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More COVID-19 restrictions in store for Toronto within days, mayor says

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New for Toronto are expected within days, Mayor John Tory said Monday as Canada’s biggest city suffered a record-high 538 new infections.

Tory told reporters at an afternoon briefing that weekend discussions between city and provincial politicians and health officials focused on possible new rules to discourage people from gathering in “crowd scenes” where the virus can spread.

Enforcement teams, meanwhile, continue to break up already-illegal crowd scenes including, on the weekend, a birthday party with more than 100 people crowded into a commercial storage unit in Etobicoke.

Tory said early Monday the new measures could include limits on the number of people inside stores or malls. At the later briefing he called his suggestion “hypothetical” because discussions on restrictions were still ongoing.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s public health chief, refused to suggest which new rules could be placed on top of extending the closure of indoor dining and allowing gyms to reopen with no group classes.

“Enclosed indoor spaces and for prolonged periods — those are the kinds of circumstances we need to consider,” de Villa said, seeming to agree with a reporter that weddings pose a greater virus risk than shoppers coming and going.

One thing the pair agreed on is that COVID-19 is spreading too fast in Toronto, risking a sharp rise in hospitalizations and deaths unless the virus is contained.

De Villa announced an “alarming” day of 500-plus new cases in Toronto on Monday. Toronto Public Health said the seven-day daily average for new infections was to 453, up from 370 a week ago and 326 two weeks ago.

Toronto hospitalizations hit 176, with 42 of the ill people in intensive care.

Tory told CP24: “I am trying my best with the medical officer, as are all the other people, including the premier, to keep people healthy and to stop this very alarming situation from turning into a much-worse disaster that would take more lives.”

The virus is “getting into long-term-care (homes) again and that would make many more people sick. And we want to keep the schools open too, that’s what we’re really trying hard to do,” with the escalating restrictions, he said.

They both continued to beg Torontonians to stay home as much as possible and to not socialize — even outdoors with masks — with people from other households.

The spread of the virus accelerated during the fall amid the indoor dining ban and other restrictions. But data shows Toronto’s perilous situation would be even worse if no action had been taken, de Villa said, laying groundwork for new measures.

Tory said he expects the new restrictions to be announced any day. He said he prefers the order come from the Ontario government, but if not Toronto will act.

He was joined by other mayors and regional chairs from the Toronto and Hamilton areas on Monday to ensure that workers have access to paid sick days to ensure they aren’t going to work infected and sicken others.

Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, heading the city’s COVID-19 emergency response, told reporters the organizer of the storage container party near Kipling Avenue and Bloor Street West faces charges under the provincial Reopening Ontario Act.

Enforcement teams also visited 80 bars and restaurants in the downtown Entertainment District, charging operators of five of them with infractions related to the ban on indoor dining and issuing warning letters at four other businesses.

Toronto got one rare bit of good COVID-19 news. De Villa told the board of health committee that she’s hopeful a vaccine for the virus will start to be available in Toronto within the first three months of 2021.

De Villa previously suggested in a mass immunization expected to take months.

with files from Ed Tubb

Correction – Nov. 16, 2020: This article was edited to correct the attribution of a quote.

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter:

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Self-employed CERB recipients ‘shocked’ by CRA letters saying they may have to pay it all back: ‘I don’t know how people are going to survive’

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A round of letters from the Canada Revenue Agency has self-employed Canadians who received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) worried they may have to pay back the thousands of dollars they say kept them afloat during the pandemic’s early months.

The letters, which the CRA said were sent to CERB recipients for whom the agency can’t confirm eligibility for the benefit, say that self-employed recipients needed $5,000 in net employment income — income after expenses — to qualify, either in 2019 or in the 12 months leading up to the date of their application.

However, some self-employed CERB recipients say the CERB application and eligibility criteria did not mention net income, and believed that their gross income qualified them for the benefit.

Pan Dong, a self-employed paralegal in Toronto, is one of them.

His income before expenses — in other words, his gross income — was well above $5,000 when he applied for CERB, he said.

But thanks to the expenses of owning a business, especially during a pandemic, his net income was below $5,000. However, at no time during the application process was he made aware that his eligibility was based on his net income, Dong said.

Now, it seems he may have to pay back the $14,000 in federal funding he received.

“For a lot of people, it’s not a small amount of money,” Dong said.

He’s not alone.

Tracey Crosson is the admin for Facebook group “Canada CERB / EI / CRB Unofficial Support Group,” which is run by non-profit Ubi Works. She said the group has hundreds of members who are self-employed and in the same situation as Dong: they made more than $5,000 in gross income, but less than $5,000 in net income.

They, too, received the letter from the CRA saying they may not be eligible for the benefit, and may be required to pay back the money.

“I don’t know how people are going to survive,” Crosson said.

The CRA said the eligibility criteria have not changed since CERB began.

“The CRA considers self-employment income as the net pre-tax income (gross income less expenses). This is consistent with how self-employment income is calculated when dealing with the CRA. To be clear, there has been no change to this position during the life cycle of the CERB.

“This requirement was publicized on Canada.ca since the beginning, specifically under the category ‘Self-Employed and Independent Workers’ on the question and answers page,” a CRA spokesperson said in an email. (The Star has verified this. However, under the “eligibility” and “income requirements” categories on the same , it mentions self-employment income but does not specify gross versus net income.)

The spokesperson also clarified that receiving the letter does not necessarily mean a person has to pay back the CERB money.

“Individuals who have received this letter should not interpret it as a determination that they have definitively been deemed ineligible for the CERB; what the letter means is that the CRA does not yet have the information needed to confirm that they are in fact eligible for the benefit,” the email said.

“The letter strongly encourages those individuals who have yet to file their 2019 returns to do so as soon as possible, as this is the simplest way to confirm their eligibility. We expect this will likely be the case for many of the individuals who receive this letter.”

Though the CRA is encouraging people to pay back any owed CERB money by the end of the year, the spokesperson said this is not mandatory, but rather encouraged “to ensure that there is no impact on the recipient’s 2020 income tax return.”

But people receiving these letters say the criteria for CERB wasn’t made clear enough to begin with.

That’s what Cory Perry said happened to his partner, Diane Duplessis.

Duplessis runs a private daycare out of the couple’s home that was shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. When she went to apply for CERB, Perry said, she assumed that the criteria on the website was referring to gross income. (The Perry referred to says, as of publication time, that to be eligible an applicant must earn $5,000 before taxes, but does not mention “net” or “gross.”)

The money helped the family keep their heads above water, Perry said. But now, it looks like Duplessis may have to repay the $14,000 she received.

If that’s the case, the couple may have to sell their home, Perry said.

David Murray, an accountant in Wilmot, Ont., said he’s heard from self-employed Canadians across the country, including several of his own clients, who are in the same situation. That’s why he started a to amend the criteria for these CERB applicants, alleging that the CRA added the “net” to the eligibility criteria later on (the CRA denies this claim).

Small-business owners have a lot of expenses that can lower their net employment income, Murray said, including tools, bills and the depreciation of assets like vehicles.

Many people have already spent their CERB money on rent or other bills, he added, and don’t have the means to pay it back.

Murray also pointed out that on the for the government’s new temporary Canada Recovery Benefit, the eligibility criteria specifically state that self-employed income is income minus expenses.

Vicki Hargreaves, the moderator for the Facebook group “I Lost My Gig Canada” and a lead advocate for an arts group in Kingston, Ont., said many self-employed artists are in this situation, too.

The CRA’s letter, for many, was the first time these applicants were hearing about the net income requirement, she said.

“That information wasn’t available.”

And it’s not just self-employed people who are receiving these letters.

Brandi Campbell applied for CERB after the pandemic forced the casino she worked at to shut down temporarily. She said she made more than $5,000 in gross employment income, and that none of the information on government web pages or in the application mentioned gross or net.

Campbell received the full CERB amount, $14,000, and then received a letter two weeks ago saying the CRA couldn’t confirm her eligibility. The letter includes “gross employment income” and “net self-employment income” as examples of a valid source of income for CERB eligibility.

“When I received the letter … I was absolutely shocked,” said Campbell, who said she did her taxes in early 2020 to make sure she could qualify for the benefit.

Now she’s worried she may have to pay it all back.

“We’re all wondering what the ramifications are going to be.”

Correction — Dec. 10, 2020: This article was edited to clarify that Brandi Campbell did her taxes in early 2020 to make sure she could qualify for the CERB.

Rosa Saba is a Toronto-based business reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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LIVE VIDEO: Ontario Premier Doug Ford provides daily update on COVID-19 September 29

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Watch Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s daily news conference on COVID-19 and the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a news conference at Queen’s Park, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and provincial cabinet ministers Christine Elliott (health) and Dr. Merrilee Fullerton (long-term care) provide an update on their government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic. They are joined by Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.

FEDERAL MINISTERS AND HEALTH OFFICIALS PROVIDE UPDATE ON COVID-19 RESPONSE

On Parliament Hill, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, and Dr. Howard Njoo, the deputy chief public health officer, join ministers Patty Hajdu (health), Anita Anand (public services and procurement), and Dominic LeBlanc (intergovernmental affairs) for an update on the federal response to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease). They are expected to discuss the approval process for new COVID-19 testing methods in Canada.

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Ontario teachers say they’re ‘June tired,’ but it’s only October. Such is the toll of COVID-19

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As a kindergarten teacher, Michelle McKay used to revel in the lively, open classrooms that are the hallmark of early childhood education.

But that ended abruptly for her and countless other teachers in March when schools shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, with schools open again, and in a new role as a support worker for students with autism spectrum disorder, McKay typically visits two schools a day in Mississauga, where, instead of the lively squeals of youngsters, her workday begins with a series of safety protocols that just a few months ago she could not have imagined.

After donning her personal protective gear — usually a face mask and shield — she is screened at the door for COVID-19 symptoms. Once inside, she follows arrows on the floor and sanitizes her hands on the way. When she finally reaches the classroom, she focuses on maintaining a careful distance between herself and the students in a bid to keep everyone safe.

