Coronavirus Update: Global coronavirus cases pass 1 million, over 52,700 deaths

Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Global coronavirus cases pass 1 million, with at least 52,700 deaths
2. Provincial health ministries rushing to source unused ventilators to prepare for COVID-19 spike
3. Trudeau vows better gathering and release of pandemic data
4. Military ready to respond to remote Indigenous and northern communities to fight outbreak of COVID-19

Coronavirus explainers: Updates and essential resources • Coronavirus in maps and charts • The rules in each province

Today’s photo

Coronavirus in Canada

At least 11,117 cases reported, which is more than double the number from 6 days ago. There have been least 1,898 recoveries and 130 deaths.

• In Ontario, Premier Ford announced he will release modelling data on Friday showing how many in the province could die from COVID-19 in various scenarios. The numbers, Ford said, will be a “wake-up call.”
• In British Columbia, the government raised assistance rates by $300 per month to help those who are vulnerable.
• The Premier of New Brunswick said schools will likely be closed for the rest of the term.
• In Newfoundland and Labrador, all public school exams are cancelled. A Tinder date is no excuse to ignore social distancing: the province’s Health Minister urged safe use of dating apps.

Health ministries across the country are unearthing unused ventilators from government stockpiles and rushing to buy some of the few still for sale as they work to put to rest doubts about whether Canada has enough intensive care beds and ventilators to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with provincial and territorial leaders later tonight. They will discuss the availability and accuracy of COVID-19 data and projections.

• The Prime Minister committed to improve data sharing, and to release internal projections with the public. The government is working to ensure cross-country data is accurate and it being put through the best-to-worst-case models, he said.
• The government will share more accurate models so Canadians can better understand the spread of the virus and the duration of the public health crisis.

So far, provincial data has varied, and transparency around internal projections has been limited.

Also today: The Canadian military said it is ready to deploy to Indigenous and northern communities if required.

• The military plans include air-medical evacuations to get people to hospital, and provision of supplies, nursing stations and small field hospitals.

Some reservists will be hired within the week to help conduct humanitarian activities in remote communities as needed.

Number of the day

1 million

Around the world, there are at least one million confirmed COVID-19 cases. The death toll has passed 50,000.

1,007,977 cases confirmed around the world; with 210,055 recoveries and 52,771 deaths reported.

• The head of the European Commission apologized to Italy for a lack of solidarity from Europe in tackling its coronavirus crisis, but promised greater help in dealing with the economic fallout.
• While other European countries are under strict lockdowns, people in Sweden can still go to school, drink at pubs and mingle in parks and streets. The country’s chief epidemiologist says the unusual measures are rooted in national values of voluntarism and trust – but not everyone thinks they will work.
• India will pull out of a three-week lockdown in phases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, as officials battle to contain the country’s biggest cluster of coronavirus infections in the capital, New Delhi.
• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s closest aides refused to support his plan to relax coronavirus rules to keep the economy going, according to two sources with knowledge of an emergency cabinet meeting called over the weekend.
• In the United States, Democrats announced they were postponing their presidential nominating convention until August, an unprecedented move that shows how the coronavirus is reshaping the battle for the White House.
• Some African countries will have more than 10,000 coronavirus cases by the end of April, health officials projected, as the continent least equipped to treat serious infections has an “enormous gap” in the number of ventilators and other critical items.

Coronavirus and business:

What happened today?

A potential truce in the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia hoisted crude futures from their lowest levels in nearly 20 years, sparking a relief rally in Canadian energy stocks ravaged by the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Meanwhile: Amid the novel coronavirus crisis, Linda Hasenfratz and her company, auto-parts giant Linamar Corp., are teaming up with other auto-parts makers to help a small Brampton, Ont.-based firm, O-Two Medical Technologies, produce 10,000 ventilators in a matter of months for the Ontario government.

Do you have a message you’d like to share with front-line workers?

Send us your thank you notes, letters, or images of appreciation, and we’ll publish a selection in The Globe and Mail in print and online. Use this form or email audience@globeandmail.com.

Reader question

Question: Anxiety and stress around the COVID-19 pandemic is keeping me up at night. How can I get some sleep?

Answer: The Globe’s Wency Leung asked sleep experts for their advice. Some key takeaways:

1. Not sleeping is a normal response to an abnormal situation. It’s okay if you’re not sleeping well, but don’t use over-the-counter sleep medication.
2. Try meditation and breathing techniques to wind down before bed and if you wake up in the night, do not look at a screen.
3. If you are sleep-deprived, you’re more likely to be stressed and irritable. Make sure sleep is a priority.

More Globe reporting and opinion:

• Canadian passengers stranded aboard two cruise ships with COVID-19 patients will soon return home. Prime Minister Trudeau said a chartered plane would return asymptomatic Canadian passengers in coming days.
• Coronavirus has invaded at least 600 nursing and retirement homes across Canada, including hundreds in Quebec.
• As social-distancing measures make witnessing a will in person impossible, a court will hear a case next week to determine whether a will that was witnessed online was properly executed.
• Richard Florida: “Reopening cities will not be as easy as hitting a reset button that returns everything to normal in a month or two. If we want to reopen safely and securely, we have to start preparing now.”
• Robyn Urback: If COVID-19 is a test of our humanity, abandoning the sick at sea is a failure
• Gary Mason: In Canada’s fight against the coronavirus, the U.S. border remains a problem
• Konrad Yakabuski: The West can’t turn its back on the developing world now

An act of kindness

Have you witnessed or performed acts of kindness in your neighbourhood? Share your stories, photos and videos and they might be included in The Globe and Mail. Email audience@globeandmail.com

A friendly neighbourhood hotline

OpenLab, a member of Toronto’s University Health Network, saw a need to help low-income seniors get groceries while isolating. Within 10 days they turned around a year’s worth of research into a hotline with hundreds of volunteers ready to help.

Distractions

In place of on-field baseball action postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Globe and Mail brings you a computer-simulated tournament involving four of the greatest Canadian teams, using the statistics-based software of the sports-game company Strat-O-Matic. The first-round best-of-seven-game series pits the 1985 Blue Jays against their World Series-winning counterparts from 1993, while on the other side of the bracket, the 1981 Expos take on the 1994 Montreal squad.

Read the recap and boxscores for game No. 4 of the all-Jays series.

Information centre:

• How many coronavirus cases are there in Canada? The latest maps and charts.
• Coronavirus guide: The latest news on COVID-19 and the toll it’s taking around the world
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety and what to do if you can’t sleep; and protecting your mental health.
• Here’s what you should do if you are newly laid off; how to apply for EI and other financial benefits; and other coronavirus and employment questions answered.
• How to minimize damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• How to get social distancing right; measures condo buildings are taking to encourage social distancing; and what you can do to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
• Here are the essentials to stock up on; the best pantry staples; foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home.
• How to break a bad habit (like touching your face) and what to do if you think you have the virus.

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