Skip to main content

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

Top headlines:

  1. Ford defends back-to-school plan amid growing criticism, says he has “full control”
  2. Trump tells media COVID-19 vaccine could be ready before November election, contradicting the experts
  3. CERB ends soon – what’s next for unemployed Canadians?

In Canada, there have been at least 118,187 cases reported. In the last week 2,781 new cases were announced, 12 per cent fewer than the previous week.

There have also been at least 102,788 recoveries and 8,962 deaths. Health officials have administered more than 4,536,375 tests.

Worldwide, there have been at least 18,540,119 cases confirmed and 700,647 deaths reported.

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.


Coronavirus explainers: Updates and essential resourcesCoronavirus in maps and chartsLockdown rules and reopening plans in each province


Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

A caretaker ties white ribbons to the fence of St. James Presbyterian in Johannesburg, South Africa. While the country's confirmed cases have surpassed one million, experts says the true figure is much higher. The white ribbon project's founders say each ribbon represents multiple people.Themba Hadebe/The Associated Press


Number of the day

11 per cent

11 per cent of newly admitted residents of long-term care facilities could have remained at home with proper supports, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

  • Advocates have called for additional home care funding to allow more older Canadians to stay in their homes longer, and out of institutional care. According to a June report, 81 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada were linked to seniors’ homes.
  • Those who could stay at home needed limited assistance with many daily tasks, had little or no cognitive impairment, and had no history of recent falls, wandering away or challenging behaviours.
  • The report found that those who could have stayed at home represented more than 5,000 long-term care spots.

The analysis by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the country’s health care statistics agency, is based on data from several provinces for 2018-19, before the coronavirus pandemic.


Coronavirus in Canada


COVID-19 and kids: With Ontario and Alberta requiring non-medical masks for some students this fall, some parents might be wondering what options are best for their children. Experts weigh in on four things to consider when picking a mask for your child.

Also today: How COVID-19 has exposed the cracks in Canada’s disability aid.


Coronavirus around the world

  • Contradicting government health officials, U.S. President Donald Trump said it was possible the United States would have a coronavirus vaccine before the November election. Meanwhile, Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine, an early advocate of masks and other precautions, tested positive just ahead of a planned meeting with Trump.
  • Vietnam continued the conversion of a sports stadium in Danang into a 1,000-bed field hospital, the health ministry said on Thursday, as it races to control and outbreak that has spread to 11 areas.
  • France is struggling to administer enough tests to keep up with demand as cases rise again. Many testing labs are closed so their staff can take summer vacation, just as signs of a second wave are building.

Coronavirus and business

With the Canada Emergency Response Benefit set to end and the labour market still not fully recovered, millions of Canadians remain in need of financial assistance from the government. What’s next in support for the unemployed?

  • Some CERB recipients will move to Employment Insurance, and the government already said a parallel support program will be available for gig and contract workers who do not qualify. This EI-like program is also said to include training, and allows people to “work more hours” while claiming the benefit.
  • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said an overhaul to EI is coming. That could mean changing the qualifying criteria, which currently says workers must be “ready, willing and capable of working each day” – something that does not fully reflect the realities of the current health crisis.

Also today: In its second-quarter earnings reported today, Uber said ride-hailing trips remain down 75 per cent from last year, though up five percentage points from April. In the past, two-thirds of the company’s revenue came from rides. Meanwhile, demand for Uber Eats nearly doubled. The company posted a US$1.8-billion net loss including charges related to the laying off of 23 per cent of its global work force.

And: Canadian Tire posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of $20-million, or 33 cents a share, in its second quarter.


Globe opinion

  • Trevor Tombe: ”The COVID-19 pandemic has brought fiscal challenges unlike anything in recent memory – and in Canada, that means that those already difficult debates over federal transfers will be all the more combative.”
  • Robyn Urback: “The COVID-19 vaccine challenge is one part developing and distributing the thing, one part actually persuading people to get it.”
  • Bev Holmes and Sharon Straus: “How is Canada’s health research system – a complex, distributed array of institutions, networks and federal and provincial government ministries – measuring up during COVID-19? There’s both cause for celebration and need for improvement”
  • Darrell Bricker: “As governments, businesses and others work to get Canadians re-engaged with society and the economy they are being slowed down by anxiety barriers.”

More reporting


Distractions


🏋️‍♀️ For the bored fitness buff: Three options to change up your fitness routine

  • Tempo training: Rather than dropping into the bottom of your squat/push-up/lunge/pull-up, control the descent with a slow and focused effort. Usually two to four seconds will do the trick.
  • Pre-exhaust training: Pair exercises that share similar movement patterns, with one being a little easier than the other. Perform eight to 12 reps of exercise one, then, without any rest, max-out on exercise two.
  • Locomotion training: The bear crawl is a locomotion exercise of particular value for the self-isolated; there are all sorts of variations to keep things fresh.

Information centre

What are we missing? Email us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe