Rapid tests are a game changer, Doug Ford says. Public Health Ontario’s head of microbiology has a very different view

Rapid tests are a game changer, Doug Ford says. Public Health Ontario’s head of microbiology has a very different view

Premier Doug Ford used the same term five times on Tuesday to describe the rapid tests the province is rolling out across Ontario: “game changer.”

The health experts tasked with advising government on their use, however, describe these tests very differently: “inferior,” “anything but game changers,” and — in private discussions, by one of the province’s top testing experts — “sh—y.”

These experts say the rapid tests could be useful in specific circumstances. But so far there is patchy evidence on how best to deploy them, and the tests come with serious potential harms, including high volumes of false results compared to the gold-standard laboratory tests — a particularly risky feature in vulnerable settings like nursing homes.

“There is no evident place where they are really helpful,” says Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Health System who consulted on the rapid-test plan. “There are a bunch of places where they may well be helpful, but they have a significant number of disadvantages, and a significant number of logistical challenges.”

Ford and Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced Tuesday that the province had received 1.2 million “Panbio” rapid antigen tests and 98,000 “ID Now” tests manufactured by U.S.-based Abbott and purchased by the federal government. Rapid antigen tests like Panbio have been particularly hyped in recent months: they work like a pregnancy test and can generate results in under 15 minutes.

“We’ve been getting these tests as quickly as we can to the front lines of our health-care system,” Ford said Tuesday. “These tests right here, folks, are a game changer.”

In discussions with other experts and officials recently, Dr. Vanessa Allen, Public Health Ontario’s chief of microbiology and laboratory science, described the Panbio test as “sh—y,” the Star has learned.

Asked Thursday why she used that word, Allen said “my experience was that there is an incredible enthusiasm about the use of these tests.”

“Those were private conversations,” she added. “But I think really the message that I wanted to relay is that they do not perform the same as lab-based tests, and … we don’t have a lot of real data about their actual benefit. I think it’s incumbent on us to rapidly learn how they might be useful. But I think there are some risks.”

The two rapid tests use different technology, and the province is deploying them in different settings.

ID Now is a molecular test that detects the virus’s genetic material. The device works like a small, portable lab, generating results from nasal, nasopharyngeal or throat swabs in 15 minutes. The province said Tuesday that ID Now tests would be sent to hospitals and assessment centres in rural and remote areas, and used in “early outbreak investigations in hotspot regions.”

Panbio is an antigen test that detects viral proteins. It works like a pregnancy test, generates results in 15 minutes, and can only be used with nasopharyngeal swabs. Panbio tests have been rolled out for screening in nursing homes and other workplaces, including TD Bank, Air Canada, two gold mines, and three film and TV productions. Six long-term-care operators are receiving the rapid tests to “help inform future deployment across the sector,” according to the health ministry.

A spokesperson for Abbott cited evaluations showing that both tests are more than 95 per cent and up to 99.8 per cent accurate in accurately identifying or excluding infections in people within seven days of symptom onset.

“Both Panbio and ID NOW have both been studied extensively and have demonstrated strong performance,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “They are proving to be valuable tools in slowing the spread of the virus.”

Experts, however, cautioned that the real-world accuracy of rapid tests often differs from the settings in which they are evaluated.

“The history of rapid tests is that they perform much better in the controlled circumstances of a laboratory than they do when you take them out into the field. That’s a chronic problem,” said McGeer, a trained microbiologist.

Both McGeer and Allen cited preliminary data collected by Toronto researchers that found rapid antigen tests missed more than half of cases in a long-term-care-home outbreak. That study was small and needs to be expanded, Allen says. But the preliminary data, along with studies in other jurisdictions that showed rapid antigen tests missing between 15 and 30 per cent of infections, gave Ontario experts pause about recommending Panbio in similar contexts.

“I think we owe and have a responsibility to offer the highest standard of care — or testing, in this case — to long-term care,” Allen said. “It’s not to say antigen testing couldn’t have an adjunctive role, but we need to make sure that’s an adjunctive role.”

Researchers believe that the speed of rapid antigen tests can make up for their lower accuracy, because higher volumes of people can be tested more frequently. These devices are also most accurate when people are most infectious — the critical period to identify and isolate cases. Proponents have argued that if deployed on a wide enough scale, rapid antigen testing would be more effective than slower, more accurate lab-based PCR testing, and some modelling studies back that up.

Ontario’s deployment of rapid antigen tests reflects that thinking, putting Panbio in the hands of employers and LTC operators for regular screening, rather than outbreak management. They may be useful in that role, the experts who advised the province said — but they need to be closely evaluated, and the potential harms carefully mitigated.

False negatives — missing a positive case — could have obviously devastating consequences in long-term care, where residents are acutely vulnerable to severe disease and where almost two-thirds of Ontario’s COVID deaths have occurred. But false positives — inaccurately flagging a positive case — can also have dire consequences, says Dr. Samir Sinha, another expert who provided advice.

With one positive, “you lock down an entire unit. You’re affecting 32 people where 70 per cent of them have dementia, for example, and you’re completely disrupting their care, their routine. That actually increases the entire staff burden.” And in already understaffed homes, Sinha added, needlessly quarantining staff who aren’t actually positive, even for just a few days while waiting for a lab-test confirmation, can have profound impacts.

ID Now, the portable molecular tests, have the most potential in remote settings where getting results back from the lab can take days — in these contexts, some information is better than no information, experts said. But still, Health Canada mandates that both tests are performed by regulated health professionals — a workforce already stretched thin in many places — and requires training, oversight and evaluation. Each device can only process three to four swabs an hour, so they have volume limits, too.

Ontario’s rapid tests “are anything but game changers,” said Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and the University Health Network.

“I think these things have been so politicized,” he added. “People are just so desperate to find quick and easy fixes here.”

Kate Allen is a Toronto-based reporter covering science and technology for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

Heather Scoffield: Reopening too quickly will cause sickness and death — and that’s not all

The economic grind of the second wave is coming into sharp focus.

But so is the folly of a hasty reopening in the hopes of lightening the load.

On Friday, the latest job numbers from Statistics Canada showed that the rapid rebounds in the labour market over the course of the first reopening this summer have slowed remarkably.

Employment expanded by just 0.5 per cent in October, a meagre increase compared to the 2.7 per cent average monthly expansions we’ve seen since May. It’s not nothing. But it’s clear that the second wave of the virus has begun to take its toll on the recovery, and parts of the labour market have balked.

About 150,000 people retreated from their workplaces and sought shelter in their home offices again. Another 48,000 people working in accommodation and food services lost their jobs, especially in Quebec — reflecting the fact that the second wave is hitting that province harder than elsewhere, and that hotels, restaurants and bars are on the front lines of new restrictions there.

More concerning for our recovery prospects, the mass of people who have been without jobs for at least six months is climbing, spiking at record rates. Long-term unemployment rose by 35 per cent in September and 51 per cent in October. There are now — a quarter of all those who are out of a job.

That’s especially worrisome because staying out of the workforce for long periods often means that skills atrophy and prospects for finding a good job diminish, permanently damaging the ability of companies to find the workers they need to keep producing, and for workers to find the wages they need to pay the bills.

The combination of long-term corrosion with the repeated cycle of short-term restrictions pushes a full recovery further down the road.

At least this time, there isn’t a full shutdown, at least not yet. But with pressure mounting on local public health authorities and premiers alike to let businesses get back to work, there’s no guarantee we won’t be there soon.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had some ominous words on that front on Friday. He pointed to the cautionary tale of the United Kingdom, where political leaders gave in to the pressure to restart the economy before COVID-19 was fully under control. As a result, coronavirus cases exploded, and it’s now back in full lockdown. Its efforts to boost the economy actually did more harm, setting back its path to recovery substantially.

“We’re not going to do that,” Trudeau said.

But in some parts of the country, we may be in the midst of doing exactly that.

The number of new cases topped 1,000 in both Ontario and Quebec on Friday, a day after Premier Doug Ford rolled out a budget meant to stimulate the economy back to life. He’s also easing some restrictions starting this weekend, much to the dismay of some public health experts and authorities.

In Montreal, local authorities have pushed for fewer restrictions, but Premier François Legault has resisted.

Across the country, it’s clear that business is getting antsy, and is lobbying hard for both a better, more surgical control of contagion and a simultaneous reopening. Of course, any responsible politician would hear their cry, and the troubling labour market weighs on the minds of business and government alike.

But that combination of controlling the contagion and reopening business just doesn’t seem possible right now. Without wide distribution and easy access to rapid testing and contact tracing, brash reopening invites more COVID-19 cases, which in turn leads to another round of closures.

This destructive and often confusion-inducing tug-of-war shouldn’t have to happen.

Trudeau points to supports the federal government has recently put in place to ensure that any business hit by a localized closure will get extra rent subsidies, as well as the now-standard access to wage subsidies and business loans that are readily available to companies on the brink.

They should be able to weather more pandemic restrictions even if it’s not their first choice, the federal government believes, and their long-term prosperity depends on it.

But that message gets lost in the day-to-day fear in the bills coming due, the lack of confidence that federal and provincial support is adequate, and the deep drive to get back to work, back to business.

It looks like the federal government can afford to stifle those instincts with generous, well-timed support, according to . As long as Ottawa removes its subsidies when the pandemic winds down, the deficits it has bulked up during the crisis are big but manageable.