Like most of her colleagues, McKay’s job these days is a big departure from what it once was. But even with a new school year and a new role, her level of exhaustion is at an all-time high.

“We’re feeling June tired,” McKay said. “We don’t normally feel like this at this time of year.”

Many of Ontario’s 160,000 teachers say burnout is running rampant. They’re overwhelmed with a barrage of new responsibilities outside of teaching, including rigorous cleaning of classrooms, navigating technological issues for online classes and trying to maintain physical distancing between younger children.

All this, while being responsible for the education of Ontario’s two million students — a process that’s become increasingly complicated as more parents opt for online education at the eleventh hour. About 7,500 students recently switched from in-person to at the Toronto District School Board, while 3,000 opted to switch back from virtual to in-person classes.

Despite more students learning online, physical class sizes have remained the same, teachers and their unions say, because of a shortage of teaching staff that has

The stress is also evident in numbers. A survey by Mental Health Research Canada, a national non-profit organization, found the number of teachers with high levels of anxiety increased, from five per cent reporting anxiety before COVID to 25 per cent amid the pandemic. Those teachers were surveyed in the last week of August, prior to Ontario schools reopening for the fall.

Teachers also stated through the survey that they are pessimistic about their levels of anxiety for the next two months

The pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down, and public health officials forecast up to 1,000 cases per day in Ontario by mid-October — 40 times the average of around 25 daily cases when schools were shut down in March. More than 480 coronavirus cases have been reported in Ontario schools, with one elementary school in Scarborough closing temporarily on Sept. 28 due to an outbreak.

McKay said she fears the anxiety will force more teachers to go on unpaid leave or long-term stress leave in the coming months.

“It might be working right now,” she said. “But long-term, I’m not sure how the current plan is sustainable.”

Gail Bannister-Clarke, president of the local union representing Peel District School Board’s 7,000 teachers, said the number of teachers on extended leave is now 94, much higher than usual.

“We know at this point of the year, people usually aren’t off,” Bannister-Clarke said. “People usually come back from the summer refreshed.”

Ryan Reyes, a spokesperson for the Peel District School Board, confirmed there is a higher than usual number of staff on leave. Their reasons include looking after their kids or immunocompromised family members and personal health issues.

Bannister-Clarke said teachers are fed up with what she describes as a “chaotic situation,” fuelled by inadequate support from the province, a constant cycle of unknowns and safety guidelines that are changing rapidly. Some are forced to juggle multiple roles, or teach subjects they’re qualified for but haven’t taught in years.

Even for the most seasoned educators, teaching while maintaining physical distancing and with the threat of the virus always looming means reimagining their profession, said Peel District School Board teacher librarian and kindergarten instructor Klara Redford.

Redford’s students are assigned a space or desk. They can’t share materials and supplies. It is starkly different from the collaborative learning environment early childhood educators have often relied on and cherished, she added.

“It’s been really, really difficult, and it’s stressful for teachers who, especially in the early years, are rooted in that philosophy of inquiry and play,” she said. “They can’t do that anymore.”

Redford said it’s still a challenge to get younger children to distance themselves, especially during activities like story time. “To maintain a two-metre distance in a kindergarten class is actually impossible,” she said.

This is compounded by the added pressure on teachers to keep their classrooms clean. Armed with a spray bottle, Redford endeavours to wipe down every surface touched, all while trying to teach her young students.

Even with rigorous cleaning, COVID-19 cases are still being reported in schools. Bannister-Clarke estimated she receives about three alerts per day from Peel Public Health notifying her of a COVID-19 case in a Peel school. This information is sent to teachers as well, she said, further fuelling their anxiety.

“Once you hear that someone in your building has COVID-19, you think, ‘Am I really safe?’”

Research shows the impact of COVID-19 on children is less severe than adults. Statistics from the Public Health Agency of Canada reveal only 1.4 per cent of infected kids and teens end up in hospital with the disease, compared to 13.5 per cent of cases involving all ages. Worldwide, COVID-related deaths in children are rare.

But even without the threat of the virus, Bannister-Clarke said online teaching comes with its own challenges.

Teachers like Dayna Platt, who instructs a Grade 1 class virtually in a Mississauga school, work around the clock. “The amount of planning that goes into an online day is intense, and we have no support right now,” Platt said.

Typically a homeroom teacher, Platt now spends all day teaching every subject: language arts, math, science, social studies, visual arts, drama and dance. She added her classroom of 21 has no support for special education or English as a second language (ESL) students. She estimated 18 of her students need ESL help, or about 85 per cent of her classroom.

Platt’s day begins at 7 a.m. and she said she often doesn’t log off until 11 p.m.

“I am exhausted,” Platt said. “It’s draining. It takes a toll on everything. It takes a toll on relationships. It’s hard.

“There’s no relief anymore.”

Her anxiety is further heightened by technology issues. Once, Platt said she tried to share her screen with students and the whole program shut down, leaving her six-year-olds confused as to what happened to their teacher.

Things that used to offer respite for teachers, like planning time or an open staff room where they can share their grievances, are no longer there, both Redford and Platt said.

Many teachers who couldn’t afford to take unpaid leave have also sacrificed seeing their elderly parents in the process, like Redford, who has limited her contact with most of her family since returning to the classroom.

“I go home and my stress relief is just hanging out with my dog,” she said. “Or getting some fresh air.”

School boards like Peel do offer some mental health resources for teachers. Reyes said teachers had access to virtual group support sessions to share challenges due to the pandemic and how they’ve coped with them. They also have continued access to a “Well-being Toolkit,” which includes resources and support for anxiety and recommended self-care activities.

Their union offers a benefits plan that covers $1,500 in fees for psychologists, social workers, clinical counsellors and psychoanalysts. Teachers also receive 11 days of medical leave with 100 per cent pay, or a short-term medical leave of 120 days with 90 per cent pay, Bannister-Clarke said.

But Cathryn Raman, a special education itinerant at the Peel board, said teachers have a hard time reaching out for help even when resources are there.

“We don’t like to be the ones to have to admit and ask for help,” Raman said. “We problem solve and we work through, and we’re the ones facilitating and helping as a general rule. That’s what we do.”

“To be the ones now feeling that sense of ‘Hey, I’m having a difficult time’ is hard.”

As she looks ahead, McKay said she sees no respite. The extended deadline for parents to opt out of physical learning and place their children in an online class has been set for mid-October. And while COVID-19 cases continue to rise, McKay said she anticipates more parents will end up making that decision, sending the system further into disarray unless more teachers are hired.

Teachers who spoke to the Star said they believe a reduction in class sizes and the hiring of more staff are key to offering educators the mental and emotional relief they seek as they head into the winter months.

No plans have yet been released by the government to directly address the ongoing issue of class sizes. , but Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s office maintains the plan in place is a good one.

“We must allow an opportunity for our students to return to school, combined with layers of prevention to maximize health and safety,” Caitlin Clark, a spokesperson for Lecce, said in an email. “We have done exactly that.”

Clark said $200 million of provincial and federal money has been given to school boards to hire more teachers, in addition to reserve money boards have access to. Peel’s board has used that money to “reduce elementary class size averages at physical locations to be below ministry targets,” Reyes said.

But the mental and emotional toll of teaching under an unprecedented global pandemic remains. Part of the exhaustion, teachers like Platt said, is being unable to do the job they love to the best of their ability.

“You feel like a crummy teacher when things fail or when you can’t support your students when you know you could if circumstances are different,” Platt said. “I can’t be the best teacher that I can be.”

Nadine Yousif is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering mental health. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Follow her on Twitter:

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After a win on sick leaves, NDP plans to squeeze minority Liberals on wealth tax

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OTTAWA—After striking a deal to increase pandemic benefits for the sick and unemployed, NDP House Leader Peter Julian says his party wants to use its influence to press the minority Liberal government to create a wealth tax on the super rich.

The deal came after what Julian described as “respectful” but “combative” talks last week to for the governing Liberal’s make-or-break .

On Monday, the government to fulfil the NDP’s demand of broadening the proposed Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit so it is not restricted to Canadians who miss work because they are infected with COVD-19.

The NDP also took credit for pushing the government to maintain emergency jobless benefits of $500 per week for people who lose work during the crisis, after the Canada Emergency Response Benefit that had been received by millions of people expired on Sunday.

In an interview with the Star, Julian said the changes mean paid sick leave will be “much closer to universal” in Canada, even if the expanded sickness benefit isn’t the permanent program New Democrats wanted.

His party now plans to support the government’s throne speech — meaning the upcoming confidence vote on the speech won’t trigger an election — but Julian said the NDP is also looking for its next moment of potential leverage to push Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to agree to more of its priorities.

That chance could come when the government tables its next fiscal update and budget. The NDP will press for new taxes so Ottawa can raise revenue after historic spending that has driven up the federal deficit during the pandemic crisis, Julian said.

That would include taxes on web giants like Facebook and Google, he said, as well as the wealth tax the NDP during the last federal election: a one per cent levy on wealth exceeding $20 million that the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer could rake in as much as $70 billion over 10 years.

“We’re talking about tens of billions of dollars that we don’t believe are being used appropriately when it’s a pandemic, and it’s all hands on deck, and we have to provide supports for small businesses and for people across the country,” said Julian.

“We can’t pretend that the revenue side is not important. It is, and I think that’ll be a key part of the debate in the coming months.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to speak on the record about last week’s negotiations with the NDP, and Liberal House Leader Pablo Rodriguez’s office said he was not available for an interview Monday. A spokesperson for Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough did not respond to requests for comment from the Star.

On Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told the House of Commons it’s “unacceptable” for workers and small businesses to “pay the price” for the pandemic recovery process and asked for a tax on the ultra-wealthy.

“While the Liberal government talks about taxing extreme wealth inequality, no one knows what that means,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland responded by saying the government has a plan to tax web giants and stock options.

