Ontario passes 1,000 COVID-19 deaths; Calls to Kids Help spike amid lockdown; Cases worldwide top 3M
The latest novel coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Monday (this file will be updated throughout the day). Web links to longer stories if available.
7:35 p.m.: The "Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble" charity broadcast not only raised millions for Food Banks Canada on Sunday night; it was the most watched non-sports broadcast ever in Canada, Bell Media says.
The program in which nearly 100 Canadian musicians, actors, athletes, activists and others shared performances or inspirational messages amid the coronavirus pandemic reached 11.5 million viewers overall on 44 networks, plus digital and radio platforms, with nearly one in three Canadians watching part of the broadcast.
Viewership peaked at more than 6.1 million during the world premiere of the charity single "Lean on Me," a version of the Bill Withers song performed virtually by more than two dozen Canadian artists, Bell Media said in a news release.
7:00 p.m.: A total of 1,000 people have now died from COVID-19 in Ontario, according to the Star's latest count.
Ontario's regional health units have reported another 47 fatal cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total since the beginning of the pandemic to a flat 1,000 as of 6 p.m. Monday.
Even as the rate of new COVID-19 cases has slowed in recent days, the daily tally of new deaths has not yet begun to fall. It has taken just 41 days for the province to record 1,000 deaths, but 500 of those have come in just the last 11 days.
The Star on Monday also introduced a new interactive graphic of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, broken down by health unit.
As of 7 p.m., the units had reported a total of 16,168 cases of the disease, closing another day of relatively slow case growth.
On a percentage basis, daily growth has slowed greatly from the rapid increases seen in late March: In the second half of that month, the province saw an average daily growth of 20 per cent, a rate that doubled Ontario's case count about every four days. In the first half of April that rate slowed to an average of 9.5 per cent daily growth, or doubling about every eight days. And the days since have averaged increases of less than 5 per cent daily, or a doubling time of around two weeks.
Even as the Star's count hit four digits, data on the growing number of deaths in Ontario seniors' homes reveals the real toll of the COVID-19 epidemic is much larger even than the Star's count.
Earlier Monday, the province also reported 945 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 241 in intensive care, of whom 191 are on a ventilator. The province also says 8,525 patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus have now recovered from the disease.
Because many health units publish case data before reporting to the province through iPHIS, the Star's count is more current than the data the province puts out each morning.
The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of total deaths - 892 - may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in the reporting system, saying that in the event of a discrepancy, "data reported by (the health units) should be considered the most up to date."
The Star's count, includes some patients reported as "probable" COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.
4:25 p.m.: With children home from school and Canada in lockdown mode over COVID-19, calls to Kids Help Phone are soaring, the charity says.
Nationally, specific conversations about physical, sexual and emotional abuse have jumped between 19 and 26 per cent since March 12, reports Alisa Simon, Kids Help Phone senior vice-president, innovation and chief youth officer.
"It's a sustained increase, that does not seem to be going down," she said. "We are trying to add as many front-line responders as we can, both counsellors and volunteers, so we're able to keep up with demand."
At the same time, police forces and child welfare agencies across the country, including the Children's Aid Society of Toronto, say overall volume of suspected child abuse reports has dropped between 30 and 40 per cent.
While that might sound like a positive, child-care advocates see a troubling disconnect between a significant spike in stressed-out youngsters and teens calling a distress line and the drop in child abuse reports.
The lack of increase in calls could just mean there's a lack of reporting - not that abuse isn't happening, experts say.
"We're really concerned that it's not that child abuse has gone away, it's that we're not seeing it," says Dr. Michelle Ward, an Ottawa pediatrician. Read the Star's report here:
3:50 p.m.: Toronto is starting to temporarily close parts of traffic lanes to give pedestrians more physical-distancing space at congestion "hot spots" but is not heeding calls to close entire streets to cars during the COVID-19 crisis, Mayor John Tory says.
Tory on Monday announced the CurbTO initiative that will start with 10 spots across Toronto, expand to 100 and also create temporary parking pickup zones for drivers and delivery agents to expedite food and medicine pickups.
"Although pedestrian traffic has dropped dramatically across the city as people follow public health advice to stay home as much as possible there are hot spots on some sidewalks in some areas," a city news release states.