From day one, Trudeau and his cabinet have repeated like a mantra that control of the pandemic is a prerequisite for economic recovery. Shortcuts will backfire.

But to put make those words meaningful, authorities at all levels need to buy in to the wisdom behind them — with enough restrictions to keep the pandemic under control and enough money to keep business and labour whole.

Heather Scoffield is the Star’s Ottawa bureau chief and an economics columnist. Follow her on Twitter:

David Olive: Stock surges and setbacks for the week ending Nov. 20

Winners

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (EGLX.TO) $2.87+53.5%

Investors have been slow to warm to stock in Enthusiast Gaming, which operates the largest online network of gaming sites in North America. The stock was flat this year until news that Joe Biden was making use of the Toronto company’s nearly 1,000 YouTube channels and other gaming platforms to reach Gen X and Millennial voters in his U.S. presidential campaign. The stock made further gains this week as Enthusiast expanded its advertising clientele to include consumer-products giants Gillette and the Popeyes fast-food chain.

Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (GOOS.TO) $45.54+1.4%

In the midst of a global pandemic, Canada Goose has held up remarkably well. Earlier this month, the firm reported sales and profits that widely outperformed gloomy analysts’ forecasts. Credit the firm’s increased online prowess, which has helped offset sales declines in traditional stores. Canada Goose also benefits from its sizable presence in Mainland China, the first major economy to fully reopen after gaining control of the pandemic. But the firm warns that European and North American sales will remain weak due to rising pandemic cases in those regions.

Cineplex Inc. (CGX.TO) $8.94+22.8%

The thriller now playing at Cineplex theatres is a survival saga that investors have lately taken an interest in. True, in its latest quarter, Cineplex reported a 91 per cent drop in attendance and an 85 per cent plunge in revenues from the same quarter in 2019, and recorded a $121.2 million loss. But the Toronto firm, Canada’s biggest cinema operator, also recently won temporary relief from financial covenants on $460 million in credit facilities. And it was able to raise $303 million in new financing — an act of faith by lenders that the post-pandemic era will see a robust recovery in theatregoing.

Losers

Jamieson Wellness Inc. (JWEL.TO) $34.90-8.5%

Jamieson has been one of the pandemic winners. The stock has more than tripled in value over the past three years, with much of that gain this year. The leading maker of vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements, based in Toronto, has benefited from the long-term wellness movement. The pandemic further increased demand for supplements that boost immune systems. But as all stock-market darlings do, Jamieson finally reached the point of overvaluation, trading at a pricey 48 times earnings by September. A correction was due. But the underlying fundamentals, including Jamieson’s successful international expansion, remain intact.

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) $31.75-5.8%

Barrick investors have been riding a roller coaster this year. Gold went on a tear, hitting a record price of $2,050 (U.S.) in August. But the gold price has since slumped as perceived geopolitical risk — the main reason people buy gold — has receded. Barrick has reported an impressive profit of $3.0 billion (U.S.) year-to-date. But the pandemic and local political disputes have intermittently closed two of Barrick’s biggest mines. And at least some investors were put off the stock when, earlier this month, Warren Buffett revealed that he had dumped about 40 per cent of his Barrick stake, so keen to do so that he took a loss on the shares.

Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) $60.68-1.9%

Metro, one of Canada’s top three grocery chains, is among the pandemic economy’s winners. Some investors who anticipated the strong 11.4 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit that Metro reported this week took their winnings off the table. But Metro’s growth prospects remain intact. Building on a 160 per cent surge in online sales in the latest quarter, Metro is accelerating growth its online-pickup capacity, and upgrading its online pharmacy operations to counter Amazon’s recent move into prescription drugs. Metro is also expanding the variety of its prepared-meal offerings, catering to the growing “grocerant” trend of selling restaurant-like meals.

David Olive is a Toronto-based business columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

Phoning it in? Not this Toronto contact tracer, who puts his hopes into each call as a way to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission

Mahad Nur considers himself a disease detective.

With more than a decade of experience as a contact tracer, Nur knows the importance of tracking down people to limit the spread of infectious diseases, especially one as wily as .

“The virus spreads from person to person, and we know that it is spreading within the community,” said Nur, supervisor of Toronto Public Health’s Communicable Disease Liaison Unit. “By following up with every contact of an individual, you are hoping to break that transmission chain.

“This can turn into a really big spider web of contacts and that’s what we’re trying to avoid by tracing contacts, encouraging isolation of those contacts and breaking the transmission of the virus.”

Nur, who worked many 12-hour days during the early months of the pandemic, is watching COVID-19 cases rise in the city. He remains hopeful that with each phone call from Toronto Public Health, another person will take proper measures and halt the virus’s exponential spread. On Sunday, the province reported 491 new cases, including 137 in Toronto.

Heading into fall and a possible second wave, Nur spoke with the Star about the challenges of contact tracing, his ongoing struggle for a work-life balance and why thinking of our loved ones is the key to ending the pandemic.

You’ve worked as a contact tracer for many years. What is different about this job during the pandemic?

In the beginning, people didn’t really know about the virus and the role of public health in the COVID response. It was a challenge. We had to quickly let people know why public health was calling. People didn’t understand why we needed to know where they worked and who they’ve spent time with. People are now expecting our calls, which makes things easier for us.

What’s the most important thing about your job, the thing you need to do so every phone call is a success?

We need to gain the trust of the people we are speaking with and make them feel comfortable enough to tell us these important things about their lives. We explain our roles, explain the reason for our calls, explain the follow-up steps and explain that we will need to speak with their close contacts. We’re trying to gain their trust the whole time. We try to get across that we are calling for the overall good.

In recent weeks, the pandemic has shifted with more young people testing positive for COVID-19. Are conversations different now that 63 per cent of new cases provincewide (as of Sunday) are in people under the age of 40?

Not really. The younger folks might have more contacts because they are socializing more. But for the most part, we see that people have definitely tried their hardest to isolate within their bubble. This might not happen in all circumstances. But for the most part, most close contacts we follow up with are household contacts or people within an individual’s social bubble.

What is a challenge your team faces during these phone conversations?

The biggest thing we have to take into consideration is that most of these individuals are not feeling well. They are sick. So if we need to take a pause during the interview, and give them a break, that’s OK. These phone calls do take a long time and we want to be sure we are collecting accurate information. It’s not an easy process and we try to take our time. We don’t have a clock saying we have to finish the call within 30 minutes

Your team spends a lot of time with people on the phone, talking COVID. What is a common misconception or misunderstanding about the virus?

It varies. That’s why we really take the opportunity to explain the facts and debunk the misinformation going around.

Can you give me an example?

One that we hear is: “Masks don’t work when it comes to COVID-19.” This when we take the time to really, really try to explain that the reason you wear a mask is to protect yourself and to protect others. And that when two people are wearing a mask, the risk of the transmission of the virus is reduced.

You know a lot about COVID-19. What’s the most common question you’ve received from family and friends in the pandemic?

When is this going to end? That’s the question I get a lot. People have planned weddings and other social events. With all the restrictions … people always want to know if things are going to change. I don’t have an answer. The message I keep trying to explain is that it’s so important to ensure you are doing the most you can to protect your loved ones. People understand that.

We’ve all had to adjust to life in a pandemic. How does your job influence what you do at home to keep your family safe?

I practise what I preach. And I take a lot of pride in that. The hardest thing I had to explain to my own family members, especially at the beginning, was to tell them we can’t visit. I took the distancing recommendations very seriously. I’m such a family-oriented person, with lots of friends who do lots of activities together. The hardest part for me was to keep the distance from the people I love.

You said in one of our earlier conversations that you think about COVID day and night. Are you finding ways to take your mind off work?

It has been difficult to separate my work from my home life. It’s been nine months, and I’m still trying to make that balance work. I can close my computer at the end of the day, but I still think about it — all the things that need to be followed up on, the ways I can support my staff. But I try to disconnect by spending time with my kids, maybe taking them for a bike ride. Watching basketball, even though it’s a bummer that the Raptors are out of the playoffs. Or sitting outside in the evenings and relaxing, connecting with family members (by phone) who don’t live in the city.

When you think back over the last year, is there a moment in your job that you think you won’t forget, one that you will carry with you?

That moment was right at the beginning. I was off work when the first case (of COVID-19) was reported. I looked at my phone and saw all the emails coming in and I said: ‘It’s here.’ Working in public health, you always hear stories about SARS (the 2003 outbreak). When I saw Dr. (Eileen) de Villa on TV saying Toronto had its first case of COVID, I knew in that moment things were going to be different, that 10 years down the line, I’m going to have COVID stories to share.

As cases of COVID-19 climb, what do you want people to think about in their daily lives?

Not everybody is a nurse in an emergency department. Not everybody is a doctor treating somebody who is sick. Not everybody is a contact tracer. But everybody has a role. If you can do your part, you are contributing to this effort. And if everybody continues to do their part, we will bring this virus to an end.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Megan Ogilvie is a Toronto-based health reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

Rosie DiManno: Unfair lockdown rules, creative compliance (what a mess)

Balls of brass, The Bay.

For many months, I’ve been dropping by Pusateri’s, in the upscale Sak’s Food Hall in the basement of The Bay’s flagship emporium at Yonge and Queen, wondering when it might re-open. The coming-soon signs kept changing, most recently announcing Pusateri’s would be back in 2021.