“It is a time for all of us to bear a deep responsibility for uniting and not dividing Canadians,” Freeland said.

The legislation tabled Monday is part of the plan to replace CERB with a slate of programs the government predicted would cost before they were expanded to meet the NDP’s demands.

This includes a beefed up Employment Insurance program that allows more people to qualify and apply to receive a minimum payout of $500 per week as of Sept. 27.

For those who don’t qualify for EI, such as self-employed and contract workers, the legislation creates the new Canada Recovery Benefit, which pays $500 per week — up from the originally proposed $400.

The government also plans to create the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, which would provide $500 a week per household for up to 26 weeks when someone must take leave from work to care for a family member.

Finally, the bill proposes to create the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, which could provide $500 per week for two weeks to workers who fall ill or need to self-isolate during the pandemic. Originally, the government proposed that this only apply to COVID-19 infections, but the NDP talks prompted the Liberals to expand eligibility so that the benefit is also available to “those who have underlying conditions, are undergoing treatments or have contracted other sicknesses that, in the opinion of a medical practitioner … would make them more susceptible to COVID-19.”

The EI changes and new benefits are set to continue until next fall.

Alex Ballingall is an Ottawa-based reporter covering national politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

Kieran Leavitt is an Edmonton-based reporter covering provincial affairs for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

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Today’s coronavirus news: North York General postponing non-emergency surgery after outbreak; Ontario reporting 851 cases, 6 deaths

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

9:04 p.m.: Yukon’s chief medical health officer says two more people in Watson Lake have tested positive for COVID-19.

Dr. Brendan Hanley says in a statement the two new cases bring the cluster of infections to five in members of the same household.

The statement says the origin source of the infections is still being investigated and contact tracing is underway.

Watson Lake residents who have any symptoms, even mild ones, are being urged to get tested.

The territory is also advising that people who were at Watson Lake Foods, Home Hardware and the Big Horn Motel on a number of days between Oct. 7 and Oct. 16 make arrangements for testing.

The household cluster brings Yukon’s total cases to 22 since the first COVID-19 infection was announced on March 22.

8:24 p.m.: British Columbia’s top doctor is limiting the size of gatherings in private homes as COVID-19 infections rise, particularly in the province’s Lower Mainland.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says gatherings are now limited to people in an immediate household, plus their so-called “safe six” guests.

“If you come from a large family that’s living in a home together, six additional guests may be too many,” the provincial health officer added during a news briefing on Monday.

“This is something we need to do together as a community so that we can get through the coming respiratory season and best protect each and every one of our families and our communities,” she said.

B.C. has reported its highest-ever jump in infections over three days with 817 new cases detected between Friday and Monday. The province has confirmed 13,371 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 2,325 that are currently active.

There are 77 people in hospital and three more residents of long-term care homes have died after contracting the illness, bringing the death toll in B.C. to 259.

Henry said her new order may be subject to enforcement, but her hope is that everyone will do the right thing and it won’t be needed.

Public health officials are examining if added measures are needed in areas where there is more transmission of the illness, said Henry.

“The immediate focus will be on the Fraser Health region,” she said, because of the marked increase in cases related to social gatherings in private homes, such as weddings and funerals.

“This has been the case in every part of the province, but we know the risk is highest where there is more virus circulating in our community.”

Henry said public health orders are a last resort, and the latest change reflects how seriously B.C. residents should be taking the pandemic.

“Social gatherings are where we are seeing significant transmission of COVID-19 in B.C. and it is not slowing down.”

Henry also said her “expectation” now is that people wear face coverings in indoor public spaces, though it is not an order. She’s asking businesses to review their pandemic safety plans with masks in mind.

Two schools in the Interior and Fraser Health regions have also been closed for the duration of the COVID-19 incubation period as a result of exposures affecting larger numbers of staff, she said.

“We knew, of course, this would be a possibility, especially in some of the smaller schools, where the potential of exposure impacts a larger proportion of the school population,” said Henry. “And while the numbers of people with COVID are small, the requirement for those in contact to be in self-isolation has meant that the school can no longer safely operate.”

The schools are working with families to make sure students have educational support during the temporary closures, she added.

Henry said there have been fewer than 10 transmission events at schools across the province, where the virus was actually passed from one person to another.

An outbreak has also been declared at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre, she said, while an outbreak at a FedEx office in Kelowna is over.

8:04 p.m.: Health officials in Ontario and Manitoba are pointing to recent Thanksgiving celebrations as they continue to see high numbers of new COVID-19 infections despite strengthening restrictions in hot spot areas.

In Ontario, where new cases reached a peak over the weekend, Health Minister Christine Elliott said the holiday took place around the same time as the province imposed stricter health measures in three regions, including Toronto. The tighter rules were applied to a fourth region more than a week later.

While the number of new daily infections is starting to decrease in some areas, such as Ottawa, in the other regions, “we’re not seeing that happen quite as quickly as we’d like to,” Elliott said.

“We’re also seeing some of the impacts from Thanksgiving several weeks ago, so we’ve got that adding to the increase in community transmission, but we are also starting to see some of the numbers in some of the modified areas,” she said.

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6:45 p.m.: York Region Public Health issued a public notice after a “cluster” of linked coronavirus cases related to family exposures following a Thanksgiving weekend get-together in Vaughan came to light.

According to public health, there are 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases and three probable cases, with three additional test results pending.

Out of these confirmed cases, seven of the confirmed cases and three of the probable cases are related to families staying in one household, public health reports.

Four of the other confirmed cases are from a connected household, and two are related to workplace transmissions.

According to public health, an extended family of 12 gathered together over a span of two weeks near the Thanksgiving weekend. They shared a single residence in Vaughan during that time.

Some of the family members were symptomatic with what was later discovered to be COVID-19, public health reports.

“This large cluster of COVID-19 infections serves as an example of close contact transmission which accounts for roughly half of all cases being reported in York Region during the current wave,” public health reported.

5:07 p.m.: Hamilton’s appears to have started with a person who visited a Toronto bar, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer of health says.

“The big outbreak with SpinCo in Hamilton, it began with someone who probably got infected at a bar in Toronto,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer of health during a media update Monday.

Yaffe was speaking in response to a question about regions and cities asking for more information about COVID cases in their jurisdictions as the threat of further restrictions looms.

There are at least connected to the SpinCo outbreak, which was declared Oct. 5.

4:34 p.m. Opposition parties won their bid Monday to launch a probe of the Liberals’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic following a week of parliamentary turbulence over how to review their management of the crisis.

MPs from all four opposition parties voted to pass a motion that orders the Trudeau government to turn over to the House of Commons health committee all records on a raft of issues related to the coronavirus response.

The move by Conservative, Bloc Québécois, New Democrat and Green MPs, plus one Independent, comes five days after the government survived a confidence vote on a previous Conservative motion that would have created a special committee to investigate the WE Charity affair and other alleged examples of corruption.

The more recent motion zooms out from the WE controversy to focus more broadly on Ottawa’s reaction to COVID-19, but the probe can still examine documents tied to the embattled charity.

Canada’s procurement minister says an investigation would jeopardize federal contracts for personal protective equipment and vaccines as it could trigger the release of commercially sensitive information.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole calls the warning “utterly false” given the carve-outs for confidentiality concerns.

4 p.m. , just as health experts had feared, and cases are climbing in nearly every state, despite assurances from President Donald Trump over the weekend that “we’re rounding the turn, we’re doing great.”

With Election Day just over a week away, average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Confirmed infections per day are rising in 47 states, and deaths are up in 34.

Health experts had warned that it was only a matter of time before deaths turned upward, given the record-breaking surge in cases engulfing the country. Deaths are a lagging indicator — that is, it generally takes a few weeks for people to sicken and die from the coronavirus.

3:49 p.m. Nova Scotia public health officials are warning passengers on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Halifax of a potential exposure to COVID-19.

Air Canada Flight 626 on Oct. 24 left Toronto at 9:30 p.m. and landed in Halifax at 12:15 a.m. on Oct. 25.

Officials are asking passengers who sat in rows 18 to 24 and in seats A, B and C to call 811 for advice and to continue to self-isolate.

Officials say anyone exposed to the virus on this flight may develop symptoms up to and including Nov. 7.

3:46 p.m. Manitoba’s top doctor gave a stern warning that people need to stop socializing in large groups after announcing another death linked to the province’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak at a Winnipeg care home.

A woman in her 80s is the 18th person to die at Parkview Place in Winnipeg. More than 90 of the facility’s 220 residents have now tested positive for COVID-19.

“We let the virus off the hook,” Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, said Monday.

In far too many cases, he said, people with COVID-19 have more than 50 contacts. Some people are going to work or attending gatherings while having symptoms, he said.

There were 100 new infections Monday. The vast majority are in Winnipeg, which is under enhanced restrictions after a stark increase in infections in recent months.

3:44 p.m. Ontario’s largest municipalities are asking the federal and provincial governments to provide an immediate funding boost for infrastructure projects, saying cities need the help to stimulate economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayors representing the province’s largest cities say the global health crisis has created revenue shortfalls that will prevent municipalities from doing state-of-good-repair work on key pieces of infrastructure.

Cam Guthrie, the mayor of Guelph, Ont., and chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors organization, said that funding support can’t come fast enough.

“Municipalities are ready to go,” said Guthrie. “Help us out by putting shovels in the ground and putting people back to work.”

Ontario’s Big City Mayors raised the issue with the federal and provincial infrastructure ministers at a meeting on Oct. 15 and urged both to fund municipal infrastructure immediately.

The group also passed a motion stating that funding programs should address critical needs to build growth-related infrastructure and replace aging assets, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthen economic competitiveness.

3:28 p.m. Hundreds of hospital workers in Alberta walked off the job Monday to protest cuts they say will put residents at risk during a global pandemic.

