KEY UPDATES
FEDERAL
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced starting Monday, February 15, anyone arriving in Canada by land will need to show a negative PCR-based COVID-19 test; similar to the air travel measures implemented in January.
Health Canada issued a label change authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, allowing administrators to draw one more dose from each vial than previously advised; going forward Canadian health-care professionals will be able to extract six rather than five doses per vial. Health Canada is in the final stages of reviewing the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The Government of Canada addressed CERB repayments for self-employed individuals and announced interest relief on 2020 income tax debt due to COVID-19 related income support. Self-employed individuals whose net self-employment income was less than $5,000 who applied for the CERB will not be required to repay it, as long as their gross self-employment income was at least $5,000 and they met all other eligibility criteria. Once individuals have filed their 2020 income tax and benefit return, they will not have to pay interest on any outstanding income tax debt for the 2020 tax year until April 30, 2022.
PROVINCIAL
The Ontario government continues to implement its High Priority Communities Strategy support 15 communities hardest hit by COVID-19, as part of the strategy: $12.5 million will be provided to local lead agencies to work in partnership with Ontario Health, public health units, municipalities and other community partners to help high risk neighbourhoods contain the spread of the virus and access services to better protect individuals and families.
$42 million will be invested under the High Priority Communities Strategy to create approximately 1,500 spaces in approximately 11 COVID-19 isolation centres. The province is investing $4.5 million through the Seniors Community Grant Program to support over 180 diverse community projects; the funding focuses on helping older adults stay connected with their communities while self-isolating from the safety of their home during COVID-19. The Ontario government is providing $7 million to help increase access to mental health and addiction services for post-secondary students during COVID-19. The province is providing over $6.2 million to help create safe and affordable housing for Indigenous people in Orillia; the funding, delivered through the Social Services Relief Fund will support those experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless during COVID-19.
YORK REGION
York Region shared information on updated screening guidance and more stringent protocols in schools ahead of the resumption of in-person learning on February 16; visit york.ca/SafeAtSchool for full details. A media release was issued regarding York Region’s COVID-19 enforcement activities between Monday, February 1 and Sunday, February 7, 2021: Inspections: 2,078 Education: 789 and Charges: 34
Southlake’s Vaccination Centre resumed operations on Monday, February 8; physicians, health-care workers and essential caregivers will start receiving their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
COVID-19 IN YORK REGION:
Below is a summary of the detailed information contained in the Interactive Dashboard – Cases at york.ca/covid19data. As of February 9, 2021 at 5 p.m. there are:
26,811 total confirmed cases 123 new cases* since yesterday 129.0 average daily cases over past 7 days 75.2 total cases per 100K population** (explanation below)77 total variant cases identified 6 new hospitalizations 152 confirmed cases in hospital, 17 of which are in Intensive Care392 cases among health care workers, of which 390 cases have resolved*5 new fatalities488 total confirmed fatalities 25,290 resolved cases 4.57% positivity rate** 72 open outbreaks under COVID-19 protocols 36 institutional (Long-Term Care/Retirement Homes/Community Care/Hospitals)10 Child Care Centre 2 School; 3 Schools under surveillance 0 Emergency Housing 24 Workplaces 635 closed outbreaks
*Data quality is an on-going process and may result in the more/less cases reported on a day-over-day basis or other changes to how cases are classified (e.g., municipality, acquisition, etc.). These data quality activities have also resulted in the re-categorization of individuals. Data quality activities do not increase or decrease total case counts.
**The daily COVID-19 Council Update includes the 7-day average daily case numbers, cases per 100K population, new hospitalizations and positivity rate (positivity rate refers to the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests among all individuals being tested for COVID-19).
COMBINED CASE NUMBERS:
As of this morning, there are:
More than 106.1 million total cases worldwide (304,166 new) with cases in 216 countries, area or territories; more than 2.3 million related fatalities reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) 808,120 total cases (2,967 new); with 20,835 related fatalities in Canada (68 new); 747,110 resolved in Canada (as of February 8 at 7 p.m.) 280,494 total cases (1,022 new); with 6,555 related fatalities; 259,991 resolved in Ontario
KING TOWNSHIP
Only 1 new case reported today!