They jumped the gun by 53 days. If only, following significant shaming, fleetingly – open Monday, the first full day of Toronto’s lockdown 2.0, closed by Tuesday. Ditto the entire department store.

I did think it odd, on the weekend, buying a pile of stuff at The Bay’s children’s department, when the clerk assured me not to worry, staff had just been told the store wouldn’t be shuttering as most of the city zippered up again. “I’m not sure how but The Bay has received permission to stay open.’’

No they didn’t, it appears.

Such an audacious workaround – runaround – of the reimposed rules nobody likes but to which most are adhering: Exploiting the narrow food vending component – groceries are essential – to keep the cash-registers cha-chinging for all the rest of The Bay’s merchandise. Dancing on the head of a tin of caviar.

The spin-bumff to my colleague claimed the company believed it was in compliance with the lockdown fiat Premier Doug Ford has triggered anew because of Pusateri’s, a feature only of the downtown location, which is why the chain’s other stories in Toronto and Peel had shut its doors.

As per the email sent to Rubin: “We understood this to be in line with the province’s direction, however we have now made the decision to close our Queen Street store (Tuesday).’’

Yeah, pull the other one.

To emphasize: While the rest of the department store had been functional since June, the Food Hall remained sealed up tight, for reasons never explained. But clearly Pusateri’s wasn’t considered essential for The Bay’s bottom line. And this is a retailer – the Hudson’s Bay Company – in a whole heap ‘o fiscal distress.

On Sunday, before the lockdown came into effect in Toronto and Peel, the two hot spots in Ontario, shoppers arriving at The Bay location at Centerpoint Mall, Yonge and Steeles, were confronted with a posted notice from the landlord saying the store’s lease had been terminated. The company has been rent delinquent at other locations across the country. Most recently, a Quebec judge ordered Hudson’s Bay to pay rent at several department stores in that province. A store has also reportedly been shuttered in B.C., for nonpayment of rent.

An Ontario judge has ordered the company to pay half the outstanding rent at its Richmond Hill location to avert eviction.

But suddenly Pusateri’s was the critical link at Yonge and Queen, even though most of the shelves were empty —no fresh produce, nothing in the dairy fridge, prepared foods section closed. Stock some gourmet items, fancy pasta and oils, however, and Bob’s your uncle.

Sell vittles and all the merchandise is your oyster.

Not so slick and now scuttled.

“I had literally 500 members in the GTA and Peel reach out to say, if they started to sell apples and bags of chips, can they become an essential service provider and therefore skirt the rules?’’ snorts Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). “Many of them are asking tongue-in-cheek, but not really.

“That’s pretty brazen, to make the case that you’re an essential service because you’re got a tiny food department in your store. It would be like Winners claiming they’re an essential service because they sell boxes of chocolates.

“If they were successful, I’d say mazel tov, every small retailer would be able to do the same thing, but on a much smaller basis.’’

Much of the public might have a soft spot for The Bay because of its iconic status as a Canadian institution. Except the Hudson’s Bay Company has been American-owned since 2006.

One might even have a tad of admiration for the company’s chutzpah, finagling the regs. But did they think nobody would notice and competitors wouldn’t complain? Whinges that were relayed to a clearly unaware Ford on Monday, who merely observed it was “unfair’’ and big box stores shouldn’t circumvent the rules while so many small businesses have been forced to roll down the awning.

Well, that’s the crux of the thing, isn’t it? The province’s lockdown mandate for Toronto and Peel – adamantly advanced by the public health care sector, infectious disease experts, their acolytes in the media and armchair epidemiological modellers, none of whom are facing a livelihood crisis – is clear as mud, most particularly in its exclusion of big box stores from limitations.

A patron can’t shop for a novel at an independent book store but can do so at, say, Costco, or any Shopper’s Drug Mart with a rack of paperback bestsellers. Can’t in-person shop for Christmas gifts at Roots or Sephora but all the schmutta and tat you want from Walmarts is okey-doke.

We are clearly not all in this together and, yet again, the brunt of the burden, the economic fallout, has dropped on the heads of small business owners.

As of two months ago, those nostalgic freedom-flexing days of late summer, days of late summer, Kelly’s organization had projected that an average of 160,000 small businesses – one in seven approximately — would permanently close as a result of coronavirus restrictions. If not lives lost, very much livelihoods lost. That figure doesn’t include “zombie stores” that have hung out a closed sign in the desperate hope, fading, of some day reopening.

On the subject of The Bay’s sly gambit, Kelly says: “I find on one level hard to criticize them because every retailer is in a fight for their life. These restrictions, literally the government has signed their death warrants. And I understand why they’re pushing back against the actual death of thousands of Ontarians. At the same time, there’s been a huge shift since the spring lockdowns.”

Much as CFIB members grumbled about the lockdowns in March, they understand that immediate and blunt action was necessary to protect society, even if poorly thought out and clumsily imposed. But provincial governments have had some six months to get it right the second time around, which every authority warned would be coming in the second wave of the coronavirus.

“What’s different is that we know an awful lot more about COVID-19,” says Kelly. “We know how it’s spread. Businesses have taken huge numbers of precautions to protect their customers and their staff. I’m not for a second suggesting that there’s no risk in a small retailer. But independent businesses are being shut down not because the business activity is more risky than other activities, but to send a message to the public. That’s what’s really upset the small business community so much. And then on top of that to have these restrictions put in place with such an arbitrary saw-off.”

What is the point of shutting down a small business that might have a handful of customers on the premises at the same time and essentially all that traffic, from many such business, to the so-called big box stores, resulting in crowds as thick as those in supermarkets? “It’s actually making COVID exposure worse by pushing all that traffic to a handful of big box stores,” Kelly argues.

Filling their carts with essentials and non-essentials. Because they can.

In Manitoba, at least, the unfair lockdown order has been somewhat addressed by a new rule, announced last Friday, that prevents large retailers – those permitted to remain open, selling essential goods in-store, from selling any non-essential goods, other than online or via curbside service.

This isn’t quantum physics.

“It’s a lot easier to buy from Costco or delivered by Amazon than trudging down and picking it up outside the store,” says Kelly. Especially when there’s no in-store experience – the browsing, the person-to-person consulting – that draws shoppers to smaller shops.

It shouldn’t be so hard to find, as Kelly suggests, a better saw-off for these deeply threatened independent businesses and the staff they employ. A reasonable strategy would be, say, permitting three customers in-store at a time, with three staffers. “It would allow at least a heartbeat of economic activity for the small guys and take some of the pressure off the big guys.”

Pressure? In the second-quarter for 2020, Walmart’s sales shot up by 13.9 per cent over the previous quarter. Globally, Amazon has enjoyed record-breaking sales of $4.6 billion in 19 countries, including Canada.

Meanwhile, all that inventory ordered by small businesses for the make-or-break Christmas spend-a-thon is just sitting there for at least another 25 days of lockdown.

The disease is real, unrelenting and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about red ink splashed across bookkeeping records.

But government should offer a better economic solution than slam-bam-thank-you-scram.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

Shopping for medical grade masks? Here’s how to avoid the counterfeit trap

Most Canadian consumers have fallen prey to those who hawk knockoff or counterfeit goods. Fortunately, the repercussions of buying a fake Rolex are minor.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) and respirators are another story, and since demand for these items spiked at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, dubious suppliers have taken advantage of scarcity and consumers’ desperation by selling counterfeit versions. Consumers unfamiliar with the world of medical device regulation can be easy prey.

“I think for Canadians, and for consumers around the world, we haven’t had to think about medical devices and PPE,” said Carmen Francis, a lawyer who specializes in international trade law with Toronto-based McCarthy Tétrault LLP, “so there’s a general lack of familiarity with the spectrum of regulations.”

Ontarians are encouraged by the provincial and federal governments to use non-medical masks in public indoor spaces and when physical distancing is hard to achieve, but for those facing situations where N95 masks are recommended, using an authentic product could mean the difference between health and sickness, or worse.

Here is some advice for avoiding counterfeit N95 and KN95 masks.

Know what you’re looking for

N95 masks filter out at least 95 per cent of airborne particles; that’s where the “95” comes from. KN95 filters are supposed to do the same. The difference is that while N95 filters are the U.S. and Canadian standard for respirator masks, KN95 are the Chinese standard.

All legitimate N95 masks — and some counterfeit ones — will bear the stamp of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). KN95 masks do not.

“PPE” Personal protective equipment, including N95 masks and latex gloves, have been in high demand since the pandemic was declared. – Richard Lautens/Torstar file photo

While Health Canada has approved KN95 masks for use as respirators here, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns they may not be as effective as N95 masks because most use an ear loop design that makes it harder to achieve a proper fit required for a mask to be effective than the headband design used by authentic N95 masks.

Look for supplier red flags

When shopping for a mask online, Francis said for legal reasons, consumers should stick to dealing with authorized third-party suppliers, rather than trying to import masks directly from an overseas manufacturer.

“As a consumer it’s a licensed activity, importing medical devices,” she said.

Shopping for masks in an online marketplace such as eBay or Amazon can work, Francis said, but presents a greater risk of fraud.

In June, 3M corporation filed a lawsuit against a third-party Amazon seller called KMJ Trading for allegedly selling marked-up, counterfeit N95 masks.