It’s the latest salvo in a dispute between a provincial government focused on finding efficiencies to make up for shortfalls in oil and gas royalties and workers who say the province’s plan to eliminate full-time nursing positions and outsource as many as 11,000 health care jobs amounts to death by a thousands cuts.

The hospital workers were members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and the decision to strike was made by the members themselves, the union said in a Monday statement.

They did not specify the number of workers involved in the wildcat strike and said the situation was fluid. At least 175 workers took part in the strike at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, about 150 at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary and approximately 150 at the Wetaskiwin Hospital and Care Centre south of Edmonton.

Read the full story from the Star’s Omar Mosleh: ‘

3:10 p.m.: North York General Hospital is postponing non-emergency surgery after an outbreak was declared Sunday.

“There are two staff members who tested positive for COVID-19 that appear to be linked,” the hospital said in a statement Monday. “There have not been any patient cases identified to date.”

An investigation and contract tracing are now underway, the hospital said.

“To limit the spread of the virus, we will be postponing non-emergency surgeries at this time,” the statement read. “Physician offices are contacting patients to advise them of their rescheduled surgeries.”

The hospital said it is “working closely” with Toronto Public Health and its Infection Prevention Control team, which has implemented safety measures such as “increased surveillance, testing, enhanced cleaning protocols and additional safety precautions.”

2:45 p.m. Canada’s new ambassador for women, peace and security says authoritarian leaders are using COVID-19 to roll back the rights of women and LGBTQ2 people.

Jacqueline O’Neill also says it remains a challenge in some parts of the world for women to be heard in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

O’Neill is pointing out that state of affairs persists even though today marks the 20 anniversary of the UN resolution that affirms the role of women in preventing conflict, negotiating peace, peacekeeping and reconstructing postwar societies.

She offered that assessment during testimony before the House of Commons defence committee.

O’Neill was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June 2019 to advise the government on how to protect the rights of women and girls who face violence and insecurity.

O’Neill is tasked with advancing the government’s feminist foreign policy, and she told MPs women deserve a seat at all international tables when it comes to advancing peace and security.

2:40 p.m. The World Health Organization says national lockdowns could be avoided to fight the latest surge of coronavirus cases if people are willing to make sacrifices and “if everyone plays their part.”

At a press briefing on Monday, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19 said she hoped countries would use other tools to stop transmission, including strengthening their surveillance, testing and contact tracing systems.

Van Kerkhove said people should take personal responsibility for everyday decisions, like whether or not they should go out to crowded places, avoiding closed settings and postponing social gatherings.

WHO’s emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan noted that 46% of all global COVID-19 cases last week were reported in Europe.

“There’s no question that the European region is an epicenter of disease right now,” he said. Ryan said that the normally open European Union borders might need to be shut down to “take the heat out of this phase of the pandemic.”

2:15 p.m. Dr. Eileen De Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, reports 300 new COVID-19 cases in Toronto. De Villa says it’s “reasonable” to think some of the new cases are tied to Thanksgiving gatherings.

2:10 p.m. New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 and 60 active cases overall.

Two of the new cases are in the Fredericton region and one is in the Campbellton region, where public health officials are battling an ongoing outbreak.

Officials say the two cases in the Fredericton region are travel-related, and the case in Campbellton is under investigation.

New Brunswick has had 331 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic, including six deaths.

1:30 p.m. Health officials have announced a woman in her 80s is the latest death connected to Manitoba’s deadliest outbreak at a care home.

Eighteen people at Parkview Place in Winnipeg have died.

There were 100 new infections announced Monday, the vast majority in the capital city, which is under enhanced restrictions after a stark increase in infections during recent months.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, says the increasing numbers have put pressures on the health-care system.

There are 80 people in hospital and 15 people in intensive care.

There have been 4,349 cases in Manitoba, and 2,117 are currently active. Fifty-five people have died.

2 p.m.: A popular Middle Eastern restaurant in east Toronto’s Leslieville area after worker tested positive for COVID-19.

Maha’s Fine Egyptian Cuisine at 226 Greenwood Ave., just north of Gerrard Street East, shared the news with its “beloved patrons, neighbours and friends” in Sunday post on its website and social media.

“While we have done everything possible to ensure the safety and comfort of our spectacular team and wonderful guests while visiting our restaurant, it is with the heaviest of hearts that we share this message with you all today,” the note read.

“We have voluntarily chosen to temporarily close effective immediately, upon receiving news last night that one of our team members tested positive for COVID-19.”

1:55 p.m. The government’s promised update on the health of its finances won’t have a specific anchor to guide decisions and keep spending from spiralling out of control, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

Officials have started working on what Trudeau called a “robust” budget update promised in the throne speech, with budget submission letters having gone out to departments.

Trudeau didn’t say Monday when the fiscal update or mini-budget would delivered, only that it will provide some guidelines for ongoing spending to help the economy.

Speaking to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the prime minister said it would be premature to lock in a spending anchor while the country is still dealing with the pandemic.

He defended the unprecedented scale of federal aid, saying doing anything less would have ended up costing the country far more in terms of lost businesses and jobs.

The Liberals projected in July that the government would run a historic deficit of $343.2 billion this fiscal year, but extended spending programs and throne speech promises will shift that number.

It has already meant the Liberals will have to jettison their guiding budgetary light of keeping the debt declining as a share of the economy. That figure is set to jump with debt expected to climb over $1 trillion.

“The cost of having massive numbers of businesses go out of business because of this pandemic, the cost of having households diving into debt on their credit cards on extra mortgages because they can’t make it through would be much (worse),” Trudeau said during the virtual appearance.

“COVID is going to be expensive. The question is who is best positioned to bear these additional costs, and we don’t feel it’s businesses, we don’t feel it’s ordinary Canadians.”

1:30 p.m. The pandemic has taken a firmer grip on the province with cases surging by almost one-third this weekend and one of Premier Doug Ford’s MPPs taking it on the chin for not wearing a mask.

Ontario’s Ministry of Health reported 851 new COVID-19 cases Monday, on top of record-level infections of 1,042 Sunday and 978 Saturday, up 704 or 32 per cent from the same days last weekend.

There were six deaths from the highly contagious virus, bringing the total since Friday’s report to 19.

“His government’s plan for the second wave has fallen tragically, tragically short,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said of Ford in the legislature’s daily question period.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said the sharp rise two weeks after Thanksgiving could reflect increased spread from families and friends getting together despite warnings to be careful.

“Locally, there are 281 new cases in Toronto, 215 in Peel, 90 in York Region and 76 in Ottawa,” she wrote on Twitter.

Halton had 27 new cases, Durham 23 and Hamilton 41.

1:20 p.m. Italy registered slightly more than 17,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday. That’s fewer than daily increases of the last few days, but tens of thousands fewer swab tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, as often happens over a weekend.

Italy’s total of known coronavirus infections during the pandemic now stands at 542,789.

Compared to the first months of the outbreak, when most cases were concentrated in Italy’s north, the current situation sees surging infections nationwide, prompting the government to order new restrictions that took effect on Monday, including closures of gyms, cinemas and early shutdown of restaurant dining and cafes.

The regions with the highest day-to-day caseload on Monday was again northern Lombardy, which includes Milan, Italy’s financial hub, followed by Tuscany in the central-north and Campania, the southern region that includes Naples.

Hospitalizations and ICU admissions continued their steady increase. Italy’s death toll rose to 37,479, after 141 more deaths.

1:15 p.m. Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives will table a provincial budget on Nov. 5.

Ford said Monday there would be not tax hikes in the big-spending fiscal blueprint designed to help Ontario tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finance Minister Rod Phillips said the government is prepared to spend what is needed to address the coronavirus that has killed more than 3,000 Ontarians since March.

“A great deal of uncertainty remains today,” said Phillips, adding his forecast will include three different scenarios to ensure the government is prepared for any eventuality.

1:10 p.m. Stocks are slumping sharply in afternoon trading on Wall Street Monday and deepening last week’s losses, as a troubling climb in coronavirus counts threatens the global economy.

The S&P 500 was 2.3 per cent lower and on track for its worst day in more than a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 826 points, or 2.9 per cent, at 27,508, as of 12:42 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was down 2 per cent.

Stocks also weakened across much of Europe and Asia. In another sign of caution, Treasury yields were pulling back after touching their highest level since June last week.

Coronavirus counts are spiking in much of the United States and Europe, raising concerns about more damage to the still-weakened economy. The U.S. came very close to setting back-to-back record daily infection rates on Friday and Saturday. In Europe, Spain’s government declared a national state of emergency on Sunday that includes an overnight curfew, while Italy ordered restaurants and bars to close each day by 6 p.m. and shut down gyms, pools and movie theatres.

Hopes are fading, meanwhile, that Washington will be able to deliver more support for the economy anytime soon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke several times last week on a potential deal to send cash to most Americans, restart supplemental benefits for laid-off workers and provide aid to schools, among other things.

12:40 p.m. The resurgent COVID-19 pandemic , turning winter into a survival test for carriers now pinning hopes on a spring rebound.

Airlines are urging governments to introduce more testing and travel bubbles to help spur demand. The industry is on track to burn through an estimated $77 billion (U.S.) in cash the second half. The International Air Transport Association has called for fresh government support, while stressing the safety of flying.

The pain is evident across the globe, where airlines have rescinded earlier forecasts that called for traffic to gradually increase toward normal levels during the fourth quarter. Instead, carriers are retrenching and shoring up their finances.

12:19 p.m. A coalition of about 200 Quebec gym, yoga, dance and martial arts business owners say they in defiance of provincial health rules.

The businesses are calling on Quebec Premier Francois Legault to lift COVID-19 restrictions that forced fitness facilities to close this month.

In a statement, they say their facilities contribute to the overall physical and mental health of the population and they were not the source of COVID-19 outbreaks.

They say the lockdown measures will force them out of business after they’ve made significant investments to comply with health measures during the pandemic.

12 p.m.: The number of new COVID-19 cases in public schools across Ontario has jumped by 72 from the previous day, to a total of 866 in the last two weeks.