See the list of the initial 10 sports here:
3:45 p.m.: University Health Network has confirmed a COVD-19 outbreak at Toronto Western Hospital. The outbreak was declared over the weekend of April 18-19, said spokesperson Gillian Howard in an email.
"We began the process of swabbing patients and staff and others who have been on the unit the weekend of April 18 and have continued with this through the interim," she added.
According to data posted on Toronto Public Health's website, four patients tested positive for the virus in connection with the outbreak and there has been one patient death.
3:30 p.m.: Canada's chief public health officer says stopping COVID-19 and any future outbreaks will require not only a permanent increase to how often we wash our hands, but a rethinking of how we manage the most vulnerable people in our communities.
Dr. Theresa Tam says there is still a lot we do not know about the novel coronavirus, including whether people can contract it more than once, or how many Canadians can actually have it.
She is on a new national task force that is trying to close those gaps by tracing how many people have already been exposed to the virus and whether any of them are now immune to it.
She says understanding those things is critical to safely guiding Canadians back to work and school.
Tam also says COVID-19 has exposed deep problems that must be fixed now to protect residents of long-term care centres and other group settings, as well the risks faced by the essential workers who look after them.
COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Canada's long-term care homes, as well as health-care workers, and employees at critical businesses including grocery stores and pharmacies.
3:00 p.m.: Mayor John Tory and city officials will give a COVID-19 update at 3:45 p.m. EST. A livestream of the news conference will be available at thestar.com.
2:55 p.m.: The Star has created a searchable database of Ontario COVID-19 cases and deaths. It updates every 60 minutes with the latest coronavirus numbers as reported by public health units. Look up the latest real-time numbers here.
2:22 p.m.: The Manitoba government is reporting one new COVID-19 case, bringing the total to 272 cases - 261 confirmed, 11 probable.
With more people recovering, the number of active cases has dropped to 61.
The government is set to announce a plan later this week to gradually reopen non-essential businesses and other services.
The government is also, as of Friday, banning personal care home workers from working at more than one home in order to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
1:30 p.m.: Ontario says its plan to ease restrictions introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic will happen in three stages, though the steps unveiled today contain few specifics or timelines.
Stage one in the framework published today could include opening select workplaces, opening parks, allowing for more people at certain events such as funerals and having hospitals resume some non-urgent surgeries.
Stage two could include opening more businesses, more outdoor spaces, and allowing some larger public gatherings.
Stage three would include having all workplaces open and further relaxing rules on public gatherings - though large ones such as sports events and concerts would still be restricted.
1:30 p.m.: It is looking like a summer without sporting events, concerts or other big gatherings as Queen's Park slowly moves toward reopening the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
That's the sobering message in a 13-page "framework for reopening our province" released Monday by Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government.
Ontario will need to see "a consistent two-to-four week decrease in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases" before the government can begin lifting restrictions on what can open.
"Large public gatherings such as concerts and sporting events will be continue to be restricted for the foreseeable future," the report warned.
That suggests it could be game over for the Raptors, Blue Jays, Argonauts, and Toronto FC, as well as numerous concerts and cultural events that have not yet been cancelled.
1:28 p.m.: Quebec Premier Francois Legault says elementary schools and daycares in the Montreal region will re-open May 19 and attendance will not be mandatory.
The premier said today elementary schools and daycares outside the greater Montreal area will open a week earlier, on May 11.
Legault says high schools, junior colleges and universities will remain closed until September and Legault is urging those institutions to do as much online teaching as possible.
The premier says he is reopening up elementary schools and daycares because the COVID-19 infection rate in the province's hospitals is under control and the virus is generally not dangerous to young children.
1:25 p.m.: Quebec Premier Francois Legault is announcing 84 more COVID-19 deaths in the province, for a total of 1,599.
There are also 875 new cases, for a total of 24,982.
Legault says the COVID-19 situation is largely under control with the exception of long-term care centres, where 75 of the 84 new deaths originated.
He thanked the thousands of people who have submitted CVs to work in the facilities, including Olympic medal-winning figure skater Joannie Rochette and Super Bowl-winning football player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
1:25 p.m.: The total confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has topped three million, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracking map.
As of Monday, at 1:15 p.m, there are 3,002,303 confirmed cases, 208,131 total deaths and 878, 813 total recoveries.
