Coronavirus Update: More than 80 per cent of Canada’s deaths are in long-term care homes

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

Top headlines:

1. The vast majority of COVID-19 deaths in Canada were in long-term care, nearly double the OECD average
2. Officials believe at least 20 million Americans have caught COVID-19
3. Air Canada quietly extends its refund policy, but not for flights originating in Canada

In Canada, 102,622 cases have been reported. In the last week, 2,402 cases were announced, 11 per cent fewer than the previous week.

There have also been 65,425 recoveries and 8,504 deaths. Health officials have administered 2,684,843 tests.

Worldwide, 9,430,384 cases have been confirmed; with 482,752 deaths.

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 resources • Coronavirus in maps and charts • Lockdown rules and reopening plans in each province

Photo of the day

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81%

As of May 25, 81 per cent of known COVID-19 deaths in Canada were long-term care residents – almost double the OECD average, according to a new report.

• The report, from CIHI, highlights ways Canada started at a disadvantage – fewer nurses, older residents and less coherent regulation – compared to other countries.
• However, Ontario and Quebec’s failure to set up safeguards at the outset of the health crisis – failing to mandate PPE, isolate infected residents or perform broad testing – seemed to doom the long-term care industry, the report said.
• The CIHI report categorized 16 countries by how quickly they responded to the crisis. Countries that were slow to act – Canada, France, Norway, Spain, the United States and Britain – reported a higher proportion of deaths in care homes.

Other countries, such as Hungary and the Netherlands, had fewer than 20 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in care homes.

Coronavirus in Canada

• The Premier of Ontario says July 21 is too early for the Canada-U.S. border to reopen given recent spikes in case numbers in many U.S. states.
• Yesterday, the government in Quebec announced it will provide weekly, instead of daily, updates on COVID-19 cases and deaths in the province. In its last daily update, the province today announced 142 new cases.
• British Columbia will be make campsites available for seasonal workers to help ensure they have a safe accommodations. The government will provide $60,000 for each site.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a program to provide grants for students who volunteer this summer, as part of the government’s $9-billion in aid for students.

• The grants – between $1,000 and $5,000 – are dependent on the time the recipient devotes to volunteer work.
• The grant money is to support the costs of postsecondary education in September.

During his daily press conference, Trudeau was questioned about his government’s handling of the country’s finances after Fitch downgraded Canada’s triple-A credit score yesterday. He was unapologetic about pandemic spending.

Also today: The government announced the 139 Canadian-led teams that will divide $109-million in COVID-19 research funding.

Coronavirus around the world

• U.S. health officials estimate that 20 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus since it first arrived in the United States, nearly 10 times as many as the 2.4 million cases that have been confirmed. Also stateside, the Trump administration has delivered more than $1.4-billion in stimulus payments to dead people.
• The world’s attention is on developing a vaccine, but experts are worried we may lack the capacity to make, package, and distributing enough doses to eradicate the global pandemic. Toby Peters, an engineering and technology expert at Birmingham University in England called the vaccine the biggest logistical challenge the world has ever faced.
• Doctors in Europe will soon be able to treat coronavirus patients with Gilead’s antiviral drug, remdesivir. The European Union allows a treatment to be sold for a year in the 27-nation bloc before all necessary data on its efficacy and side-effects are available.
• France and Germany announced Thursday additional financial support to the WHO’s pandemic response, with Berlin saying it would give a record half billion euros in funding and equipment this year.

Coronavirus and business

Air Canada changed it policy to allow some customers with flights cancelled because of COVID-19 to get a refund – but not if the trip originated in Canada.

• Cancelled flights originating in the European Union, Switzerland and Iceland are “entitled to receive a refund,” a document posted to Air Canada’s website says.
• Air Canada is the second airliner to offer refunds rather than credit for cancellations. Earlier this month, WestJet announced a broader refund offer that applies to flights with a U.S. or U.K. city as the destination or origin.

The change follows months of backlash from consumer advocates and passengers.

Globe opinion

• Robyn Urback: “It is increasingly indefensible, each day that goes by, that jurisdictions in Canada kick the can down the road on mandatory mask policies.”
• Chris Houston: “The World Health Organisation warned of a global health emergency in January. Why did the corporations that run long-term care homes and the governments that regulate them not take heed of this warning?”
• Sheema Khan: “This week, the Saudi government announced that, due to the coronavirus, only a few thousand local residents will be allowed to perform the hajj pilgrimage, effectively cancelling one of the main pillars of Islam. The hajj, which usually draws 2.5 million people worldwide, is incumbent on every able-bodied, adult Muslim who is able to afford the journey.”

Some good news

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Musical Stage Company

The theater company announce plans to deliver new hyperlocal performances to front yards and driveways – and take other events online to permit potential Canada-wide participation and viewership.

Porchside Songs will begin July with performances by Vanessa Sears and Beau Dixon; Hailey Gillis and Andrew Penner; and the Asian Riffing Trio (Colin Asuncion, Chris Tsujiuchi and Kevin Wong).

Have you witnessed or performed acts of kindness in your neighbourhood? Email audience@globeandmail.com

Distractions

💪 For the slightly older athlete: Three tips to train without injury

1. Make recovery a priority: The stress response from exercise is real. Make sure you take enough days off for your body to heal.
2. Make lighter weights feel heavy: Modify your workout – add squat jumps before squats or plyo push-ups before benching – so manageable weights feel heavy.
3. Make the volume of a workout less: Cut back on overall training volume to take care of both joint stress and enable recovery.

Information centre

• Pandemic personal finance: 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, and what you can do to help slow the spread of coronavirus. How to break a bad habit (like touching your face).
• 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. What to cook with rhubarb (aside from pie).
• Here’s what you should do if you are newly laid off; how to apply for CERB, EI, and other financial benefits; how the CRA might identify CERB fraud; and other coronavirus and employment questions answered. What to do if your employees don’t return to work because they want to collect CERB.

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