, the province reported 39 more students were infected for a total of 477 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been an overall total of 985.

There are 548 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is about 11.35 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.

For the first time in more than a month, no schools are currently closed, according to the Ministry of Health figures.

11:42 a.m.: A Progressive Conservative legislator is apologizing for not wearing a mask while posing for a group photo over the weekend.

Sam Oosterhoff, who is also the parliamentary assistant to the education minister, posted the picture on social media over the weekend but later deleted it.

Critics — including the NDP and the head of the Ontario Hospital Association — have called for Oosterhoff’s resignation as parliamentary assistant, saying he was not following his government’s pandemic guidance.

Oosterhoff says the event took place at a banquet hall where the province’s rules permit less than 50 people to attend.

He says the event included five tables that were distanced and limited to less than ten people at each.

But Oosterhoff says he should have worn a mask when taking the picture given the proximity of the people around him.

11:15 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 808 new COVID-19 cases and 10 additional deaths linked to the virus.

Two of those deaths were in the past 24 hours, while six were from last week and the two others were from an unknown date.

The number of hospitalizations dropped by eight from a day earlier to 543, and the number of patients in intensive care cases decreased by four to 93.

The and 6,153 deaths — the highest in the country.

11:05 a.m.: A coalition of about their doors on Thursday in defiance of provincial health rules.

The businesses are calling on Quebec Premier Francois Legault to lift COVID-19 restrictions that forced fitness facilities to close this month.

In a statement, they say their facilities contribute to the overall physical and mental health of the population and they were not the source of COVID-19 outbreaks.

They say the lockdown measures will force them out of business after they’ve made significant investments to comply with health measures during the pandemic.

The owners say they intend to reopen across the province but will back down if health authorities can demonstrate by Thursday that their operations have led to outbreaks.

On Oct. 8, Quebec introduced new public health measures for regions under the province’s highest COVID-19 alert level, shuttering gyms, putting limits on team sports and making masks mandatory for high school students.

Last week, Legault hinted that some red zone restrictions would remain in place even as the initial 28-day lockdown in Montreal and Quebec City come to an end on Wednesday.

11 a.m.: Canada’s procurement minister says federal contracts for personal protective equipment, vaccines and rapid test kits are in jeopardy due to a proposed parliamentary probe of the Trudeau government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anita Anand says the probe could trigger the release of commercially sensitive information, scaring off manufacturers and drug companies that would otherwise do business with Ottawa and ultimately placing Canadians’ health at risk.

Anand warns that the House of Commons law clerk does not have the expertise in procurement to properly redact records that would surface through the probe.

Opposition parties are poised to approve the probe this afternoon despite growing objections from industry and experts.

A Conservative motion would order the government to turn over to the Commons health committee all records on a raft of issues related to the government’s handling of the pandemic.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Canada is the latest to express concerns, asking to know how its commercial secrets will be protected.

10:45 a.m.: Albanian authorities have decided to open a new COVID-19 hospital with 150 beds after the existing two hospitals are reaching their limits.

Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu on Monday said that the two existing COVID-related hospitals with 320 beds are reaching their limits and the new one will open this week.

Albania has seen a surge of the daily new virus cases, doubling compared to two weeks ago.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Albania’s cumulative figure for new cases per 100,000 inhabitants has increased to 131 cases compared to 75 cases two weeks ago.

Authorities have reported 19,157 confirmed cases with 477 confirmed related deaths, as of Sunday.

Holding the mask is mandatory indoors and outdoors and police have fined hundreds of Albanians not wearing it every day.

10:22 a.m. (will be updated) Ontario is reporting 851 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, and six new deaths due to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 281 cases are in Toronto, 215 in Peel Region, 90 in York Region and 76 in Ottawa.

The province says it has conducted 28,652 tests since the last daily report, with an additional 17,603 being processed.

In total, 295 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 78 in intensive care. The province says 51 people are on ventilators in hospital.

The latest figures bring the total of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 71,224, with 3,099 deaths, and 60,839 cases resolved.

Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford’s office says it will not announce today whether the province will impose stricter COVID-19 restrictions on two Toronto-area regions.

10:17 a.m.: Fewer consumers are feeling optimistic about Canada’s economic prospects, another signal the initially robust recovery is entering a slower, more difficult phase.

Only 12.9 per cent of respondents believe the country’s economy will strengthen in the next six months, the smallest share since early May, telephone polling shows. That left the Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index slightly lower at 51.8. The index has dropped for four straight weeks from a post-pandemic high of 53.2 late last month.

The share of respondents who see the Canadian economy weakening in the next six months rose to 56 per cent, which means pessimists now outnumber optimists about four to one.

Weakening sentiment in Canada reflects the new containment measures provinces like Quebec and Ontario have imposed to dampen the second wave of COVID-19. The new lockdown measures include closures of bars, restaurants and gyms as well as limiting the number of people in social gatherings.

As of Sunday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Canada had more than doubled in the past month to 24,177.

Every week, Nanos Research surveys 250 Canadians for their views on personal finances, job security and their outlook for the economy and real estate prices. Bloomberg publishes four-week rolling averages of the 1,000 responses.

10 a.m.: Saskatchewan voters choose Monday which leader will steer the province through the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whatever unforeseen challenges lie ahead following election day.

Polls are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Elections Saskatchewan says more than 185,000 people already voted in five days of advance polls.

Officials received around 61,000 applications for mail-in ballots

The leaders of the both the Saskatchewan Party and NDP will be in Saskatoon to watch the results, and later appear at campaign events lacking the usual election night fanfare because of restrictions in place around gatherings.

Elections officials won’t start counting the ballots received by mail until after today, meaning some election results may not be immediately known.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe will start election day in his home community of Shellbrook, 140 kilometres north of Saskatoon, where he will cast his ballot.

9:52 a.m. Canada’s main stock index posted a triple-digit decline amid broad-based weakness on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while U.S. stock markets also fell.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 125.80 points at 16,178.28.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 316.26 points at 28,019.31. The S&P 500 index was down 32.25 points at 3,433.14, while the Nasdaq composite was down 66.81 points at 11,481.47.

The Canadian dollar traded for 75.91 cents US compared with 76.10 cents (U.S.) on Friday.

9:45 a.m. President Donald Trump plans to intensify an already breakneck travel schedule in the final full week of the presidential campaign, overlooking a surge of coronavirus cases in the U.S. and a fresh outbreak in his own White House.

Trump is expected to hit nearly a dozen states in his last-ditch effort to recover ground from Democrat Joe Biden, including Sunday’s trip to Maine and Tuesday’s to Nebraska. Both states award electoral votes by congressional district and could be crucial in a tight election. Trump will hold 11 rallies in the final 48 hours alone.

Biden is staying close to his Wilmington, Delaware, home on Monday. But he plans to pick up his travel schedule later in the week, aiming to hit the six battleground states the campaign sees as key to his chances, some with socially distanced in-person events and others with virtual events. On Tuesday, the former vice-president is travelling to Georgia, a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in more than a quarter-century but where polls show a tight race.

The final week of the campaign is colliding with deepening concerns about a public health crisis in the U.S. Trump is eager for voters to focus on almost anything else, worried that he will lose if the election becomes a referendum on his handling of the pandemic. Biden is working to ensure the race is just that, hitting Trump on the virus and presenting himself as a safer, more stable alternative.

9:36 a.m. A second German district is to go into a de-facto lockdown as new coronavirus infections surge in the country and across Europe.

News agency dpa reported that local authorities in Bavaria’s Rottal-Inn county, on the border with Austria, said Monday that the restrictions will begin at midnight. Rottal-Inn follows Berchtesgaden, another Bavarian county in Germany’s southeastern corner, which introduced similar restrictions last week.

Schools and kindergartens will be closed and events cancelled, and people told not to leave their homes without good reason.

Rottal-Inn has recorded well over 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days. In Germany, districts are required to take measures once new infections top the 50 mark, and many have done so in recent weeks — imposing measures such as early bar closures and requirements to wear masks outdoors in some public places.

Germany’s new infections have been increasing by sometimes record numbers over the past two weeks, though they are still considerably short of the numbers seen in many other European countries

9:05 a.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.

Scott Weese, a veterinary internal medicine specialist and director of the University of Guelph’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, is part of the team that identified the Niagara case. While the discovery is interesting from a research point of view, he said it doesn’t change existing advice: If pet owners are self-isolating, they should do their best to limit their pets’ contact with others, too.

9 a.m. A player and a member of the medical staff at Belgian soccer club Anderlecht have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The club says the unnamed people have both been placed in self-isolation. Residents in Belgium who test positive for the virus are asked to quarantine for seven days.

Anderlecht is the most successful club in Belgium with 34 league titles.

Several Anderlecht players had already tested positive for the virus in September. More than 10,500 people have died from coronavirus-related complications in Belgium.

8:40 a.m. AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and winger Jens Petter Hauge have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the team’s Serie A match against Roma.

Milan says three staff members are also positive for COVID-19.

The team says all five individuals are asymptomatic and “they have immediately entered isolation in their homes and the relevant local health authorities have been informed.”

Milan leads the Italian league with four wins from four matches.

8:30 a.m. Thomas Hartle is a 52-year-old IT technician from Saskatoon who doesn’t smoke, rarely drinks and never dabbled in drugs before trying medicinal cannabis. As part of his profession, the soft-spoken, detail-oriented father of two typically spends much of his time planning and researching.

But these days his preparations have taken a devastating turn — planning for his family’s future as he awaits his imminent death.

Hartle was diagnosed in April 2016 with stage-four colon cancer. It went into remission, but last year he learned it was back, had spread and will ultimately kill him. What followed were crippling panic attacks triggered by worries for his family and the uncertainty of not knowing which day could be his last.

“What caused the anxiety for me was the fact my cancer is completely invisible to every test they do. So I literally have no idea the extent or severity of my cancer right now … and neither do the doctors.”