The U.S. remains the most affected country, with 972,969 confirmed cases, 55,118 deaths and 107,226 recoveries.
China, where the virus originated, is the 10th most affected country, according to Johns Hopkins, with 83,912 confirmed cases, 4,637 deaths and 78, 306 recoveries.
1:20 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford is set to unveil Ontario's "framework for reopening the province" once COVID-19 begins to subside.
Ford and Finance Minister Rod Phillips - along with Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli and Health Minister Christine Elliott - will release the timeline Monday afternoon at Queen's Park. Watch the press conference live here.
1:15 p.m.: Federal officials are warning Canadians who have recovered from COVID-19 against thinking they may be immune to the respiratory illness.
While there has been talk in some countries of doling out "immunity passports" to those who have had the illness, Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the science around immunity is still unknown.
Tam says it's expected that those who have had the illness have some type of immunity, but exactly how strong it is and how long it lasts still needs to be determined.
Tam says public-health officials across the country are working to better understand the science because understanding when people become immune to COVID-19 will be critical as different jurisdictions look to start easing restrictions.
1:08 p.m.: The production lines at Honda's manufacturing plants in North America will remain dormant until the second week of May, the company has announced.
Production at all of its facilities has been suspended since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company initially planned to resume production April 7, but this was pushed back to May 1.
Now the company has extended the shutdown until May 8, with plans to resume operations May 11.
"The severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global and regional economy, along with stay-at-home orders and other unfavorable market factors, continue to have a negative effect on the sales of our products," reads an April 23 company statement. "While there is encouraging news about provincial and federal efforts to loosen restrictions in the near future, sales forecasts for the coming weeks project a continued downward trend.
"In response to this situation, Honda will maintain our approach to operate at minimum levels, conserve resources and reduce the long-term impact to the viability of our company."
12:51 p.m.: Canada's deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, says federal and provincial health officials have identified four criteria when it comes to relaxing restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those include ensuring each province has evidence that transmission of COVID-19 is well controlled in their borders and that public health systems can properly diagnose infections and do contact tracing.
Njoo says public health officials are still divided over the widespread use of masks.
The country's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, also spoke on efforts to improve testing to reduce the number of false negatives that continue to turn up.
12:41 p.m.: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work Monday, appearing in public for the first time in three weeks since recovering from a bout of coronavirus that landed him in intensive care.
Standing outside his central London office and residence at No. 10 Downing Street, Britain's leader apologized for being "away from my desk for much longer than I would've liked" and said the country was on the brink of victory in the first phase of its fight with COVID-19 even if it was too early to end Britain's five-week national lockdown.
"If we can show the same spirit of unity and determination as we have all shown in the past six weeks, then I have absolutely no doubt that we will beat it, together we will come through it all the faster and the United Kingdom will emerge stronger than ever before," Johnson said, describing coronavirus as an "unexpected and invisible mugger" that "we have begun to wrestle to the floor." Johnson thanked Britons for their "sheer grit and guts" and said the nation needs to keep going. He called for "optimism and energy."
He said Britain was at a moment of maximum risk in its outbreak and urged people not to lose patience with the lockdown. "It is still true that this is the biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war and I in no way minimize the continuing problems we face and yet it is also true that we are making progress," Johnson said.
Johnson, 55, is the first major world leader known to have contracted coronavirus - and now also to have beaten it. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26 and hospitalized 10 days later. He spent several days in an intensive care unit.
12:31 p.m.: The Stratford Festival is putting its entire 2020 season on hold indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, it announced Monday.
It was to have been a particularly momentous season for the 67-year-old theatre festival. It included a Colm Feore-led production of Shakespeare's "Richard III" to celebrate the grand opening of the newly constructed Tom Patterson Theatre; a new production of Kander and Ebb's "Chicago," and the first production of "Hamlet" at the festival to feature a woman of colour in the title role, played by Amaka Umeh.
The suspension of the season will severely impact Stratford's tourism industry in the valuable spring and summer months, even if physical distancing measures do relax in the coming weeks. The festival drives $135 million in economic activity in the town each year.
12:14 p.m.: Porter Airlines has extended the suspension of all its flights until June 29, the company said on its website Monday.
When Porter initially shut down on March 21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had hoped to restart operations earlier.