Francis said consumers shopping for masks in an online marketplace should look at the seller’s reviews and sale history to look for red flags and establish how long they’ve been selling PPE and respirators for.

“If they’ve only been selling masks for a couple months or had no prior history selling PPE before the pandemic that is a bit of a red flag,” she said, adding that consumers should buy from sellers who were squarely situated within the PPE market before the onset of the pandemic. She also advised against purchasing PPE and respirators from suppliers who also sell goods that are not at all related to PPE.

Visually inspect masks

Whether shopping for masks online or in person, consumers should do their best to look for signs of authenticity — or fraudulence — on masks and packaging before making a purchase.

Francis said one of the first things to look for on an N95 mask is the NIOSH logo.

“If the packaging bears NIOSH approval markings that’s a helpful sign,” she said. “We have seen instances where counterfeit goods are also using those same NIOSH claims, so you have to do some digging beyond that.”

Health Canada says genuine N95 respirators should also contain a testing and certification (TC) approval number, which is set by NIOSH, a model number and the name of the manufacturer. The government agency advises consumers to look at product markings such as the name of the manufacturer for obvious signs the product is counterfeit, such as spelling mistakes.

If a mask or mask packing is also stamped with a medical device establishment number (MDEL) or a licence number, you should be able to search for it in a NIOSH or Health Canada database to confirm that the product is genuine.

Search official databases

Because some fraudulent suppliers have been accused of selling counterfeit masks with falsified approval markings, like the NIOSH stamp of approval, Francis said consumers should ensure respirators are the real deal by cross referencing them with official databases in Canada and the U.S.

“There are some diligence steps we would recommend,” she said. “The U.S. NIOSH does maintain a database … likewise Health Canada maintains a daily list of authorized medical devices that can be used for COVID-approved purposes.”

Consumers can search for approved N95 and KN95 masks in Health Canada’s using the manufacturer name.

Health Canada also keeps a because they are either counterfeit or do not meet the 95 per cent filtration rate requirement.

Although KN95 and other internationally equivalent masks are not approved by NIOSH and won’t bear a NIOSH stamp, the U.S. National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) has assessed the filtration rates of nearly 400 KN95 masks.

You can see which masks achieved the minimum 95 per cent filtration rate and which didn’t on the . The same page also includes a table of KN95 masks manufacturers that are known to have been counterfeited.

Today’s coronavirus news: First dog in Canada tests positive for COVID-19; Ontario reports 1,042 cases, another record single-day total; NDP projects majority win in B.C. election

The latest news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

9:10 p.m.: Researchers have identified the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a Canadian dog — but it doesn’t mean pet owners should panic.

The dog belongs to a Niagara Region household where four out of six members tested positive for the coronavirus. The family’s canine companion had no symptoms and a low viral load, suggesting that dogs remain at relatively low risk of becoming gravely ill or passing on COVID to others, experts said.

8:45 p.m.: British Columbia’s New Democrats are said to have achieved their sought-after majority government Saturday night against the backdrop of four undecided ridings, 525,000 mail-in ballots still to be counted and a top rival who didn’t concede.

In an where the decision to send people to the polls seemed to be the biggest issue, the NDP won in parts of Metro Vancouver traditionally considered to be B.C. Liberal strongholds.

The win shows the NDP has managed to use its razor-thin minority government, established in 2017, to gain the support of the province and overcome an image problem haunting it since the 1990s. At the same time, the B.C. Liberals lay in tatters with their worst election showing in decades.

“I believe that for three and a half years we focused on the needs of all British Columbians,” NDP leader John Horgan said at a media conference Sunday morning. “I was reaching out always to communities, to people, to businesses in every corner of the province talking about the values that I want to bring to government.”

Horgan said he decided to call the snap election to push for a majority government to better handle issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

6:30 p.m.: Only curlers would be disappointed if they were asked to sweep less.

But that’s just what curlers across Canada are being requested to do as the sport of rocks and brooms tries to find a way to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The sport has adapted really well,” said Stephen Chenier, executive director of CurlOn, formerly the Ontario Curling Association, which represents about 45,000 curlers in southern Ontario. “The sport has adopted new rules and has shown an understanding of what we’re trying to do in supporting the efforts of public health.”

Curling Canada has enacted new regulations, pending approval of local health authorities:

  • Only one sweeper per rock;
  • The opposing skip can no longer sweep the opponent’s rock after it crosses the T-line;
  • The players on the idle team must remain six feet apart, and on the same side of the ice to make room for teams on adjacent sheets. And as one team makes its way down the ice with its rock, the other must set up in the hack.

5:48 p.m.: As President Donald Trump barnstorms the swing states, often downplaying the coronavirus pandemic before largely unmasked crowds, the nation continues to lurch toward what his opponent Joe Biden, citing health experts, warned will be a “dark winter” of disease and death.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN on Sunday that “we’re not going to control the pandemic.” Asked why, he said it’s “because it is a contagious virus just like the flu.”

Vice-President Mike Pence will continue campaigning despite his for COVID-19. His office said Pence and his wife both tested negative for the virus Sunday.

About half of U.S. states have seen their highest daily infection numbers so far at some point in October, and the country as a whole came very close to back-to-back record daily infection rates on Friday and Saturday.

Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that 83,718 new cases were reported Saturday, just shy of the 83,757 infections reported Friday. Before that, the most cases reported in the United States on a single day had been 77,362, on July 16.

As of Sunday, there were more than 8.6 million confirmed infections in the U.S., with deaths climbing to over 225,000, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

5:04 p.m.: Italy introduced the strongest virus restrictions since the end of a national lockdown in May, and Spain will impose a national curfew as cases surge in the two countries at the epicentre of the initial wave of the pandemic in Europe.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte approved a plan to limit opening hours for bars and restaurants, and shut entertainment, gambling venues and gyms. Italians will also be urged not to travel. The measures will begin on Monday and remain in effect until Nov. 24.

Italy’s government is running out of options to avoid a full lockdown as it’s failing to contain the spread through early autumn. New infections rose to a record 21,273 on Sunday and there are now more than 1,200 people being treated in intensive care units for the virus.

4:35 p.m.: Like the recessions before it, this year’s pandemic-induced economic downturn has had its winners and losers.

Shoppers Drug Mart is one of the winners. Its parent company, Loblaw Companies Ltd., saw profits rise during the first quarter of 2020 despite the added costs of pandemic safety measures, with Shoppers’ same-store sales rising more than 10 per cent. And though Loblaw’s profit in the second quarter due to those extra costs, its revenue increased. At Shoppers, though pharmacy same-store sales fell, front store sales rose.

The pharmacy chain recently got into the COVID-19 testing game alongside Rexall and other community pharmacies, the latest in a long line of moves by the company aimed at expanding its profile in health care.

Love them or hate them, it might seem like the retailer is ready for anything, always ahead of the competition.

That’s no accident. Shoppers has been steadily increasing the services it provides and pouncing on new opportunities, looking to a future where it resembles a community health hub rather than just a local pharmacy.

2:02 p.m.: Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov tested positive for the coronavirus and is feeling a “general malaise,” he said on his official Facebook page.

Borissov, 61, was briefly quarantined on Friday after coming into contact with a deputy minister who had tested positive, but he was then released on Saturday after twice testing negative. He said he’s resting at home.

The number of hospitalized patients in intensive care in the Balkan country reached a record-high on Sunday. Local authorities across the county, including in the capital Sofia, have shut down bars and night clubs while the government is trying to avoid tougher nationwide measures.

2:01 p.m.: Public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are reporting a new case of COVID-19 in the province.

They say an Ontario man in his 60s had recently travelled to western Newfoundland after he was granted a travel exemption.

As a result, the province’s Health Department is asking passengers who travelled on Air Canada Flight 7484 from Toronto to Deer Lake on Oct. 20 to call 811 to arrange for COVID-19 testing.

The infected man has been self-isolating since he arrived in the province, which is mandatory for 14 days under provincial law.

All of his close contacts have been told to remain in isolation and to watch for symptoms.

1:59 p.m.: Health officials in New Brunswick say two people with underlying health conditions have died from COVID-19 and two others have been infected with the virus.

Those who died on the weekend include a person in the 70s from the Moncton area and a person in their 40s from the Campbellton region

The area in northern New Brunswick has been under tightened public health restrictions since Oct. 9 as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak in the region.

The province, which has recorded one of the lowest infection rates in Canada since the pandemic was declared in March, has lost six people to the virus.

The total number of infections has reached 328.

1:46 p.m.: Hundreds of people won’t be taking to the skies with Delta Air Lines after refusing to follow the airline’s mask policy.

The company said in a memo to its staff that numerous passengers have been placed on the no-fly list since it instituted a rule on May 4 that requires people to wear masks during flights amid the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reported.

“As of this week, we’ve added 460 people to our no-fly list for refusing to comply with our mask requirement,” reads the message,” reads the recent memo from CEO Ed Bastian.

The mask requirement is one of several safety guidelines introduced by Delta this year in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. The airline has also blocked off the purchase of middle seats through Jan. 6 and partnered with Lysol to ensure cleanliness on flights.

The Centers for Disease Control has said using public transportation, including planes, can increase the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19, and advises that all involved parties wear masks.

Each of the major airlines now requires masks on their flights. The airlines announced in June that passengers who decline to follow the mask requirement can be banned from future trips.

Delta said in a previous update released in August that about 270 passengers had been banned over the mask policy at that point.

