ONTARIO:
Ontario is reporting its second death due to the coronavirus.
A man in his 50s in the Halton Region passed away and he had suffered from underlying health issues.
So far, there are 258 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the province.
More than 16-thousand have been tested so far, and the province is gearing up to do thousands of tests a day.
Provincial health officials say they’re pleased with the acceptance by Ontarians of calls for personal restrictions to limit the spread of the virus.
The Ontario legislature held a special one-day sitting at Queens Park yesterday, and MPPs unanimously passed a bill that will protect the jobs of those affected by the coronavirus.
The NDP reluctantly agreed to support the measure, which does not include any financial compensation for those who may have to take time off due to illness, self-isolation, or caring for someone suffering from the virus.
MPPs also passed a bill that will allow municipal councils, their boards, and agencies, meet and vote by teleconference.
By agreement, there were only 24 people in the chamber at Queens Park during the session, 13
Progressive Conservatives, eight New Democrats, two Liberals, one Green, one Independent and the Speaker of the House.
Medical experts in the province are warning the health care system in Ontario could soon run out of ventilators, even if the current rate of expansion of the coronavirus is reduced by half.
A study by medical researchers from several institutions, including the University of Toronto and the University Health Network, says ventilator use could be at full capacity in the next 37 days.
It warns of a “significant strain” on critical health-care resources in the weeks ahead, and calls on the province to quickly identify sources of additional capacity for those who fall critically ill.
Provincial calls for social distancing have led Services Ontario to limit many of its operations.
And with Ontarians being told to keep distant from others to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the agency has announced that drivers’ licenses, plate renewals, health cards, and the like, don’t have to be renewed right now.
For those whose documents are about to expire, their validity is being extended indefinitely.
WORLD:
There are now almost 250-thousand cases of the coronavirus around the world, with more than ten-thousand deaths reported.
Officials in China are growing increasingly worried that there may be a second wave of infections coming.
Local infections are now down to zero, but an increasing number of cases are being reported in people arriving in China from abroad.