8:15 a.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.

8:11 a.m. After Ontario reported its second consecutive record day for new COVID-19 infections Sunday, experts are pointing to the week ahead as a “crucial” measuring stick for the province’s second wave.

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 there are other areas that are getting “hotter,” including Halton, where new restrictions “are needed without delay.”

8:07 a.m. Authorities warned Monday that Belgium faces a pivotal week in its struggle to limit the spread of the coronavirus, as a series of new restrictions took effect in one of the European countries hardest hit by the pandemic.

Almost 12,500 new cases are being reported on average every 24 hours, figures released Monday for the week from Oct. 16-22 showed, compared to around 5,000 a day two weeks ago. About one person in every five who is tested turns out to be positive. The very elderly are hardest hit.

On average over the last week, 42 people died from the virus each day, bringing the death toll to 10,810 in a country with a population of around 11.5 million people.

Pressure is building on Belgium’s hospitals, where 467 people are being admitted on average each day, a rise of 85 per cent. Almost 5,000 people are currently in hospitals, more than 750 of them in intensive care, according to the latest data.

“What we do now, what we will do in the next two weeks, will be decisive,” said Yves Van Laethem, a spokesman for Belgium’s COVID-19 crisis centre. If the figures don’t change, he said, “we are likely to reach 2,000 patients in intensive care in two weeks. That is, our maximum capacity.”

New measures announced by Belgium’s federal government were implemented Monday, but the tightening of restrictions until Nov. 19, mainly in the cultural and sports sectors, were considered inadequate by two of Belgium’s three regions.

7:45 a.m. With a bit of rejiggering, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump played host Sunday to hundreds of superheroes, unicorns, skeletons and even a miniature version of themselves as part of a Halloween celebration at the White House.

In years past, the president and first lady personally handed out candy to the costume-clad kids. This year, the treats were provided separately as participants walked along a path on the South Lawn.

The kids still briefly met the president and first lady, who waved and offered words of encouragement from a safe distance about how much they liked the costumes. Trump and the first lady have both recently recovered from COVID-19.

Trump was particularly pleased with a young boy with a distinctly Trump head of hair and a partner who did her best Mrs. Trump impersonation. The president motioned for them to turn and pose for the cameras, and they happily agreed.

Another tot, a true princess it appeared, was so smitten with the cameras that she kept waving at them as she walked along, never noticing the VIPs behind her.

The spooky celebration was changed up a bit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Guests older than 2 were required to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. The same went for all White House personnel working the event, while any staff giving out candy also wore gloves.

7:39 a.m. British authorities are likely to tighten restrictions on more areas of the country this week, amid mixed signs about whether recent measures have stemmed a steep rise in coronavirus infections.

Government scientific advisers say there are some signs the increase has begun to level off since a three-tier virus risk system of restrictions came into effect, but that it’s too soon to be certain.

A large chunk of northern England, including the major cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield, has been placed in the top tier of “very high” risk, with pubs closed and people from different households barred from mixing.

The regional disparities are causing friction between local politicians in the north and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, which has been accused of not doing enough to support people and businesses hit by the local lockdowns.

The government says it is talking to local leaders in other areas, including the city of Warrington in northwest England and the central England county of Nottinghamshire, about moving into the highest tier.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have established their own public health rules, with Wales introducing the strictest measure: a 17-day lockdown for all its 3 million people.

Britain has Europe’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with almost 45,000 confirmed deaths.

7:30 a.m. Voters in two Toronto ridings head to the polls today in the first electoral test of the federal Liberal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both ridings — Toronto Centre and York Centre — are longtime Liberal strongholds and are widely expected to remain that way after the byelections.

But political strategists will be watching carefully to see what impact, if any, the government’s handling of the pandemic has on the ruling party’s share of the vote.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals captured more than 50 per cent of the vote in both ridings during last fall’s general election, even as their support slumped nationwide, leaving them with just a minority of seats in the House of Commons.

The Liberals are running well-known broadcaster Marci Ien in Toronto Centre, which was left vacant by former finance minister Bill Morneau’s abrupt resignation in August amid reports of tensions between him and Trudeau over massive spending on pandemic relief.

Businesswoman Ya’ara Saks is running for the Liberals in York Centre, left vacant last month by Michael Levitt’s resignation to become CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

The NDP has placed a distant second in recent contests in the riding but that dynamic could be affected this time by the presence of the Green party’s newly minted leader, Annamie Paul.

Paul ran in Toronto Centre last fall as well, winning just seven per cent of the vote, but she’s hoping her higher profile as leader will boost her standing this time. She had called on Trudeau to cancel the byelections as the second wave of COVID-19 began sweeping across the country.

6:34 a.m.: As coronavirus infections reached new heights in Iran this month, overwhelming its hospitals and driving up its death toll, the country’s health minister gave a rare speech criticizing his own government’s refusal to enforce basic health measures.

“We asked for fines to be collected from anyone who doesn’t wear a mask,” Saeed Namaki said last week, referring to the government’s new mandate for Tehran, the capital. “But go and find out how many people were fined. We said close roads, and yet how many did they close?”

Namaki’s speech, lamenting the country’s “great suffering” and “hospitals full of patients,” clearly laid the blame for the virus’ resurgence at the government’s door — a stark contrast to the usual speeches from officials who point the finger at the public’s defiance of restrictions.

But one day later, the minister had a vastly different message.

“We should not cause panic for people in vain,” Namaki said in a speech carried by the semi-official ISNA news agency. “We should never announce that we don’t have empty (hospital) beds. We do have empty beds.”

6:31 a.m.: A deeply torn Senate is set to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, but Democratic leaders are asking Vice-President Mike Pence to stay away from presiding over Monday’s session due to potential health risks after his aides tested positive for COVID-19.

Barrett’s confirmation is not in doubt, as Senate Republicans are overpowering Democratic opposition to secure President Donald Trump’s nominee the week before Election Day. Pence has not said if he plans to attend as is customary for landmark votes.

But Democrats said in a letter to Pence on it’s “not a risk worth taking,” according to copy obtained by The Associated Press.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and his leadership team wrote that not only would Pence’s presence violate Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, “it also be a violation of common decency and courtesy.”

Under the Constitution, the vice-president serves as the largely ceremonial role of Senate president and can break a tie vote. Pence’s vote isn’t expected to be needed. Senate Republicans control the chamber and steered their majority to seize the opportunity to install a third Trump justice, securing a conservative court majority for the foreseeable future.

“Nothing about your presence in the Senate tomorrow can be considered essential,” the Democrats wrote. They warned of the risk not just to senators but the police, restaurant workers and others who keep the Capitol running.

The 48-year-old appellate judge’s rise opens up a potential new era of rulings on abortion, gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act. A case against the Obama-era health law is scheduled to be heard November 10.

5:43 a.m.: Opposition parties are poised to approve a parliamentary probe of the Trudeau government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic despite growing objections from industry and experts.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Canada is the latest to express concerns about the probe, which is the subject of a Conservative motion that will be voted on in the House of Commons today.

The motion would order the government to turn over to the Commons health committee all records on a raft of issues related to the government’s handling of the pandemic.

That includes the purchase of personal protective equipment, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, and in a letter to Health Canada, Pfizer says it wants to know how its commercial secrets will be protected.

The motion is expected to pass with support from the NDP and Bloc Québécois, who insist there is sufficient protection for industry while accusing the Liberals of stirring fears.

Unlike a similar Conservative motion defeated last week that would have created a committee to look into the WE controversy, the government has said the health committee motion will not be a confidence vote.

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‘Frustrating and demoralizing’: Education groups launch public survey on Ontario school plan

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Ontario Families for Public Education and the Ontario Parent Action Network have announced they will be launching a public consultation process regarding the province’s pandemic education plan.

In a virtual meeting on Oct. 29, members of the action groups from across the province outlined their continued concerns with the public school year so far – namely, that families were not consulted from the beginning and that the plan continues to negatively impact the safety and mental health of educators, students and families, specifically racialized families and those in low-income neighbourhoods.

“Let me be clear: the Ford government never consulted families on the school reopening plan,” said Fernanda Yanchapaxi, a Toronto District School Board parent and member of the Ontario Parent Action Network. She added that she was surprised from the beginning of the school year to learn that the government would not be following the Sick Kids report recommendation of having smaller elementary class sizes where possible.

“As a racialized parent, I know this: low-income communities and racialized families have not only been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, but our kids have been mostly affected by the lack of support, resources and a plan that provides quality education for our children,” she said.

She added that in her Toronto community, children are having to complete and submit homework on their parents’ cellphones, and that many families chose not to send their children to school at all.

“I continue to feel stressed (and) frustrated while worrying about not doing right by my children or by other family members,” said Peel District School Board parent Romana Siddiqui, a member of Peel Families for Public Education, adding that the reorganizing, collapsing and combining of classrooms has created added stress for students and teachers, negatively impacting mental health and causing burnout.

Siddiqui stated that in the Peel school board, approximately half of the student population opted for online learning, which she said demonstrates families’ lack of confidence in the safety of the provincial plans.

She added that the , first adopted by the Upper Canada District School Board and then by the York Catholic, Dufferin-Peel Catholic and Peel district school boards this month, has been cause for recent concern, as it combines in-person and remote learners into the same class under the direction of one classroom teacher.

“Moving to this model requires yet another disruption in reorganization of classes as teachers and students are reassigned back to their home schools,” she said. “A well-designed, adequately funded school plan could have been developed and rolled out. It’s been frustrating and demoralizing to feel ignored, to feel like we don’t have a voice or a choice.”

In a previous statement about the hybrid learning model, Caitlin Clark, spokesperson for education minister Stephen Lecce, said the Ontario government believes in providing and supporting parental choice to decide what type of learning is best for their children.

“School boards decide how they deliver quality learning for students in class and online,” Clark said. “We have set the highest standards in Canada for remote learning.”

