Evening Update: British PM Boris Johnson moved to ICU; new advice for Canadians to wear non-medical masks

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top coronavirus stories:

Developing: British PM Boris Johnson in intensive care after condition worsens, his office says

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has tested positive for COVID-19, has been moved to the intensive care unit after his condition worsened, his office says. He had entered hospital yesterday and undergone tests after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms for more than 10 days. “The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputize for him where necessary,” a spokesman said.

New advice from Theresa Tam: wear non-medical masks to grocery shop and on transit

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam has new advice for Canadians: wear a non-medical face mask to help limit the spread of the coronavirus when you can’t ensure proper physical distance from others –that includes riding public transit and shopping in a grocery store. She said in a briefing today that wearing masks is now being advised to cut down on transmission by infected Canadians who may not be showing symptoms. She emphasized that masks do not better protect the user, but could help shield others.

Emergency benefit to be expanded to cover more part-time workers, Trudeau says

As applications opened today for the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government is working to make it available to more people.

One criticism of the benefit is that it only applies to people who suddenly have no income because of COVID-19, excluding contractors or shift workers who still have some money coming in. “If your hours have been reduced, for example, to say 10 hours or less, we will soon be announcing how you can benefit from the CERB,” Trudeau said. He also said the government is also looking at new programs for students.

Trudeau said hundreds of thousands of people successfully applied for emergency financial aid – up to $500 a week for up to 16 weeks – in the first few hours after the process opened today. To try to prevent the website from crashing, Canadians are being asked to apply on different dates based on their birth month.

The scramble for personal protective equipment: Who is getting, giving and making masks

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office says 500,000 N95 medical masks that were held up by U.S. officials will be shipped to the province in the “near future.” This comes as Ford says Ontario has only a one-week supply of critical personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, for front-line health-care workers. His office blames the shortage on delays in global shipments and “recent restrictions” at the Canada-U.S. border.

Canada, meanwhile, is set to receive millions of masks from what may be considered an unlikely source: China’s telecom giant Huawei. Asia correspondent Nathan VanderKlippe reports that the company has already delivered to Canada more than one million masks, 30,000 goggles and 50,000 pairs of gloves, according to a person with knowledge of the donation, the scale of which Huawei has not made public. A relatively small percentage will be N95 masks.

The shipments come as Huawei seeks federal approval to install its 5G technology on Canadian mobile networks and the release of its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Vancouver in December, 2018, at the request of U.S. authorities. Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were detained in apparent retaliation, remain locked up in China.

Separately, a Quebec-based private company that currently makes masks in China, Taiwan, France and the United States, is aiming to open its first mask factory in Canada by July. AMD Medicom will supply 30 million to 50 million surgical and N95 masks a year to Ottawa under a proposed long-term agreement.

Major law firms conserve cash by cutting salaries; more businesses reducing staff, suspending dividends

Two of Canada’s biggest law firms are cutting salaries to rein in costs as workloads fall in some practice areas and fears grow that clients will struggle to pay their bills. Borden Ladner Gervais is cutting pay to non-partner lawyers and other legal staff by 10 to 15 per cent, according to sources with knowledge of the firm. Norton Rose Fulbright Canada has announced a 10-per-cent cut for all employees.

More businesses in the hard-hit sectors of aviation and food services have announced measures to temporarily lay off staff, put dividends on pause and in some cases reduce executive salaries, including flight-simulator company CAE, Chorus Aviation, which operates regional aircraft for Air Canada, and MTY Food Group, whose brands include Thai Express, Jugo Juice and Mr. Sub.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Crews battle forest fire near Chernobyl: Emergency teams in Ukraine today continued battling a forest fire in the contaminated area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that has raised radiation fears. Police said they tracked down a 27-year-old man suspected of starting the blaze “for fun” by setting dry grass on fire in the area.

Golf’s Open Championship cancelled: The 149th Open Championship, which was to be held this year at Royal St George’s in Britain, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the R&A announced today. It will be the first time the Open, the oldest of golf’s four majors, has not been held since the Second World War.

Bond actress Honor Blackman dies: Honor Blackman, the British actress who played Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie Goldfinger and starred in TV’s The Avengers, has died at 94.

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MARKET WATCH

U.S. stocks rocketed higher today, with each of the major indexes rallying about 7 per cent, after a fall in the daily death toll in New York, the country’s biggest coronavirus hot spot, fueled optimism a leveling off of the pandemic was on the horizon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,627.46 points or 7.73 per cent to 22,679.99, the S&P 500 gained 175.03 points or 7.03 per cent close at to 2,663.68 and the Nasdaq Composite added 540.16 points or 7.33 to end at 7,913.24.

The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 654.40 points or 5.06 per cent at 13,592.70.

Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes A&W payout suspension, best balanced ETFs and ditching a popular high-yield bond fund.

Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.

TALKING POINTS

How to make Canada a more self-reliant country in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic

“We’ll need to work together – something Canadians are good at, even under stress. We’ll need to think about offence as well as defence. And we’ll need to see this not only as Canada’s challenge but also Canada’s moment. That can be our next normal.” - David McKay, CEO, Royal Bank of Canada

Get with the program, Trump: Sports as we know them are over

“Major League Baseball, the NHL and NBA continue to talk as though this season might be salvaged. It won’t. Next season is looking doubtful. I’ve already come to terms with the idea that there won’t be a 2021 Tokyo Olympics.” - Cathal Kelly

LIVING BETTER

As we all try to adapt to the new normal, The Globe offers resources to answer your questions. They include:

• A quick guide to what’s allowed and open, or closed and banned
• Essential businesses by province
• How to apply for EI and other financial relief
• Cleaning tips
• What essentials to buy

LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE - OR SOME PHYSICAL DISTANCING DOWNTIME

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Canadians in New York City reflect on coronavirus from pandemic epicentre

At the small New York hospital where she works in the intensive care unit, Leslie Bottrell has several metrics for measuring the rising tide of the coronavirus.

COVID-19 patients occupy every bed in the ICU and have spilled over into the emergency room. Staff wear fabric coverings over N95 respirators to prolong the lifespan of the protective masks. Where Dr. Bottrell could once count on a single “code” per shift, these urgent calls to resuscitate are now an hourly occurrence.

A native of St. Thomas, Ont., Dr. Bottrell is part of the Canadian diaspora in the largest city of the United States. Drawn by Wall Street or Broadway, or jobs in sectors from advertising to health care, they are now watching their adoptive home become the epicentre of a global pandemic. Read Adrian Morrow’s full story here (including one expat stocking up on maple syrup during a Costco run).

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