1:40 p.m.: The federal government is being criticized for not doing enough to help disabled veterans as new figures appear to confirm fears COVID-19 is making it more difficult for them to apply for assistance.

The figures from Veterans Affairs Canada show about 8,000 veterans applied for disability benefits during the first three full months of the pandemic, which was about half the normal number.

The sharp drop in the number of applications helped the department make a dent in the backlog of more than 40,000 requests for federal assistance waiting to be processed.

Yet the department also acknowledges at least part of the decline is likely because the pandemic made it harder for veterans to get the necessary information to apply, such as doctor’s assessments.

That is exactly what Brian Forbes, chairman of the National Council of Veterans Associations, has been warning about since the spring.

Forbes, whose organization represents more than 60 veterans groups in Canada, says he is frustrated because the government has not moved to address the problem despite knowing about it for months, and that now is the time to act.

1:39 p.m.: Florida’s rising number of COVID-19 cases could be the leading edge of a dangerous spike that could continue for months as the state remains wide open for business, tourism and education, public health experts warn.

A decline of cases since the summer surge is over, four weeks into the state’s Phase 3 reopening of bars and restaurants at full service, state and national data indicates.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis promising there’s no chance of a return to lockdowns, no matter the severity of another surge, we can expect more people will need hospital treatment and more will die, experts say.

“My worry for Florida is that the embers are out there and they’re starting to burn, and by the time we see it in the numbers that are reported officially, it’s too late, and you’re going to see it only in the rearview mirror and wish you’d been a little more aggressive,” said Dr. Thomas Giordano, chief of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

1:38 p.m.: Much of San Francisco looked like a ghost town during late April. All but essential services were closed. Few roamed the streets. The mood seemed as grim as the grey skies overhead.

Now life has returned. Restaurants and stores are open. Clad in masks, pedestrians last week clutched bags from stores where they had just shopped. Diners sat at tables outside restaurants and cafes. People strolled along the bay on the Embarcadero, and a huge Ferris wheel opened for business at Golden Gate Park.

After cautiously approaching the pandemic for months, with a go-slow attitude toward reopening, San Francisco has become the first urban centre in California to enter the least restrictive tier for reopening. Risk of infection, according to the state’s colour-coded tiers, is considered minimal, even though San Francisco is the second-densest city in the country after New York.

“We have, at least so far, done everything right,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco.

City officials still are not declaring victory. Characteristically, they warn, the virus still lurks around the corner. And as they have before, they will follow local metrics rather than reopen just becomes the state allows it.

1:37 p.m.: Ontario ; the province’s seven-day average for new infections — a better indicator of the overall trend than single-day numbers, experts say — also hit a new all-time high, now up to an average of 857 cases daily.

The totals suggest the second wave is “getting worse not better” in Ontario, said University Health Network infectious-disease specialist Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, adding that there are other areas that are getting “hotter,” including Halton, where new restrictions “are needed without delay.”

Looking ahead, “this week and the next week are going to be crucial” to gauging where Ontario’s epidemic is headed, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto and Toronto General Hospital.

It’s still too early to know whether “modified Stage 2” restrictions in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa are slowing the virus’s spread, he said.

“We all have to take a deep breath in,” he said, noting it can take two weeks for interventions to show up in case numbers. “We won’t see the first whiff of improvement until later this week ahead.”

11:42 a.m.: Monday’s vote on a Conservative motion to launch an in-depth review of the Liberal government’s COVID-19 response highlights a key challenge of pandemic politics: how to hold a government accountable for decisions based on science, when the science itself is changing nearly every day.

The opposition wants a committee probe into everything from why regulators are taking so long to approve rapid testing to an early decision not to close the border to international travel, and what concerns the Liberals is how that probe is being framed.

11:37 a.m.: Quebec has reached more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 as of today.

The province is reporting 879 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 100,114 infections since the pandemic began.

Health officials also say 11 additional deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus were reported, for a total of 6,143.

Five of those additional deaths took place in the past 24 hours, five were reported between Oct. 18-23 and one occurred at an unspecified date.

Hospitalizations went up by two across the province in the past 24 hours, for a total of 551.

Of those, 97 people were in intensive care — an increase of four compared to the previous day.

11:36 a.m.: With COVID-19 cases surging in the United States, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows acknowledged the Trump administration can’t stop the spread and is focusing instead on getting a vaccine.

He told CNN’s “State of the Union”: “We’re not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics.”

President Donald Trump largely shuns wearing a mask and has repeatedly insisted at campaign rallies that the U.S. is “rounding the corner” when it comes to the coronavirus. But Meadows on Sunday appeared to contradict that assessment. When pressed why the U.S. won’t get control of the pandemic, he replied: “Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu.”

Meadows says the administration is making efforts to contain the virus and predicts “we’re going to defeat it.” Meadows says “our ability to handle this has improved each and every day.” New cases, however, have been on the rise, according to data published by Johns Hopkins University.

11:35 a.m.: Pediatricians are urging the British government to reverse course and provide free meals for poor children during school holidays as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes more families into poverty.

Some 2,200 members of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health have written an open letter to Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying they were shocked by his “refusal’’ to back down on the issue. The House of Commons last week rejected legislation that would have provided free meals during all school holidays from October through the Easter break.

The doctors say some four million children live in poverty, and a third rely on free school meals. Many parents in Britain have lost their jobs or are working reduced hours during the pandemic, making it imperative to make it possible for poor children over the holidays get at least one nutritious meal a day, the doctors argue.

“Families who were previously managing are now struggling to make ends meet because of the impact of COVID-19,’’ the doctors wrote. “It is not good enough to send them into the holiday period hoping for the best, while knowing that many will simply go hungry.’’

11:34 a.m.: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not giving up on passing another coronavirus relief economic package before the November 3 election.

At issue is a huge virus relief bill that would send another $1,200 direct payment to most Americans, restart bonus unemployment benefits, fund additional testing and vaccines, provide aid to schools and allocate money to state and local governments, a Democratic priority.

Pelosi says she sent the administration a list of concerns on Friday and she is told that she’ll have answers on Monday.

Pelosi says she wants a relief bill that is predicated on steps that science dictates should be taken to deal with the coronavirus, and “if we don’t, we’re just giving money to the president to spend any way he wants and that has not been in furtherance of crushing the virus.”

10:15 a.m.: Ontario is reporting another 1,042 COVID-19 cases in , the second day in a row the province has reported a record single-day total.

Ontario’s seven-day average for new infections, a measure experts point to as a better reflection the course of the pandemic than single-day numbers, is also at an all-time high, now up to 857 cases daily.

It was the first day in which Ontario’s daily case total had surpassed 1,000. The previous record was set Saturday, with 978 cases.

Another seven deaths were reported; Ontario has now seen 3,093 people die in the pandemic.

Locally, Ontario’s hardest-hit regions continued to be responsible for the majority of new infections. The province reported another 309 cases in Toronto, 289 in Peel Region, 117 in York Region and 80 in Ottawa; the province’s four largest health units by population are all currently in a “modified Stage 2” over their high infection rate.

Meanwhile, the two other regions that may see new restrictions announced Monday also reported significant totals, with 52 new cases in Durham Region and 31 in Halton Region.

On Saturday, mayors from Halton and Durham lobbied against new restrictions for their regions, .

The province reported 38,769 tests were completed Saturday, down from more than 44,000 the day before.

9:42 a.m.: Spain declared a second nationwide state of emergency Sunday and ordered an overnight curfew across the country in hopes of stemming a resurgence in coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

The Socialist leader told the nation in a televised address that the extraordinary measure will go into effect on Sunday night.

Sánchez said that his government is using the state of emergency to impose an 11 p.m.-6 a.m. nationwide curfew, except in the Canary Islands.

Spain’s 19 regional leaders will have authority to set different hours for the curfew as long as they are stricter, close regional borders to travel and limit gatherings to six people who don’t live together, the prime minister said.

“The reality is that Europe and Spain are immersed in a second wave of the pandemic,” Sánchez said after meeting with his Cabinet.

7:31 a.m.: A COVID-19 outbreak in the north of Melbourne has led health authorities in Australia’s Victoria state to hold off on any further easing of restrictions in the beleaguered city.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews withheld any announcement on an easing on Sunday as the state awaits results on 3,000 people who were tested in the city’s north in the past 24 hours.

He described it as a “cautious pause” — not a setback — to rule out there wasn’t widespread community transmission linked to the cluster.

Among the current restrictions are mandatory wearing of masks and no travelling beyond 25 kilometres (15 miles) from home. At the start of the second wave of cases two months ago, Andrews instituted an overnight curfew and shut down most businesses.

7:27 a.m. (Updated 2 p.m.): There are 216,040 confirmed cases in Canada.

Quebec: 100,114 confirmed (including 6,143 deaths, 84,828 resolved)

Ontario: 70,373 confirmed (including 3,093 deaths, 60,160 resolved)

Alberta: 24,261 confirmed (including 300 deaths, 20,310 resolved)

British Columbia: 12,554 confirmed (including 256 deaths, 10,247 resolved)

Manitoba: 4,249 confirmed (including 54 deaths, 2,142 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 2,669 confirmed (including 25 deaths, 2,070 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 1,100 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,029 resolved)

New Brunswick: 326 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 250 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 289 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 275 resolved)

Prince Edward Island: 64 confirmed (including 63 resolved)

Yukon: 20 confirmed (including 15 resolved)

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved), 3 presumptive

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 215,000 (3 presumptive, 214,997 confirmed including 9,929 deaths, 180,372 resolved)

7:24 a.m.: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a Cabinet meeting Sunday to prepare a new state of emergency to stem surging coronavirus infections, a move that could impose curfews and other restrictions across the country.