The action groups have launched the public consultation survey on , which will be open until Nov. 20, after which the groups plan to submit the results to the Ford government.

“Our plan to safely reopen schools, fully endorsed by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, has been informed by the best medical and scientific minds in the country,” Clark said, adding that the Ontario government is proud to be leading the country in COVID-19 school reopening funding.

“Our plan was informed by the voices of parents, educators and the medical community, and was designed to reduce the risk and keep students safe. We will never hesitate from taking further action to protect the health and safety of Ontario’s students and education staff,” she added.

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Crews battle early morning garage fire in Lisle

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The Adjala-Tosorontio Fire Department was called out to an early morning garage fire Nov. 19 in Lisle.

The blaze broke out sometime around 6:30 a.m. at a property on Concession Road 3 near the Silver Brooke Golf Course.

Fire Chief John Krayetski said the garage, which was detached from the home, was a total loss.

Krayetski said the fire started at the rear of the structure and was possibly caused by a heat lamp in a chicken coup.

He also noted that the home had been recently sold and the owners had boxed most of their contents and stored them inside the garage.

Several vehicles responded to the scene and neighbouring fire departments provided mutual aid.

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Orillia woman’s car gets towed to impound lot after getting stuck in Hwy. 400 ditch

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An Orillia woman did get help after getting stuck in a snowy ditch on Hwy. 400 in Severn Township Dec. 3.

Unfortunately, the tow truck ended up taking her vehicle to the impound lot after she was arrested for impaired operation of a vehicle.

At 10:45 p.m., a Southern Georgian Bay OPP officer stopped after noticing other motorists had pulled over to try to help the woman stuck in the snowdrift.

She was still behind the wheel when the officer spoke with her and allegedly smelled alcohol.

The 33-year-old driver was arrested and taken back to a police station for further breath samples.

She was also charged with having open alcohol in a vehicle under the Liquor License Act.

Her licence was suspended for 90 days and vehicle was towed and impounded for a week.

She has a Dec. 17 court date in Midland.

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Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports new record high of 1,859 COVID-19 cases; U.Ss reaches daily high of nearly 228,000 cases

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

7:30 p.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday Dec. 5, 2020.

There are 408,921 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Canada: 408,921 confirmed cases (71,450 active, 324,882 resolved, 12,589 deaths).The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers.

There were 6,352 new cases Saturday from 79,671 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 8.0 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 43,361 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 6,194.

There were 93 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 598 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 85. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.23 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 33.49 per 100,000 people.

There have been 11,905,770 tests completed.

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 347 confirmed cases (26 active, 317 resolved, four deaths).

There were four new cases Saturday from 247 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 1.6 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 14 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is two.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 0.77 per 100,000 people.

There have been 64,134 tests completed.

_ Prince Edward Island: 76 confirmed cases (eight active, 68 resolved, zero deaths).

There were three new cases Saturday from 520 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.58 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of four new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.

There have been 62,566 tests completed.

_ Nova Scotia: 1,364 confirmed cases (95 active, 1,204 resolved, 65 deaths).

There were six new cases Saturday from 792 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.76 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 84 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 12.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 6.69 per 100,000 people.

There have been 152,365 tests completed.

_ New Brunswick: 530 confirmed cases (98 active, 425 resolved, seven deaths).

There were two new cases Saturday from 448 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.45 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 49 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is seven.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 0.9 per 100,000 people.

There have been 104,966 tests completed.

_ Quebec: 149,908 confirmed cases (13,849 active, 128,828 resolved, 7,231 deaths).

There were 2,031 new cases Saturday from 11,322 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 18 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 10,265 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,466.

There were 48 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 210 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 30. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.35 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 85.22 per 100,000 people.

There have been 2,238,113 tests completed.

_ Ontario: 125,385 confirmed cases (15,212 active, 106,416 resolved, 3,757 deaths).

There were 1,859 new cases Saturday from 57,457 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 3.2 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 12,347 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,764.

There were 20 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 133 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 19. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.13 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 25.79 per 100,000 people.

There have been 6,308,784 tests completed.

_ Manitoba: 18,423 confirmed cases (9,115 active, 8,927 resolved, 381 deaths).

There were 354 new cases Saturday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 2,305 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 329.

There were 19 new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 91 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 13. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.95 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 27.82 per 100,000 people.

There have been 357,524 tests completed.

_ Saskatchewan: 9,730 confirmed cases (4,191 active, 5,484 resolved, 55 deaths).

There were 203 new cases Saturday from 1,962 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 10 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,842 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 263.

There were zero new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 10 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is one. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.12 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 4.68 per 100,000 people.

There have been 269,310 tests completed.

_ Alberta: 66,730 confirmed cases (18,806 active, 47,328 resolved, 596 deaths).

There were 1,879 new cases Saturday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 11,894 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,699.

There were six new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 72 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 10. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.24 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 13.63 per 100,000 people.

There have been 1,502,472 tests completed.

_ British Columbia: 36,132 confirmed cases (9,982 active, 25,658 resolved, 492 deaths).

There were zero new cases Saturday from 6,848 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 0.0 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 4,498 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 643.

There were zero new reported deaths Saturday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 82 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 12. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.23 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 9.7 per 100,000 people.

There have been 828,968 tests completed.

_ Yukon: 54 confirmed cases (12 active, 41 resolved, one deaths).

There were three new cases Saturday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of nine new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.45 per 100,000 people.

There have been 5,522 tests completed.

_ Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed cases (zero active, 15 resolved, zero deaths).

There were zero new cases Saturday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.

There have been 6,511 tests completed.

_ Nunavut: 214 confirmed cases (56 active, 158 resolved, zero deaths).

There were eight new cases Saturday from 75 completed tests, for a positivity rate of 11 per cent. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 50 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is seven.

There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.

There have been 4,459 tests completed.

7 p.m.: Alberta has recorded its third-straight day of more than 1,800 new COVID-19 cases. The province reported 1,879 new cases today, setting a new single-day record for the third time this week.

Six additional deaths were also reported. There are 101 people with COVID-19 in intensive care in Alberta.

6:31 p.m.: The Oregon Medical Board has indefinitely suspended the medical license of a doctor who said at a pro-Trump rally that he doesn’t wear a mask at his Dallas, Oregon, clinic and doesn’t require his staff to wear face-coverings either.

Dr. Steven LaTulippe also said at the Nov. 7 rally in Salem that he encourages others not to wear masks, according to KGW-TV.

A state order requires health care workers to wear a mask in health care settings. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say multiple studies have shown that cloth masks are effective in slowing the transmission of the coronavirus.

6:28 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Saturday confirmed 10,431 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state’s known total to 1,049,638. This is the third consecutive day that that state has added more than 10,000 cases and tops Friday’s 10,177.

Also, 90 new resident deaths were announced, bringing the resident death toll to 19,084.

The cumulative non-resident death toll held steady at 242 deaths.

Florida has the third highest number of total confirmed cases in the country after Texas and California, according to The New York Times COVID-19 database.

6:13 p.m.: The Canadian Armed Forces says it will send a team of reservists to a First Nation in Manitoba to help with the community’s COVID-19 response.

The military says in an email that roughly six Canadian Rangers will work alongside other members of the community in Shamattawa to provide humanitarian assistance.

It says that assistance will include distributing food, firewood and care packages, as well as information and transportation.

Shamattawa Chief Eric Redhead posted online Friday that there were 117 active infections in the northern Manitoba community of about 1,100, saying they were “literally at a breaking point.”

5:57 p.m.: Coronavirus infections across the U.S. continue to rise as the country moves deeper into a holiday season when eagerly anticipated gatherings of family and friends could push the numbers even higher and overwhelm hospitals.

Vast swaths of southern and inland California imposed new restrictions on businesses and activities Saturday as hospitals in the nation’s most populous state face a dire shortage of beds. Restaurants must stop on-site dining and theatres, hair salons and many other businesses must close in the sprawling reaches of San Diego and Los Angeles, along with part of the Central Valley, including Fresno.

Five counties in the San Francisco Bay Area were set to impose their own lockdowns Sunday.

A new daily high of nearly 228,000 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases was reported nationwide Friday, eclipsing the previous high mark of 217,000 cases set the day before, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

5:17 p.m.: Faced with a dire shortage of hospital beds, health officials announced Saturday the vast region of Southern California and a large swath of the Central Valley will be placed under a sweeping new lockdown in an urgent attempt to slow the rapid rise of coronavirus cases.

The California Department of Public Health said the intensive care unit capacity in both regions’ hospitals had fallen below a 15% threshold that triggers the new measures, which include strict closures for businesses and new controls on activities. They will take effect Sunday evening and remain in place for at least three weeks, meaning the lockdown will cover the Christmas holiday.

Much of the state is on the brink of the same restrictions. Some regions have opted to impose them even before the mandate kicks in, including five San Francisco Bay Area counties where the measures also take effect starting Sunday.

4:06 p.m.: A Manitoba judge rejected a church’s request Saturday to hold drive-in services despite the province’s COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings and in-person religious events.

“The onus that an applicant must meet to obtain a stay of legislation is extremely high,” Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench said in his rare weekend ruling.

“I do not believe that the applicants meet their burden of showing that (they) will suffer irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted.”

Joyal held a special Saturday court hearing in a case brought by Springs Church, which has faced more than $32,000 in fines for drive-in services in recent weeks and wanted a ruling before a planned service later in the day.

3:54 p.m.: All four Atlantic provinces reported new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, but the numbers remained relatively small.

Nova Scotia reported six cases, Newfoundland and Labrador added four, New Brunswick logged two and P.E.I. recorded three, for a total of 15 across the region.

In Nova Scotia, health officials said four of the six new cases were reported in the province’s central zone, which includes Halifax.

On Friday, the province extended tighter health restrictions in the Halifax region and Hants County until Dec. 16. Those restrictions, which stop just short of a full lockdown, were introduced Nov. 24 when health officials reported 37 new cases — 35 in the Halifax area.

