The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
11:05 a.m.: Ontario is reporting 566 new cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths from the illness today, though the province’s health minister says some of the numbers come from an ongoing data review in Toronto.
Christine Elliott says 196 of the new cases are in Toronto, 123 are in Peel and 81 are in Ottawa.
She says some of today’s figures included Toronto-based cases and deaths that took place in the spring, but that are coming to light now as part of an ongoing data review at the local public health unit.
Some of that data was also included in provincial numbers reported over the past two days.
The latest tallies show there are 5,405 active COVID-19 cases in Ontario.
That number includes 169 people who are hospitalized with the illness
10:19 a.m.: Ontario is reporting 566 cases of COVID-19 as nearly 39,700 were completed, according to a tweet by Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott. Locally, there are 196 new cases in Toronto, 123 in Peel and 81 in Ottawa. Sixty-two per cent of today’s cases are in people under the age of 40. There are 534 more resolved cases.
9:56 a.m.: A very small, limited number of people, donning the white terrycloth garment symbolic of the Muslim pilgrimage, circled Islam’s holiest site in Mecca on Sunday after Saudi Arabia lifted coronavirus restrictions that had been in place for months.
The kingdom had taken the rare step in early March of suspending the smaller year-round “umrah” pilgrimage that draws millions from across the world, as the coronavirus morphed into a global pandemic and prompted countries to impose lockdowns and curfews to slow down transmission.
But as nations begin to ease those restrictions, the Saudi government on Sunday started allowing a maximum of 6,000 pilgrims a day to enter the sprawling Grand Mosque in Mecca. Only Saudi citizens and residents will be permitted to enter the mosque during this first phase of reopening, and each person has up to three hours to complete the pilgrimage.
The Grand Mosque, which is being sterilized and cleaned multiple times a day, houses the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times a day.
9:35 a.m.: Opposition critics and disability advocates are calling on Ontario’s government to publicly release its COVID-19 triage protocol, which would guide doctors on how to determine who should get life-saving treatment if hospitals are overwhelmed by coronavirus patients.
The purpose of the protocol, which would only be invoked as a last resort if critical care resources needed to be rationed, is to minimize overall mortality by prioritizing patients with the best chance of survival.
The Ministry of Health says the protocol is still being reviewed and will not be made public at this time.
Read the full story from the Star’s Brendan Kennedy.
9:30 a.m.: With more than a billion dollars pledged to make schools safe during the age of COVID-19, it’s no wonder many parents were shocked to learn class sizes are much larger than expected. A close examination of the math behind the funding plan shows the amount of money available to hire new teachers and decrease class sizes is much less than what parents have been led to believe.
Read the full story from the Star’s Kenyon Wallace.
7:51 a.m.: South Africa and India have asked the World Trade Organization to waive some provisions in the international agreements that regulate intellectual property rights to speed up efforts to prevent, treat and contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
7:46 a.m.: Indonesia has surpassed 300,000 confirmed infections since the pandemic began. The Health Ministry on Sunday reported 3,992 new cases, taking the country’s total to 303,498. The ministry said 11,151 people have died of the disease, while 228,453 patients have recovered.
7:46 a.m.: India has registered 75,829 confirmed coronaviruses cases in the past 24 hours, a day after crossing 100,000 total fatalities.
The Health Ministry raised India’s confirmed total to more than 6.5 million on Sunday and said at least 101,782 people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
India is still registering the highest number of daily cases globally but with the recovery rate at more than 83 per cent, the number of those recovered has surpassed 5.5 million, the Health Ministry said.
India also has the low fatality rate of 1.56 per cent, which is nearly half the global one.
The Health Ministry credited the increased testing in the country for a sustained low death rate. India has conducted nearly 79 million tests so far, according to official data.
India is preparing to reopen cinemas and entertainment parks with limited capacity beginning Oct. 15, in an effort to revive the economy. Health experts warn the move has the potential for the virus to spread during the upcoming religious festival and winter season.
7:45 a.m.: U.S. President Donald Trump went through a “very concerning” period Friday and faces a “critical” next two days in his fight against COVID-19 at a military hospital, his chief of staff said Saturday — in contrast to a rosier assessment moments earlier by Trump doctors, who took pains not to reveal the president had received supplemental oxygen at the White House before his hospital admission.
Click here to read the latest on Donald Trump and his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Read the latest analysis from the Star’s Edward Keenan.
7:45 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. EDT on Oct. 4, 2020:
There are 164,478 confirmed cases in Canada.
-Quebec: 77,380 confirmed (including 5,867 deaths, 64,478 resolved)
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– Ontario: 53,633 confirmed (including 2,968 deaths, 45,285 resolved)
– Alberta: 18,357 confirmed (including 272 deaths, 16,527 resolved)
– British Columbia: 9,381 confirmed (including 238 deaths, 7,813 resolved)
– Manitoba: 2,108 confirmed (including 22 deaths, 1,409 resolved)
– Saskatchewan: 1,954 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 1,782 resolved)
– Nova Scotia: 1,089 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,021 resolved)
– Newfoundland and Labrador: 276 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 269 resolved)
– New Brunswick: 201 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 193 resolved)
– Prince Edward Island: 59 confirmed (including 57 resolved)
– Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 15 resolved)
– Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
– Nunavut: No confirmed cases, 7 presumptive
– Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)
Total: 164,478 (7 presumptive, 164,471 confirmed including 9,462 deaths, 138,867 resolved)
9:15 p.m. Saturday: As of 8 p.m. Saturday, Ontario’s regional public health units are reporting another 684 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases and three deaths, according to a tally from the Star’s Ed Tubb.
The seven-day average has increased by 29 to 646 cases a day and to 3.1 deaths a day.
That pace, which has been sustained for about 3 weeks or so, would see Ontario averaging around 1,000 cases a day sometime next weekend.
Meantime, the seven-day average in Toronto is currently doubling every 8-9 days.
8:30 p.m. Saturday: Two nursing homes in Toronto appear to be among the hardest hit long-term-care facilities by a COVID-19 outbreak, in the latest numbers released by the province Saturday morning.
The 108-bed Fairview Nursing Home, near Dufferin Street and Dundas Street West, reported 42 residents and 12 staff members testing positive, making it Ontario’s largest active outbreak at an LTC home. Less than five deaths have been reported, although it’s not clear why there isn’t a more exact figure.
The 130-bed Vermont Square nursing home on Bathurst Street, north of Bloor Street West, reported an active outbreak with 35 confirmed cases — 25 residents and 10 staff. No deaths have been reported there.
