Coronavirus Update: Morneau says family donated $50,000 to WE for pandemic relief efforts

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

Top headlines:

1. Finance Minister Bill Morneau pays WE organization $41,366 to cover past travel expenses, donated to charity’s COVID-19 efforts
2. Ontario Premier Doug Ford ousts MPP from caucus for voting against the government’s emergency order bill
3. Long-term care residents could become casualties of a second wave without federal funding, advocates warn

In Canada, there have been at least 112,204 cases reported. In the last week 3,377 new cases were announced, 41 per cent more than the previous week. There have also been at least 98,125 recoveries and 8,870 deaths. Health officials have administered more than 3,868,358 tests.

Worldwide, there have been at least 14,947,428 cases confirmed and 616,443 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 resources • Coronavirus in maps and charts • Lockdown rules and reopening plans in each province

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Number of the day

53 per cent

Profit at Rogers plunged 53 per cent in its second quarter as revenue fell and bad debt expenses rose.

• On an adjusted basis, Rogers earned 60 cents a share, down from $1.16 a year ago, while revenue fell $3.16-billion, off 17 per cent from a year ago.

The company said the metrics are the result of the pandemic and do not “diminish our long-term growth prospects.”

Coronavirus in Canada

• A nursing home in British Columbia said a prank call from someone purporting to be a local health authority hampered its initial response to its March outbreak. Twenty residents eventually died of COVID-19.
• In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford removed a MPP from caucus for voting against the government’s emergency order bill. Ford said Bill 195 is necessary to protect people’s health and safety, and he couldn’t tolerate the MPP voting against it. Almost 3,000 more bodies than usual were cremated in April and May of this year than 2019, a first look at overall mortality trends in the province.
• Nova Scotia wants students back in classrooms by Sept. 8. Classrooms will be reorganized to allow for physical distancing, teachers will wear masks in common areas, and the government will spend $4-million to help ensure students are able to bring personal computers to class.
• The Premier of Manitoba says playing host to the CFL’s shortened season will add to the province’s economy, not its coronavirus case load.

In Ottawa, Finance Minister Bill Morneau told a House committee that he repaid $41,366 to WE in travel expenses for a personal trips he and his family took to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017. Morneau and his wife made two donations of $50,000 to the organization, one of which supported COVID-19 relief efforts in Kenya and Canada.

• The House finance committee is reviewing the government’s now-cancelled contract with WE Charity for administering the $912-million student grant program.
• Yesterday, the Clerk of the Privy Council pledged to release all relevant documents for a committee investigation, and said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Morneau would need to be involved in such a major program decision in spite of concerns of conflicts of interest.

Also today: Advocates say additional financial support from the federal government is needed to ensure older Canadians are not the primary casualties of a possible second wave. In Canada, 81 per cent of deaths were in long-term care.

And: The federal government is relaxing fingerprinting rules when screening new hires.

Coronavirus around the world

• In the U.S., California surpassed New York for the most coronavirus cases in the country, reporting more than 409,000 infections after setting a record on Tuesday for the state’s most confirmed new cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic. The Trump administration will pay US$1.95-billion to buy 100 million doses of Pfizer’s and German biotech firm BioNTech’s vaccine candidate if they successfully develop one.
• Watch: The Spanish Red Cross used a hotel as a hospital in the city of Lleida, one of Catalonia’s coronavirus hot spots, in order to ease the pressure on local hospitals as they try to contain an outbreak.
• The president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee said the event could not be held next year if the current pandemic conditions continue as they are.

Coronavirus and business

The parent company of Sobeys will spend $2.1-billion over three years in renovation and expansion efforts, including investing in e-commerce.

• The release of the company’s plan was delayed from May as the company responded to the surge in traffic and sales as a result of the pandemic.
• Retail has changed as a result of COVID-19, making clear that the grocery chain needs to serve customers “where, when and how they want to shop,” the company said.

Also today: CP Rail posted a better-than-expected profit and raised its dividend by about 15 per cent. The Calgary-based company responded to the pandemic by laying off workers and running longer, heavier trains to squeeze out a profit.

And: Canadian inflation rose 0.7 per cent in June – the biggest increase in the annual inflation rate in nine years. [For subscribers]

Globe opinion

• Globe editorial: “Right now, Ottawa should have both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. Instead, it’s a severely distracted driver, with one eye on the fly it introduced into the car, and one hand groping for something to hit it with.”
• Konrad Yakabuski: “The agreement struck in the wee hours of Tuesday morning in Brussels, at the end of 90 hours of sometimes testy negotiations, marks a turning point for the EU.”

More reporting

• The Toronto Blue Jays won’t be allowed to play their home games at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park
• Fourteen per cent of survey respondents were planning to buy a car as a direct result of the pandemic
• Cineplex wants Ontario to boost to a 50-person theatre cap, citing profitability concerns.
• What does COVID-19 mean for the 2021 Olympics?
• Same-store sales at A&W plunge 31.6 per cent amid COVID-19
• Your dog probably has separation anxiety

Distractions

📚 For the quiz show enthusiast: Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek talks about new memoir, The Answer Is…, his terminal cancer diagnosis and his opinion of Donald Trump

• For more than 30 years, Jeopardy! has been a touchstone for millions, lighting the passage through the years. The show’s sheer durability and cross-generational appeal made Alex Trebek an American celebrity. And if some viewers had dropped the habit over the years, the show’s continued existence was reassurance enough. Certainly, it would always be there. Then came Mr. Trebek’s bombshell and an outpouring of love from fans.

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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