The other new cases reported Saturday were in Nova Scotia’s eastern zone. The province now has 95 active cases, though none of those patients were in hospital.

Premier Stephen McNeil issued a brief statement asking residents to limit their social contacts to prevent the spread of the virus, which has claimed 65 lives in Nova Scotia.

3:01 p.m.: The Fraser Health authority is changing the way it notifies people in schools about their exposures to COVID-19.

Jordan Tinney, the superintendent of the Surrey School District, says in a tweet that “significant changes” start today for informing people in a class if they have or have not been exposed.

Tinney’s notice says three different types of letters will be sent out depending on the exposure event.

In the first two exposures, the classes where a person with a positive case attended will be notified, while all others in the school will get a letter saying they were not exposed.

A third notification would be sent to the entire school if an infection is not attached to a specific class, such as if a vice-principle tested positive for COVID-19.

The Fraser Health region has been a hot spot for COVID-19 and the surging infection rates prompted tighter social restrictions there and in Vancouver Coastal Health last month, only to be expanded to the entire province days later.

2:55 p.m.: Saskatchewan is reporting 202 new COVID-19 cases today. Nearly 4,200 cases are considered active, 116 of which are in hospital and 25 of which are receiving intensive care. Provincial officials aren’t reporting any new virus-related deaths today, leaving that total at 55.

2:30 p.m.: Prince Edward Island is reporting three new cases of COVID-19 today — all of them women in their 20s who work in Charlottetown restaurants.

The province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Heather Morrison, says all three cases are linked as close contacts, and she confirmed that none had travelled outside the province.

Morrison says the new cluster is cause for concern, but she says it’s too early to suggest there is widespread community transmission.

The Island has reported 73 cases since the pandemic began, including 68 cases that are now considered recovered.

1:45 p.m.: Manitoba has recorded a new daily record in the number of COVID-19-related deaths, with officials there saying 19 people have recently died as a result of the virus.

Among the deaths is a woman in her 20s in the Winnipeg health region. The province is reporting 354 new cases of COVID-19 in the province as of 9:30 a.m. today. So far, 381 people have died from COVID-19 across the province.

1:25 p.m.: Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 today — all of them women under the age of 50.

Two of those cases are young women from the same household in eastern Newfoundland, where a previous travel-related case was reported.

The third case is a woman in her 40s from outside the province who came to eastern Newfoundland from Alberta after she was granted a travel exemption.

The fourth case is a woman under the age of 40 in the central zone whose infection is under investigation.

As of today, Newfoundland and Labrador had 26 active cases of COVID-19

1 p.m. Coronavirus infections continue to spread at record levels in the United States, reaching a new daily high of nearly 228,000 cases on Friday.

The 227,885 cases eclipses the previous high of more than 217,000 on Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 attributable deaths in the U.S. has passed 2,000 for the first time since the spring. It reached 2,011 on Friday. Two weeks ago, the seven-day average was 1,448. There were 2,607 deaths reported in the U.S. on Friday.

Globally, Johns Hopkins reports more than 1.5 million people have died from the coronavirus pandemic, including more than 279,000 in the United States.

11:50 a.m. Health officials in New Brunswick are reporting two new cases of COVID-19 today.

The first case involves a person in their 50s in the Saint John region, and the second case is a person in their 40s in the Edmundston region of northwestern New Brunswick.

There are now 98 active cases in the province, with one patient recovering in an intensive care unit.

The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick is 530, which includes seven deaths and 425 recoveries.

10:31 a.m. On Saturday, Ontario reported a new record high of 1,859 cases of COVID-19 with about 59,400 tests completed, along with 20 new deaths linked to the virus. The new cases reported include 504 in Toronto, 463 in Peel and 198 in York Region.

There are 1,624 more resolved cases, while the number of active cases sits at 15,212.

The number of patients in the province’s hospitals stands at 709, with 202 in intensive care.

Elliott says the province has “reached a critical point” in the spread of the virus and is once again urging residents to wear masks and follow public health advice.

9:30 a.m. India has registered 36,652 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.

India’s health ministry on Saturday also recorded 512 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total deaths to nearly 140,000. The pace of new cases has seen a downward trend, with single-day cases remaining below the 50,000 mark a month.

India has 9.6 million total cases, second behind the U.S. with 14.3 million. But globally it has one of the lowest deaths per million population, according to the Health Ministry.

8 a.m. Millions of students across the province are in the midst of a . COVID-19 forced the sudden shutdown of schools after March Break, and when classes resumed weeks later, everyone was forced to pivot to online with little preparation and no training. It wasn’t pretty.

The start of the school year in September wasn’t much better. With no direction from the Ministry of Education until late summer, boards were left scrambling to make in-person schools safe and build virtual schools from scratch.

The result was chaos. Face-to-face classes were not physically distanced; classrooms lacked proper ventilation; teachers protested a lack of protective gear. Within days, schools were hit with COVID-19 outbreaks; to date, 776 of Ontario’s public schools have had cases, resulting in kids or full classes being sent home. Meanwhile, virtual school, unprepared for the demand, was beset by technology challenges, a delayed start and a seemingly endless shuffling of students and teachers.

Together with the Ontario teachers strikes at the beginning of 2020, these disrupted school days have added up, leaving some to wonder how things are going for the millions of children in the province’s schools: Are our kids even learning? Is this a “lost year?” Who will be left behind when the dust settles?

7:45 a.m. For Empire Co. CEO Michael Medline, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were a flurry of meetings as he and his team scrambled to fulfil the grocery brand’s new role as an essential service.

This included making Sobeys the first grocery store to implement Canada-wide Plexiglas checkout shields, beginning with an order Medline sent out before he’d even hung up his call with the Italian grocery chain CEO who pioneered the technique.

Faced with too many unknowns and not enough data, Medline said the crisis forced the team to cut the picture down to their core goals.

“Everything went back to three things,” Medline said. “Keep our customers and teammates safe, stock those shelves, and support local communities … especially charitable causes (that) continue to be in trouble.”

That attitude sounds similar to what any corporate leader would say about getting through the pandemic.

What makes Medline stand out nine months in, is his continued willingness to back up that rhetoric with both money and action. He has reinstated hazard bonuses for front-line workers, maintained his commitment to Sobeys’ charity events and declined to raise fees on Empire’s food suppliers, even when that meant breaking stride with major competitors in the grocery industry.

7:22 a.m. Procurement Minister Anita Anand says that as soon as she knows when the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Canada, she will share that information with Canadians.

But Anand told The Canadian Press in an interview this week that the original contracts to buy COVID-19 vaccines had to be vague about delivery dates because nobody knew at the time if the vaccines would be successful.

It’s only in the last few weeks, when the leading candidates from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca reported such positive results from their large clinical trials, that the way forward became clear enough for Anand’s department to start asking the companies to be more specific about when they can make good on their contracts with Canada.

“We put these contracts in place in order to place Canadians in the best stead possible, of any country in the world, recognizing that we would need to negotiate additional terms such as precise delivery dates, once a vaccine was discovered, and regulatory approval was obtained,” she said. “And that is what’s happening now.”

7:20 a.m. Much of California is on the brink of sweeping new restrictions on businesses and activities, a desperate attempt to slow the frighteningly rapid escalation of coronavirus cases that threatens to overwhelm hospitals.

Five San Francisco Bay Area counties imposed a new stay-at-home order for their residents that will take effect Sunday. Southern California and a large swath of the central portion of the state could join this weekend.

Those two regions have seen their intensive care unit capacity fall below the 15% threshold that under a new state stay-at-home order will trigger new restrictions barring all on-site restaurant dining and close hair and nail salons, movie theatres and many other businesses, as well as museums and playgrounds.

If their capacity remains below that level when the data is updated Saturday, the closures will take effect Sunday and stay in effect at least three weeks.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the new plan Thursday. It is the most restrictive order since he imposed the country’s first statewide stay-at-home rule in March.

7:07 a.m. Thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups have signed up for COVID-19 vaccinations in Moscow starting Saturday, a precursor to a sweeping Russia-wide immunization effort.

The vaccinations come three days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the launch of a “large-scale” COVID-19 immunization campaign even though a Russian-designed vaccine has yet to complete the advanced studies needed to ensure its effectiveness and safety in line with established scientific protocols.

The Russian leader said Wednesday that more than 2 million doses of the Sputnik V jab will be available in the next few days, allowing authorities to offer jabs to medical workers and teachers across the country starting late next week.

Moscow, which currently accounts for about a quarter of the country’s new daily infections, moved ahead of the curve, opening 70 vaccination facilities on Saturday. Doctors, teachers and municipal workers were invited to book a time to receive a jab, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that about 5,000 signed up in a few hours after the system began operating on Friday.

7 a.m. Iran’s death toll from the global pandemic has risen above 50,000, according to state television, as the country grapples with the worst outbreak in the Middle East.

A two-week partial lockdown in the capital of Tehran and other major cities helped slow, but not stop the rising wave of deaths from the coronavirus over the past few weeks.

President Hassan Rouhani warned Saturday that the lockdown could be extended to more cities or reimposed on the capital, if people do not abide by health measures.

“Tehran is on the borderline of being in the red zone,” Rouhani said. “All people and public officials should try to implement measures and regulations.”

Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said Saturday that the countrywide death toll the previous day was 321.

Friday 6 p.m. The FBI is telling anyone who underwent a coronavirus test at a New Jersey laboratory to get retested and to contact the agency.

In a statement Friday on Twitter, the FBI’s Newark office urges people who were recently tested for the virus at Infinity Diagnostic Laboratory in Ventnor “to be retested as soon as possible.” It also asks that anyone who was administered a finger-prick blood test at the laboratory to contact a victim assistance unit at the FBI.

The announcement gave no further details, and a message left with the FBI seeking further information was not immediately returned.

Voicemail for the company’s operations director Friday evening said it was closed and did not offer the opportunity to leave a message.

Month: September 2021