"Our initial restart date of June 1, was something we believed was reasonable at the time," the company wrote. "While there are many promising signs about how COVID-19 is being contained, it is also clear that the current border restrictions, regional stay-at-home orders and limits on large gatherings will remain in place for many regions through much of May and into June.
"This makes it difficult for people to travel, so Porter will continue aligning its approach with the public health response."
Porter is waiving change and cancellation fees on all fares booked by June 29. This also applies to Porter Escapes vacation packages. Tickets for travel beginning June 29 are available for purchase now.
11:24 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says 10,000 businesses have applied for the federal government's new wage subsidy since applications for the program opened at 6 a.m.
Trudeau says the number of applications underscores the scope of the challenge companies are facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies will be able to receive up to $847 per employee per week from the federal government.
Trudeau says the money should start flowing by May 7.
11:12 a.m.: The show won't go until January for Mirvish Productions.
Although businesses elsewhere in the city could gradually begin reopening as early as next month, Mirvish is delaying its subscription season until the new year, it announced Monday.
Traditionally the new season would have started in September, "but an entire season of shows takes a lot of planning and co-ordination with hundreds and hundreds of theatre professionals from around the world," David Mirvish said in a news release.
"For the health and safety of all the artists, crew and staff working in our theatres, and for that of our audience, I think it is best to begin our new season " in January of the new year," he said.
The only possible exception to that would be the musical "Come From Away" - but only if "public health officials deem that it is safe to reopen theatres sooner than January," Mirvish said. "We will not do anything that will jeopardize anyone's health and safety."
11:10 a.m.: Ontario's regional health units are reporting another 24 hours with more than 50 new deaths from COVID-19, according to the Star's latest count.
As of 11 a.m. Monday, the health units are reporting a total of 15,824 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 including a jump of 52 more fatal cases from the same time Sunday morning, to a total of 962 deaths,
Even so, data on the growing number of deaths in Ontario seniors' homes reveals the real toll of the COVID-19 epidemic is much larger even than the Star's count.
That's because many deaths we're aware of in Ontario care facilities are not yet included in either the Star's count, or the province's morning update on total confirmed deaths.
For example, Toronto Public Health has so far reported 274 COVID-19 deaths in the city. But, according to the Star's separate tally of all publicly available records of an Ontario outbreak, at least 312 people have so far died counting only fatal cases in a Toronto long-term care home. Another 22 have died in a retirement home, according to the Star's count.
11 a.m.: So many complaints about coronavirus price-gouging are flooding into the Ontario government that staff have been re-assigned to help process them.
As of last Thursday, 19,515 complaints and inquiries have been lodged with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services.
Of those, 17,833 came through a new online portal launched by Premier Doug Ford on March 28.
"Some staff from other units within the ministry have been assisting with processing the significant amount of complaints received through the website on price-gouging," Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson's office said in a statement to the Star.
10:41 a.m.: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its list of possible symptoms of the coronavirus, a step that reflects the broad variation and unpredictability in the way the illness can affect individual patients.
Echoing the observations of doctors treating thousands of patients in the pandemic, the federal health agency this month changed its website to cite the following symptoms as possible indicators of COVID-19, the infection caused by the coronavirus: chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.
Previously it had listed just three symptoms: fever, cough and shortness of breath.
The CDC made no public announcement when it added the six new symptoms to its website April 18, and the agency did not immediately respond to questions about the revised list.
While people who become seriously ill from coronavirus infection primarily have acute respiratory distress, other symptoms that accompany the disease can vary widely, doctors and researchers have reported.
It has turned out, for example, that many people with COVID-19 do not have fevers or that their fevers wax and wane, and are sometimes accompanied by chills.
Shortness of breath can emerge at the same time as other symptoms or it can crop up suddenly a week or even 10 days after a person has been experiencing more manageable symptoms like cough and aches.
Some people report a notable loss of smell and taste, an effect that can also occur with other respiratory infections.
10:37 a.m.: A healthcare patient watchdog is looking into complaints from whistleblowers about deficiencies in long-term care homes across the province.
The complaints, coming from staff and family members, range from severe staffing shortages, inadequate infection control and prevention measures, inability to meet the basic care needs for some residents and poor to little communication, according to a news release from Patient Ombudsman.
Patient Ombudsman is looking to reach out to staff, family members and residents to disclose situations where they feel the safety of personnel in homes s are compromised.
