Coronavirus Update: Manitoba First Nation students to repeat school year disrupted by COVID-19

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

Top headlines:

1. Students in Garden Hill First Nation, a remote fly-in community in northeast Manitoba, will stay in their existing grades when they return to school in the fall after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the education system
2. Inside L6P: Concerns about the highly contagious Delta variant, which now makes up one-quarter of COVID-19 cases in Toronto’s Peel Region, have prompted political and health leaders to call for an accelerated vaccine rollout
3. Air Canada paid $10-million in executive bonuses while negotiating a government bailout. Now, those bonuses are partially being paid back after backlash from the Prime Minister and Finance Minister

In the last 7 days, 12,567 cases were reported, down 32 per cent from the previous 7 days. There were 214 deaths announced, down 22 per cent over the same period. At least 1,715 people are being treated in hospitals and 1,344,695 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 13th among countries with a population of one million or more people.

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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: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening • Vaccine distribution plan • Four vaccines approved in Canada • Essential resources

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Coronavirus in Canada

• Ontario is reopening ahead of schedule – allowing restaurant patios and non-essential retail stores to open as of Friday. And, vaccine hesitancy is raising alarms as COVID-19′s highly contagious Delta variant spreads in Brampton, Ont. Three northern communities have declared a state of emergency following an influx of COVID-19 cases. Ontarians aged 70 and older, as well as people who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine on or before April 18, are now eligible to book their second vaccine.
• Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has apologized for breaking COVID-19 public-health rules during his dinner at his “Sky Palace” government office. Banff National Park reopened last week to visitors after provincial restrictions eased. And, a judge has ruled that the religious freedoms of an Alberta pastor who is on trial for violating COVID-19 regulations were not violated.
• Students in a remote First Nations community in northeast Manitoba will repeat the school year after the pandemic disrupted their education.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government is looking at ways to start welcoming back visitors from abroad as case counts come down in Canada, in the United States and elsewhere around the world.

• He said anyone coming to Canada needs to be fully vaccinated before arriving because the country can’t risk another wave of COVID-19.

National case counts: COVID-19 case counts were down across much of Canada this weekend.

Coronavirus around the world

• A United Nations agency described the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of work as “cataclysmic” and much worse than that of the 2008 financial crisis.
• Major cities in India, such as Mumbai and New Delhi, reopened for business Monday as coronavirus cases dropped.
• The final chapter of the U.S.’s economic recovery could begin in June.

Coronavirus and business

Air Canada says its top executives will give back their 2020 bonuses, citing “public disappointment.”

• The initial decision to award the 2020 bonuses – revealed in Air Canada’s annual proxy circular to shareholders and first reported by The Globe and Mail – came as the airline negotiated a multibillion-dollar bailout with the Canadian government.
• In addition to the April bailout, Air Canada took $656-million from the federal government’s Emergency Wage Subsidy program in 2020, a larger amount than any other company has publicly disclosed.

Also today: Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of personal financing?

Globe opinion

• André Picard: The invisible wounds inflicted by pandemic journalism
• Eddy Lang and Merril Pauls: We shouldn’t abandon masks after the pandemic recedes
• Alda Sigmundsdóttir: After a year of quiet, are Icelanders ready for an eruption of mass tourism?
• Kevin Lynch and Paul Deegan: Canada will need smarter regulations to drive investment after the COVID-19 pandemic

More reporting

• Nine to five: I’m pregnant and hesitant to go to work. What are my options?
• Will joggers keep it outside once the pandemic ends or run back to the gym?

Information centre

• How well do vaccines work? Here’s what you need to know.
• Rob Carrick’s 10-point checklist of things you should have done by now to protect or improve your money situation. Tips for minimizing damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety and protecting your mental health; and what to do if you think you have the virus. Wash your hands. How to break a bad habit (like touching your face). Is flying safe?
• The best foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home; four eating tips when working from home; and five mistakes that might cause you to gain unwanted weight. Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples and how to stop stress-eating.
• Find answers to your coronavirus and employment questions.

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

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