Sánchez’s government said Saturday night that a majority of Spain’s regional leaders have agreed to a new state of emergency and the meeting Sunday was to study its terms.

The state of emergency gives the national government extraordinary powers, including the ability to temporarily restrict basic freedoms guaranteed in Spain’s Constitution such as the right to free movement.

Spain’s government has already declared two state of emergencies during the pandemic. The first was declared in March to apply a strict home confinement across the nation, close stores and recruit private industry for the national public health fight. It was lifted in June after reigning in the contagion rate and saving hospitals from collapse.

The second went into effect for two weeks in Madrid to force the capital’s reluctant regional leaders to impose travel limits on residents to slow down an outbreak in which new infections were growing exponentially. It lasted until Saturday.

7:22 a.m.: Just weeks after India fully opened up from a harsh lockdown and began to modestly turn a corner by cutting new coronavirus infections by near half, a Hindu festival season is raising fears that a fresh surge could spoil the hard-won gains.

“I’d be very worried about what we are going to see in India,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health and a leading infectious disease expert.

The festivals draw tens and thousands of people, packed together shoulder-to-shoulder in temples, shopping districts and family gatherings, leading to concerns among health experts who warn of a whole new cascade of infections, further testing and straining India’s battered health care system.

Sunday 7:20 a.m.: Several members of Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle, including at least four members of his staff, have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past few days, people briefed on the matter said, raising new questions about the safety protocols at the White House, where masks are not routinely worn.

Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for Pence, said that the vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, had tested positive. A person briefed on the diagnosis said he received it Saturday.

“Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence both tested negative for COVID-19 today and remain in good health,” O’Malley said, adding, “While Vice President Pence is considered a close contact with Mr. Short, in consultation with the White House Medical Unit, the vice president will maintain his schedule in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel.”

The statement did not come from the White House medical unit but instead from a press aide. Two people briefed on the matter said that the White House Chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had sought to keep news of the outbreak from becoming public.

A spokeswoman for Meadows did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Doug Ford defends closure of indoor restaurant and bar service as industry warns tens of thousands of jobs will be lost

Docs before chefs.

Public health officials not restaurateurs will cook up Ontario’s response to the pandemic, warns Premier .

“I have to listen to the health professionals and we see the numbers going up and we’re concerned about that,” he told reporters Friday in Picton when asked why thousands of restaurants and bars are being limited to outdoor and takeout service.

“I hate shutting it down, I absolutely hate it. I understand what it takes to meet a payroll (and) take care of a business.”

Ford’s comments came as Restaurants Canada, a 40,000-member industry association, launched a public-relations blitz with newspaper ads appealing to politicians to allow indoor dining and drinking.

The organization predicted the ban on indoor service will cost 33,000 jobs in Toronto, 14,900 in Peel Region, 12,000 in Ottawa, and 8,800 in York Region.

“Picture life without restaurants,” says one newspaper ad, noting the sector “is being singled out and we deserve to understand why.”

Celebrity chef and restaurateur Mark McEwan took to Twitter to appeal directly to the premier and to Toronto Mayor John Tory.

“Doug Ford needs to lead Ontario back to work safely. Shutdowns are a mistake. Do the right thing and lead the economy back!! BOLD LEADERSHIP… Be brave, Doug Ford,” wrote McEwan.

“Boggles my mind that John Tory is not leading the back to work safely message. The city is dying. Wake up!!” added the former Top Chef Canada judge and the owner of Bymark, ONE Restaurant, and the McEwan gourmet food shops.

Ford insisted he has “a great deal of respect for Mark McEwan.”

“He’s a great entrepreneur, one of the great restaurant owners and, unfortunately, Mark’s not a medical professional. He’s a business owner. I respect the what he’s saying, but … we have to focus on the health and the safety of everyone across the province,” the premier said.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said “what we have to look at and listen to is the scientific clinical evidence” and restrict hospitality service to patios to limit new coronavirus infections.

“I certainly understand Mr. McEwan’s frustration. We’ve been advised by our public health measures table, by Dr. (David) Williams and his team that these are measures that we need to take in order to stop the community spread of COVID-19,” said Elliott.

“There are some economic points of assistance that we will be providing,” she said, adding the health officials are hopeful the 28-day lockdowns in the four most-afflicted regions will “will flatten the curve, bring the numbers down to a more manageable level, not overwhelm our hospitals.”

As first , the Progressive Conservatives are making permanent the temporary pandemic measure that allows restaurants and bars to sell beer, wine and spirits to go.

That liberalization, which with Ontarians, is designed to help struggling businesses keep afloat.

Associate Minister of Small Business Prabmeet Sarkaria has introduced legislation cutting red tape to help restaurants, bars, and shops.

Sarkaria also said there would be one-time grants of up to $1,000 for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees to defray the cost of personal protective equipment for workers.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter:

Collingwood COVID-19 assessment centre moves to the Legion

The Collingwood COVID-19 Assessment Centre has moved to the parking lot behind the Collingwood Legion at and will operate both the appointment based, drive-through COVID-19 assessments and flu shot clinics. 

To book an appointment at the Collingwood Assessment Centre call to speak to a team member during business hours, Monday to Friday 8 a.m., to 6 p.m.

Patients are asked to enter the parking lot off Erie Street, at the back of the Collingwood Legion, and to arrive as close to their appointment time as possible, due to the volume of appointments the site is seeing. 

 At this time, publicly-funded testing is available for Ontarians at Assessment Centres if they are showing COVID-19 symptoms, have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus as informed by your public health unit, are a resident or worker in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative directed by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

Additionally, the Wasaga Beach COVID-19 Assessment Centre, located in the parking lot behind the RecPlex at is also open for pre-scheduled drive-through COVID-19 assessments and flu shots

For more information, go to Patients remain in their vehicles for both COVID-19 assessments and flu shot clinics. 

‘Climbed into the back seat’: Beeton residents say council handed keys to developer, province by supporting special zoning order

Longtime Beeton resident Niall Lawlor admits he was excited when he first heard about a proposal to bring more affordable housing for seniors to the community, but those feelings quickly faded as he started digging through the details.

Instead of going through the normal planning approval process at the local level, the developer is seeking a minister’s zoning order (MZO), a lever the province can pull to fast-track developments without having to seek input from the public.

FLATO did not respond to Simcoe.com’s requests for comment.

The developer has said the community would be geared toward seniors and provide attainable housing with five apartment buildings, comprised of 400 rental units total, plus 173 townhomes, 40 semi-detached units and 297 single-detached homes.

Council, which voted 7-3 in favour of the request, has directed staff to come up with a list of conditions to send to the province in its letter of support – a move that seems backwards to Lawlor.

“It is like trying to stop the bulldozer after gassing it up and handing the keys to the driver,” he said.

He thinks Simcoe County, not a private developer, is the only partner the town should be working with in order to bring true affordable housing to the area.

Lawlor looked into an adult lifestyle community FLATO built in Dundalk, where rent for a studio apartment goes for $1,545 per month, a one-bedroom is $1,745 and a two-bedroom costs $2,045.

Deputy Mayor Richard Norcross, one of the most vocal proponents of the request, pointed out how local organizations like the food bank and Out of the Cold shelter in Alliston have said more affordable housing would alleviate the pressures they are facing. He also argued that the province would make a ruling regardless of the municipality’s decision.

Norcross, who previously served as Beeton’s councillor, has asked for the zoning order to require the development be used for seniors housing, and for a demographic study to be completed early on to determine who is living there.

Beeton Coun. Stephanie MacLellan, who opposed the request along with councillors Michael Beattie and Shira Harrison McIntyre, questioned why the developer wasn’t interested in trying to get the plan approved at the local level, and why council wasn’t taking more time to consider the proposal.

MacLellan also noted that there have been no previous cases of MZOs being approved without the local council’s support, and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing reinforced this.

“Only if the municipality supports the project and sends a request for an MZO will the minister then consider the proposal,” wrote spokesperson Conrad Spezowka. “It is under the minister’s sole discretion whether to make a Minister’s Zoning Order or not.”

The town report on which council based its decision did not include such clear language about the role the municipality plays in the approval process, noting only that the minister “would consider any comments that council wishes to provide before such a decision is rendered.”

The report does say the approval of an MZO is at the “sole discretion of the minister” and is “typically used when local and provincial priorities align.”

Resident Nicole Cox said this decision has also created uncertainly for Tottenham’s future water supply and whether the pipeline extension will still be able to supply both communities.

The town’s director of engineering has said insufficient information has been presented thus far to address this concern.

Cox also echoed comments from the town’s director of planning regarding the town’s inability to guarantee this development remains exclusive to seniors.

“We have no tools or controls within our municipality that permit for discriminating toward those having the ability to purchase homes within the development,” she said.

Resident Barbara Huson criticized council’s decision in an open letter.

She referenced comments from the City of Barrie, which describes the MZO process as essentially “an end-run on local planning and transparent decisions that are made in the public interest.”