"This is a frightening time for many patients, residents, families and caregivers," said Craig Thompson, executive director of Patient Ombudsman. "Our goal is to learn as much as we can about how COVID-19 is affecting residents and staff in log-term care homes."
9:55 a.m.: U.S. stocks rose and global markets rallied Monday as governments around the world discussed when and how to reopen businesses and get their economies back on track.
But turmoil in oil markets continued, with the price of the U.S. benchmark crude tumbling by more than 20%.
The S&P 500 opened up less than 1%. European stocks were trading about 2% higher after a broadly higher day in Asia.
European governments, including Italy and France, have been discussing ways to reopen in recent days. New Zealand is loosening restrictions on retailers, restaurants, construction sites and schools after only one new case of the virus was reported Monday.
In the United States, governors in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan and other states are deciding how and when to start easing some social-distancing restrictions. Any opening will be slow and painful, but investors signaled optimism that the recovery could begin soon. Prices of U.S. Treasury bonds, a traditional investor safe haven, fell in early Monday trading.
9:40 a.m.: Five Costco employees at a location in Vaughan have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a tweet by the city's mayor on Sunday.
Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua tweeted at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, saying that York public health officials inspected the Costco location at Highway 7 and Weston Road twice, after learning that multiple employees tested positive for the coronavirus. A third inspection is planned for this week.
Bevilacqua said they are working with Costco management "to ensure appropriate infection prevention and control measures are being taken, including cleaning and disinfecting."
9:10 a.m.: The Russian soccer league says it is hoping to resume play in late June and wants to complete its season by Aug. 2.
The league says it is discussing June 21 and 28 with clubs as possible dates to resume the season amid the coronavirus pandemic. Each club has eight more league games to play.
The league says it would keep promotion and relegation if the season can be completed.
The league could expand from 16 to 18 teams for next season with the addition of the two best-placed teams from the second division if the season can't be finished. It would then shrink back to its current size for the 2021-22 season. The Russian Cup could also be removed from the calendar for next season only.
Players in Russia are currently training on their own at home during a nationwide lockdown and some foreign players have left the country. The league says it has discussed a return to training but didn't announce any dates for that.
9:02 a.m.: Sports apparel and shoe company Adidas saw its earnings fall sharply in the first quarter as the virus outbreak closed 70% of its global store base. Net profit from continuing operations fell 97% to only 20 million euros from 631 million euros in the same period a year ago.
The company, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, said Monday that first quarter revenues fell 19% in currency neutral terms. E-commerce did pick up as the outbreak shutdowns spread in March, rising 55 per cent in March and was continuing to climb.
"Our results for the first quarter speak to the serious challenges that the global outbreak of the coronavirus poses even for healthy companies," said adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted.
Revenue development reflected the phasing of the global outbreak, with a sales decline of 58% in China, where the outbreak started, followed by downturns elsewhere.
The company said it had incurred costs in the three-digit millions over product take backs to manage inventory. It said its revenues were recovering in China during the first three weeks of April after the quarter ended, and global e-commerce revenues were showing another significant acceleration.
8 a.m.: A new survey released today shows half of Canadians who participated report their mental health has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study by the Angus Reid Institute aims to shed light on how the economic uncertainty and social distancing measures brought on by the pandemic have affected the psychological well-being of Canadians.
It says that when asked to describe their primary feelings in recent weeks, 44 per cent of respondents said they're worried, 41 per cent said they're anxious and 30 per cent said they're bored.
But a third -34 per cent - also said they're grateful.
7:30 a.m.: Premier Doug Ford is set to unveil Ontario's "framework for reopening the province" once COVID-19 begins to subside.
Ford and Finance Minister Rod Phillips -along with Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli and Health Minister Christine Elliott - will release the timeline Monday afternoon at Queen's Park.
With Ontario in a state of emergency since March 17 - and all schools remaining closed until at least June 1 - the premier has warned it will be "twice as hard" to reopen the economy as it was to shut it down.
Only essential businesses, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, and liquor and beer stores, are allowed to be open. Restaurants are limited to serving takeout meals and are also permitted to serve wine, beer, and spirits to go.
7:18 a.m.: Julian Assange's extradition trial, set to begin next month, has been delayed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-week trial was due to begin May 18 in London, but was postponed until July or even November, because of the extension of the U.K. lockdown.
