KEY UPDATES
FEDERAL
Prime Minister Trudeau participated in a virtual meeting of the G7 Leaders and announced new funding to help beat the virus globally: Canada will provide an additional $75 million to top-up support to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator to develop and provide tests, treatments and vaccines around the world. The federal government intends to introduce regulatory and legislative amendments to increase the number of weeks of benefits available for the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits. The proposed changes would: Increase the number of weeks available under the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) by 12 weeks extending the maximum duration of the benefits through regulation from 26 weeks to up to 38 weeks. Increase the number of weeks available under the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) through regulation from the current 2 weeks to 4 weeks and increase the number of weeks of EI regular benefits available by up to 24 weeks to a maximum of 50 weeks through legislation for claims made between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021.
Federal modeling projections indicated a long-range forecast (including variants of concern) showing a strong resurgence without stringent measures and strict adherence; with the spread of variants and further lifting of public health measures, the epidemic is forecast to resurge rapidly. The Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network is aiming to double its efforts across Canada as part of a global surveillance initiative to keep up with new strains of COVID-19 variants that may become more prevalent.
PROVINCIAL
The Ontario government is extending the shutdown, the Stay-at-Home order and all existing public health and workplace safety measures for an additional two weeks in Toronto, Peel and North Bay-Parry Sound District.
York Public Health Region will transition out of the shutdown and into the revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open.
The Ontario government has administered over 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to Phase One priority populations, including adults 80 years of age and older; the province is working with public health units to build and expand its capacity to immunize Phase Two populations by increasing delivery networks, preparing a booking solution and adding customer service supports for mass vaccination clinic registrations. The province is launching new health and safety education campaigns, with a focus on helping small businesses across the province reopen safely. The Ontario government extended all emergency orders under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA) until March 21; the emergency orders were set to expire on February 19.
The Ontario government is investing more than $7 million in 87 local and virtual events and initiatives through the Reconnect Festival and Event Program; this funding will support the festival and event sector during COVID-19 while helping municipalities and organizations deliver innovative and safe experiences that allow people to reconnect with their communities. The Ontario government is investing up to $2.6 million over two years through the Safer and Vital Communities (SVC) grant to help communities combat hate-motivated crime.
YORK REGION
York Region will move out of the current stay-at-home order and move to the Red-Control Zone of the Provincial framework, effective 12:01 a.m. Monday, February 22, 2021 for a minimum of 2 weeks, unless the Region is moved to a higher or more restrictive zone.
York Region shared their readiness for the arrival of increased COVID-19 vaccine supplies; visit york.ca/COVID19Vaccine for the latest information
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 19, 2021 at 5 p.m. there are:
27,970 total confirmed cases 140 new cases* since yesterday 125.4 average daily cases over past 7 days 73.1 total cases per 100K population** (explanation below) 304 total variant cases identified 5 new hospitalizations 134 confirmed cases in hospital, 18 of which are in Intensive Care393 cases among health care workers, of which 391 cases have resolved*3 new fatalities 514 total confirmed fatalities 26,504 resolved cases 5.63% positivity rate** 48 open outbreaks under COVID-19 protocols 26 institutional (Long-Term Care/Retirement Homes/Community Care/Hospitals)7 Child Care Centre0 Emergency Housing0 Schools; 2 Schools under surveillance 15 Workplaces 685 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 109.9 million total cases worldwide (384,448 new) with cases in 216 countries, area or territories; more than 2.4 million related fatalities reported by the World Health Organization (WHO)837,497 total cases (3,316 new); with 21,498 related fatalities in Canada (67 new); 783,412 resolved in Canada (as of February 18 at 7 p.m.) 290,771 total cases (1,150 new); with 6,820 related fatalities; 273,401 resolved in Ontario
KING TOWNSHIP
3 new cases reported today.