She said previous planning documents, studies and master plans that were developed with input from residents have been “rendered useless” with this single decision.

She said the proposal ignores one of the requirements in the official plan, which states no new development be approved outside the current settlement boundary until the master drainage plan is completed. The first phase of the study was recently completed, but there are still two more phases to go.

There are many other aspects of this proposal that worry her, including the fact that the homes would be located 500 metres from Beeton’s border and 2.25 kilometres away from the Foodland plaza where most residents do their shopping. The development would also be separated from the rest of the community by the Beeton Creek and floodplain.

The developer has proposed building a sidewalk along County Road 1, but it’s unknown if this is even possible since it would have to run parallel to a busy highway.

Huson was also alarmed by the traffic study, which estimates daily vehicle trips would triple from 4,500 to 12,243 once fully built out.

In her view, council essentially “handed off the keys” to planning and growth decisions to a developer and the province, while councillors “naively climbed into the back seat to see where the ride would take them.”

Resident Carolyn Milne called the decision “heartbreaking,” and said council has opened the door for more developers looking to do the same.

Since this decision was made, . Two of the applications will be discussed at the Nov. 2 council meeting.


STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After reporting on council’s controversial decision to support FLATO’s zoning request for a mega-development in Beeton, Simcoe.com asked residents to share their opinions.

Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 1,248 new cases and 29 deaths in highest single-day death toll since June; U.S. surpasses 11 million cases of coronavirus, hospitalizations hit record level

The latest news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file is no longer updating. . Web links to longer stories if available.

9:11 p.m. A massive surge in COVID-19 cases in recent days wasn’t enough to deter some revelers in Brampton from gathering in large groups to celebrate Diwali on Saturday night.

Peel police Const. Akhil Mooken said the city’s bylaw office and police dispatchers received several complaints from residents about large gatherings in violation of COVID-19 laws.

“We did receive several complaints in regard to noise complaints (and) breaching of the provincial guidelines when it comes to gathering limits,” he said.

“Our partners from the municipal bylaw team are primarily responsible for enforcing those, but we were called up on by them to assist at several places of worship to assist them in dispersing the large crowds that had gathered,” Mooken added.

8:50 p.m. In-person classes at high schools and colleges statewide will be suspended for three weeks along with eat-in dining at restaurants and bars under sweeping new restrictions aimed at reining in the exponential growth of coronavirus cases in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Sunday.

The new restrictions are to take effect Wednesday, and include the cancellation of organized sports and group exercise classes, though gyms may remain open for individual exercise with strict safety measures, and professional and college athletics may continue.

Casinos and movie theatres also will have to temporarily shut down, and all businesses are asked to allow employees to work from home if possible.

6:37 p.m. Manitoba’s justice minister condemned the actions of demonstrators opposing mandatory masks and other lockdown measures in a community southwest of Winnipeg over the weekend, calling actions at the event “incredibly unfortunate, dangerous and wrong.”

Cliff Cullen thanked the officers who enforced provincial health orders at Saturday’s event in Steinbach, Man., and issued a stern reminder that those who break COVID-19 restrictions will be ticketed.

“The language and vitriol experienced by our enforcement personnel at (Saturday’s) event is absolutely unacceptable. These individuals are working to keep all Manitobans healthy and safe so we can slow the spread of this virus and save lives,” Cullen said in the statement.

“Manitobans have been warned and, if they choose to participate in events that openly disregard public health orders, they can expect that enforcement action will be taken.”

The rally in Steinbach drew a large crowd, though it came just a day after the president of the Manitoba Nurses Union said nurses reported having to triage patients in their cars at the local hospital because of a lack of space in the Emergency Department.

5:21 p.m. Premier Doug Ford is encouraging Ontarians to “limit their trips outside of the home” as a result of rising COVID-19 numbers.

In a tweet on Sunday, Ford asked that outings be kept to “essential reasons like going to work, school, getting groceries, or for medical appointments.”

He added that families should not allow visitors to their homes and should also avoid social gatherings.

5 p.m. U.S. officials have reported more than 11 million cases of coronavirus as of Sunday, as the country’s outbreaks speed to agonizing new levels of hospitalizations. The tally passed 10 million just a week ago, and more than 1 in 400 Americans have tested positive since.

The country logged more than 159,100 new cases Saturday, the third-highest total of the pandemic, raising the new seven-day average to more than 145,000, with upward trends in 48 states and an 80% increase in added cases from the average two weeks ago.

Ten states set single-day case records; 29 states added more cases in the past week than in any other seven-day period. On Sunday, officials in New Jersey announced 4,538 new cases, the second single-day record in a row.

4:20 p.m. Nunavut says nine new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Hudson Bay community of Arviat. One other new case has also been identified in Rankin Inlet which the territory says is linked to Arviat. The 10 new cases bring the territory’s total to 18, with 14 of them in Arviat.

The first diagnosis in the community was only identified on Friday. Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, is asking anyone who left Arviat on or after Nov. 2 to immediately isolate for 14 days, wherever they are.

3:52 p.m. Maryland reported 1,840 new cases of the coronavirus and nine more deaths Sunday as new cases continued to surge in Western Maryland and in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. corridor.

Sunday’s additions bring the state’s total to 165,930 cases of COVID-19 and at least 4,153 people who have died due to the disease or complications from it since mid-March.

As of Sunday, 938 people in Maryland were hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19, 17 more than Saturday.

According to health officials, 20 more virus patients were placed into intensive care units, for a total of 238. The state reported three fewer people in acute care units, for a total of 700 Sunday.

The statewide seven-day average testing positivity rate was 6.57 per cent Sunday, .41 percentage points higher than Saturday.

3:31 p.m. A Surrey, B.C., elementary school has been ordered to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak, while staffing shortages stemming from virus case clusters have forced closures at two other schools in nearby municipalities.

The Fraser Health authority said seven COVID-19 cases have been identified at Cambridge Elementary School, and the facility will close until Nov. 30 to help break the chain of transmission.

The health authority said two other schools, Jarvis Elementary School in Delta and Al-Hidayah School in New Westminster, will close to manage a cluster of COVID-19 cases.

It said those closures are related to staffing issues presented by the cluster of cases and both will be closed for two weeks.

Jordan Tinney, the superintendent of Surrey schools, said staff understand the concern parents may have and that the safety of the community is of “utmost importance.”

The Fraser Health region has emerged as a provincial COVID-19 hot spot, with the majority of new cases being identified in the region over the past week.

3:07 p.m. Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19. Health officials say both cases reported today are in the central health zone, which includes Halifax.

Both are connected to previously reported cases, including one linked to the city’s cluster in the Clayton Park area. The new cases are still under investigation.

Nova Scotia has 21 active cases of novel coronavirus and has recorded a total of 1,144 positive cases, 1,058 cases are considered recovered, and there have been 65 deaths.

The province reported a total of eight new cases over the weekend.

12:40 p.m.: You should be nervous , with COVID-19 surging across the U.S., says Ralph Baric, a UNC professor who is one of the world’s preeminent researchers of coronaviruses.

Things are likely to get much worse before they get better.

“We are looking at five months of extensive and rapid virus spread,” Baric said in a phone interview with The News & Observer. “The good news is there is a light at the end of tunnel.”

That light appears to be a new vaccine by Pfizer, which delivered promising results on its experimental vaccine this month. A number of other vaccines are being tested as well.

But they won’t be ready for weeks or months and the weather is quickly getting colder, sending more Americans indoors to places where the virus may spread rapidly.

“I think it is important (to note) that before vaccines become widely delivered,” Baric said, “that we are looking at about 250,000 more deaths in the U.S., despite the development of new drugs. That is probably going to still occur because of the massive increases in cases.”

Nationwide, and in North Carolina, records are being set for daily positive coronavirus cases. On Friday, more than 181,100 new cases were reported across the country, a record that came only eight days after the U.S. reported its first 100,000-case day, The New York Times reported.

More than 244,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S.

Perhaps more than half of those additional deaths can be avoided, Baric says. “But you have to wear masks the correct way — not just covering your mouth,” he said.

12:11 p.m.: One of the scientists behind the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer said Sunday that he was confident that it could halve the transmission of the virus, resulting in a “dramatic” curb of the virus’ spread.

Professor Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Germany’s BioNTech, said it was “absolutely essential” to have a high vaccination rate before next autumn to ensure a return to normal life next winter.

“If everything continues to go well, we will start to deliver the vaccine end of this year, beginning next year,” Sahin said. “Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million of vaccine doses until April next year, which could allow us to already start to make an impact.”

“I’m very confident that transmission between people will be reduced by such a highly effective vaccine — maybe not 90% but maybe 50%,” he said.

Pfizer and BioNTech said last week that interim results showed the vaccine was 90% effective in preventing people from getting ill from COVID-19, though they don’t yet have enough information on safety and manufacturing quality.

“What is absolutely essential is that we get a high vaccination rate before autumn/winter next year, so that means all the immunization, vaccination approaches must be accomplished before next autumn,” Sahin said.

11:48 a.m.: New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 22.

Public Health says the new cases involve a person between 20 and 29 years-old in the Moncton region, an individual between 20 and 29 in the Saint John area, and a person between 70 and 79 years of age in the Fredericton region.

Officials say one of the cases is related to travel and the other two are still under investigation.

The province has reported a total of nine new cases this weekend.