Assange faces extradition to America on charges that he conspired to disclose documents passed to him by former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. The 48-year-old has been in a London jail for a year since he was kicked out of the Ecuadorian embassy where he was hiding from Swedish sexual-assault allegations.
His lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said that trial preparations have been hamstrung by a prison ban on visitors during the lockdown.
7:07 a.m.: Turkey dispatched an air ambulance and repatriated a Turkish citizen who tested positive for the coronavirus in Sweden but allegedly failed to receive any treatment there.
Emrullah Gulusken, 47, was evacuated from his home in Malmo, Sweden, on Sunday after his daughter, Leyla, pleaded for help on social media. She said her father was sent back home despite his worsening condition, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Gulusken and his three of his children were flown to Ankara where they were hospitalized, the agency reported.
"Dear Leyla, we have heard your voice... Our air ambulance is taking off at 6 am we are coming to Sweden," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted on Sunday. "Our hospital, our doctors are ready waiting for your father."
Turkey has repatriated some 40,000 nationals from 75 countries since the start of the outbreak in March, according to Foreign Ministry figures.
6:41 a.m.: Workers are refitting the construction site at fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral to protect staff from the virus and allow cleanup efforts at the Paris landmark to resume.
More than a year after the blaze, workers still haven't finished stabilizing the medieval cathedral, much less rebuilding it. And the coronavirus outbreak caused a new setback: Work on the cathedral halted in mid-March, when France imposed strict confinement measures.
On Monday, workers began to re-arrange the construction site to make it virus-safe, according to an official with the state agency overseeing the project. The site is hidden from the public by high barriers.
6:30 a.m.: Russia surpassed China with its total number of confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday.
The Russian government reported 87,147 cases on Monday, which is almost 4,000 more than China's official toll of 83,912. Almost 6,200 new infections were registered in the past 24 hours.
The actual number of infections in both countries is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick. Many also believe that governments in both Russia and China could be manipulating the statistics for political purposes.
6:25 a.m.: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has said the monthlong ongoing lockdown has yielded positive results and that the country has managed to save "thousands of lives."
Modi, who had a videoconference with various heads of the states on Monday, said the impact of the coronavirus, however, will remain visible in the coming months, according to a press statement released by his office.
5:35 a.m.: A total of 874 servicemen in the Russian military have tested positive for the new coronavirus since March, Russia's Defence Ministry said Sunday. Almost half of them - 379 people - are isolated at home; others are being treated in various medical facilities. Four people are in grave condition, including one on a ventilator.
Russia has so far reported 80,949 confirmed cases of the virus and 747 deaths. The vast majority of the country's regions have been on lockdown since late March, with only essential businesses - grocery shops, pharmacies, banks - operating and people ordered to stay at home.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin indefinitely postponed the traditional May 9 military parade marking the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II because of the growing outbreak.
Military units have already rehearsed the parade - footage of these rehearsals showed hundreds of servicemen drilling outside Moscow without observing social distancing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the military had their own isolation and distancing protocols which allowed them more freedom.
5:20 a.m.: Starting Monday, businesses can apply for the federal government's $73 billion wage subsidy program.
Companies that qualify will get a subsidy worth 75 per cent of each employee's wages, up to $847 per week, retroactive from March 15 to June 6. And for those organizations that can, the government is asking employers to fill in the remaining quarter.
First payments are expected to arrive by the end of next week.
Sunday 10:45 p.m.: The Hospital for Sick Children confirmed late Sunday evening that a teenage patient tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently in an isolation room and is stable. Other patients in the same unit were also tested - all results came back negative, the hospital noted.
"SickKids is actively investigating how the virus was transmitted to the patient and is working closely with Toronto Public Health," they wrote in a statement. "At this time we believe the risk to patients, families and staff is low."
Sunday 9:15 p.m.: British Columbia health officials are pondering how to reopen long-term care facilities to visits from family members.
The province's seniors advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, said she and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry are looking at "safely" opening up care homes to some form of visits from family members.
"One of the very important pieces is that family members are, first of all, able to support their loved one in the care home, and secondly are able to be reassured of what is happening in care homes by being the eyes that see and the ears that hear what is going on in the care homes," she said.