April 28, 2020

FEDERAL

The first virtual session of Parliament will take place today

· Acknowledged measures taken so far are working, in many parts of country curve has flattened

· If we lift measures to quickly, we might lose progress made, need to be careful for ourselves and especially for our most vulnerable residents

· Have released shared principles on restarting the economy agreed to by federal, provincial and territorial governments

· This framework will lay out what needs to happen before we take next steps; restarting economy will be gradual and guided by science

o To re-open the economy there must be enough capacity to test and trace COVID-19 to stop the spread

o At work, there will need to be specific measures to keep people safe

o Need to make sure hospitals have capacity to care for everyone, not just COVID-19 patients

o Indicated there will be different guidelines for long-term care facilities to maintain measures to protect vulnerable residents

· Indicated Canada is receiving new PPE deliveries every few days; this week six million surgical masks will be shipped to provinces and territories, more than 100,000 face shields from Bauer and Toronto Stamp will be shipped out soon

· Acknowledged National Day of Mourning today, we remember those who died, were injured or fell ill because of work; this year we pay special tribute to thousands of front line workers who deserve our thanks and support

PROVINCIAL

The Premier said the Provincial government will be releasing “clear, sector-specific labour guidelines” later this week; guidelines will outline how businesses will be able to operate safely and will be based on advice from medical professionals and scientific evidence

· The number of cases spiked today; it’s critical we are consistent with physical distancing to see a downward slope over the next few weeks

· The Premier wants PPE to be domestically produced, going into the future

YORK REGION

· Today, on the National Day of Mourning, York Region pays respects to, and remembers, the thousands of workers who have been killed, injured or suffered illness as a result of work-related incidents across the country

· Mental health resources and information on how to cope with and reduce stress and anxiety were shared on york.ca, Facebook and Twitter

Positive news around our region

· In #SpiritofYR news, frontline workers at Newmarket Health Centre and Maple Health Centre were surprised with parades of thanks and treats donated by Fraktals Chocolate, and offers of thanks from York Region staff and first responders from Paramedic Services, York Regional Police and Central York Fire

· Beyond recognizing the #SpiritofYR, we have the unique opportunity to contribute to future generations’ understanding of COVID-19 in York Region by documenting our stories and preserving them in the York Region Archives; contact archives@york.ca if you are interested in donating records

COVID-19 IN YORK REGION

Below is a summary of the detailed information contained in the Interactive Dashboard – Cases at york.ca/covid19

In York Region, as of April 28, at 5 p.m. there are:

– 1,457 confirmed cases

– 28 new cases since yesterday

– 3 new fatalities

– 42 confirmed cases in hospital, 15 of which are in Intensive Care

– 82 cases among health care workers

– 90 total confirmed deaths

– 579 resolved cases, which equals about 40%

– 39 institutional outbreaks under COVID-19 protocols:

o 14 Long-Term Care/Retirement Homes

o 25 Community Care Settings

– 2 institutional outbreaks declared over

There is one new Institutional outbreak:

– Chartwell Valley Vista Retirement Residence

600 Valley Vista Drive, City of Vaughan

The comprehensive list of outbreaks (including the number of resident and health care worker positive cases) is available on York.ca/covid19 and the data can be filtered by municipality.

To access this list, select the blue drop-down menu titled Interactive Dashboard – Outbreaks in Long-Term Care and Community Care Settings

As of this morning, there are:

– 15,381 total cases (8,964 resolved); with 951 related deaths in Ontario

– 49,025 (525 increase) total cases; with 2,766 related deaths in Canada

– Over 2.9 million total cases worldwide with cases in 213 countries, areas or territories; 202,597 related deaths