11:20 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 1,211 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

Public health authorities say two of those deaths took place in the last 24 hours, 11 occurred between Nov. 8 and 13, one was before Nov. 8 and one occurred at an unspecified date.

The province has now recorded 123,854 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and 6,626 total deaths.

Officials say hospitalizations went up by four over the past 24 hours for a total of 587.

Of that, 89 people are in intensive care, an increase of seven from the previous day.

10:20 a.m.: Ontario health officials say there were 1,248 new COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday, and 29 deaths in the past 24 hours — the highest single-day death toll since June.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 364 cases are in Toronto, 308 in Peel Region and 125 in York Region. The province says it has conducted 44,837 tests since the last daily report. In total, 479 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 118 in intensive care.

10 a.m.: A Cyprus court has ordered nine people detained for three days on suspicion of smashing store fronts and hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at police following a rally against a regional lockdown in the coastal town of Limassol.

Police said Sunday that they have also arrested the 31 year-old organizer of the rally on suspicion of inciting others to commit a criminal offence.

The violence took place after around 1,000 people gathered late Saturday in Limassol to protest a strict, 19-day lockdown that bans all non-essential movement of people, shut bars and restaurants and imposes a 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew. Some 23 people were arrested, of which nine — aged 16 to 27 — were detained.

9 a.m.: The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized in France dropped this weekend for this first time since September, after two weeks of new nationwide lockdown measures aimed at slowing surging infections and easing hospital strains.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care also fell for the first time in six weeks, according to figures released Saturday night, though virus patients still occupy 96% of France’s standard ICU beds.

The number of weekly infections per 100,000 people in France has now been falling for 14 straight days, and some doctors say they’re starting to see signs of relief in overstretched ICUs.

France has reported more virus infections than any European country and has had 44,246 virus-related deaths.

8:30 a.m.: Amid the chaos of this unprecedented year, — from outbreaks and tech shortages to staffing issues and problems keeping class sizes to a safe level. The overwhelming number of no-show students presents one more challenge in a year that’s already had far more than its share.

“This has never happened, where you have had this many kids not show up,” Toronto District School Board chair Alexander Brown told the Star. “It is a logistical nightmare. And no one knows how to navigate it.”

The TDSB has reported it is down roughly 5,500 students — more than double the number of no-shows in a typical year, when around one per cent of the board’s roughly 240,000 students don’t turn up in class, according to a spokesperson. Toronto’s Catholic board told the Star its enrolment is also down this year by between 2,000 and 2,500 students. And the Peel District School Board is missing roughly 2,800 students who were expected in class.

All of these kids were either registered and did not show up for school, or were projected to attend, but didn’t.

7 a.m.: John Tory is entering the back half of his second term as Toronto mayor consumed with an enemy that didn’t even exist one year ago.

“Back in March on a Saturday morning about six of us got a presentation from Dr. de Villa on projections for (COVID-19) and there was the case, if we did nothing how many would die, and I think the median number was 8,000 people in the city of Toronto, between then and the end of the year, and it ranged up as high as 10,000,” Mayor Tory told the Star.

“If somebody told you that many people were going to die in Toronto, short of an explosion of some kind or a terrible earthquake — I was just stumped.”

City Hall Bureau Chief, David Rider spoke with Tory about how has changed his job and if seeking a third term is a possibility.

7 a.m.: During the coronavirus crisis, current economic data shows that the pre-pandemic well-off are benefiting while the pre-pandemic marginalized are suffering considerably, write contributors Ronald Meng and Imran Abdool. In short, we are experiencing a K-shaped recovery: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Winston Churchill famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” and its congruent economic crisis is an opportunity to implement key changes that will set Canada’s economic trajectory on the right path.

Specifically, three things must be done: a universal basic income with automatic stabilizers; high-quality, affordable child care; and a well-designed wealth tax.

7 a.m.: Discreet online mourning is part of the new realities of life — and death — for local and international organized criminals during the COVID-19 crisis.

Meanwhile, experts say the smartest organized criminals are now rebounding and even expanding after their initial pandemic scare.

“Crime tends to be a first-mover, sussing out new opportunities whenever a crisis like COVID-19 arises,” Misha Glenny, a fellow at the Berggruen Institute think tank, writes on his blog. “They are very entrepreneurial.”

“The bad news is the surge of online activity during lockdown has multiplied the opportunities for the ever-growing cyber criminal fraternity,” he continues.

For some, the new opportunities lie in a new division of police resources, weakened enemies, legitimate business failures and sloppy online security.

6:10 a.m.: The COVID-19 crisis has overshadowed an equally dark pandemic of opioid overdoses, which have risen sharply since March as the border closure and limited access to services raise fatal risks for drug users.

British Columbia saw more than 100 “illicit toxicity deaths” each month between March and August, with the death toll breaching 175 in May, June and July, according to numbers compiled by the Public Health Agency of Canada last month.

The 181 deaths in June were a 138 per cent increase from the 76 fatalities in the same period a year earlier.

The situation is no better in Ontario, where an estimated 50 to 80 people per week are dying of overdoses, according to the chief coroner’s office. The figures are up by 35 to 40 per cent year over year since the onset of the pandemic.

6 a.m.: Several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump in Washington protested election results and then hailed Trump’s passing motorcade before nighttime clashes with counterdemonstrators sparked

Several other cities on Saturday also saw gatherings of Trump supporters unwilling to accept Democrat Joe Biden’s Electoral College and popular vote victory as legitimate. Cries of “Stop the Steal” and “Count Every Vote” continued in spite of a lack of evidence of voter fraud or other problems that could reverse the result.

After night fell, the relatively peaceful demonstrations in Washington turned from tense to violent. Videos posted on social media showed fist fights, projectiles and clubs as Trump supporters clashed with those demanding they take their MAGA hats and banners and leave. The tensions extended to Sunday morning. A variety of charges, including assault and weapons possession, were filed against those arrested, officials said. Two police officers were injured and several firearms were recovered by police.

6 a.m.: Mexico on Saturday topped 1 million registered coronavirus cases and nearly 100,000 test-confirmed deaths, though officials agree the number is probably much higher.

How did Mexico get here? By marching resolutely, even defiantly, against many internationally accepted practices in pandemic management, from face mask wearing, to lockdowns, testing and contact tracing.

What is more, officials in Mexico claim science is on their side. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell says any wider testing would be “a waste of time, effort and money.” Face masks, López-Gatell says, “are an auxiliary measure to prevent spreading the virus. They do not protect us, but they are useful for protecting other people.”

5:30 a.m.: India has reported 41,100 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the country’s overall tally since the pandemic began to 8.79 million a day after it celebrated Diwali, a major Hindu festival.

The Health Ministry on Sunday also reported 447 deaths in the same period, driving total fatalities to 129,635.

India is second in the world in total reported cases behind the U.S., but daily infections have been on the decline since the middle of September. There has been, however, a resurgence of infections in New Delhi, which has seen a renewed surge in recent weeks, recording more new cases than any other Indian state.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:

— Authorities in Sri Lanka say about 400 inmates and officers in the country’s highly congested prisons have tested positive for the coronavirus as infections spike in the capital and its suburbs. Twelve of those who tested positive are officers, while the rest are inmates.

4 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. EST on Nov. 15, 2020:

There are 291,845 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 122,643 confirmed (including 6,611 deaths, 103,668 resolved)

_ Ontario: 92,761 confirmed (including 3,332 deaths, 77,241 resolved)

_ Alberta: 38,338 confirmed (including 401 deaths, 28,321 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 20,895 confirmed (including 290 deaths, 14,901 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 10,453 confirmed (including 152 deaths, 3,891 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 4,820 confirmed (including 29 deaths, 3,100 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 1,142 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,056 resolved)

_ New Brunswick: 364 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 339 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 301 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 289 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 68 confirmed (including 64 resolved)

_ Yukon: 24 confirmed (including 1 death, 22 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed (including 10 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

_ Nunavut: 8 confirmed

_ Total: 291,845 (0 presumptive, 291,845 confirmed including 10,891 deaths, 232,915 resolved)

4 a.m.: The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has cut off supports for children with autism and their caregivers, leaving them feeling abandoned by the British Columbia government, advocates and researchers say.

The neglect of neurodiverse kids with special needs has been “so overwhelming that something fairly radical has to be done by this new government if families are going to rebuild any trust,” said Deborah Pugh, the executive director of ACT — Autism Community Training.

“It’s not just a matter of throwing money at this,” Pugh said in an interview. “We need a change in the whole attitude toward children with special needs and their families in the province.”

Pugh’s organization partnered with the autism and developmental disorders lab at Simon Fraser University for a survey of 238 caregivers of children with autism in B.C. asking about their experiences from March to June.

The survey showed the majority of caregivers reported their child’s anxiety, tantrums, routines and sleep quality had worsened, while parents’ own well-being declined and provincial supports in response to COVID-19 were insufficient to meet their needs.

Previously: have died following a COVID-19 outbreak believed to have started on Nov. 2.

More than 80 per cent of the residents at Rockcliffe Care Community at 3015 Lawrence Ave. E., west of McCowan Road, have tested positive for the virus.

A statement to the Star from Rockcliffe Care’s owner Sienna Senior Living on Saturday confirmed that in addition to the seven deaths, 136 residents and 66 staff and temporary employees have tested positive.