers' compensation system.” Some of the changes to the WCA include extending the time to report mental health claims due to the complexity of mental health, introducing the power of search and seizure of evidence to investigate workplace safety infractions, permitting the court to accept victim impact statements, and allowing those who contract COVID-19 at work to quickly access workers' compensation benefits.
Originally published 20 August, 2020
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