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Here’s the latest news Wednesday from across Canada and around the world on the novel coronavirus:
2:40 p.m.: Health minister Christine Elliott says some Ontario hospitals may specialize in COVID-19 and shift other patients to other hospitals depending on severity of any outbreak here.
2:40 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford announces $100 million contingency fund for COVID-19 battle. Ford told reporters “we all need to stick together” and insists contingency plans in place. Elliott says the money will likely go toward buying more equipment such as testing kits and personal protective gear. She says it may also be used to hire more health-care staff, if needed.
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2:35 p.m.: When asked about March Break travel to the U.S., associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said people should take a “moment to step back or sit back and think about” the necessity of the trip. Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, said that each travel situation is unique, people can still decide whether to travel or not. Currently, public health agencies aren’t
which she cautioned the scientific evidence is not yet firm.
1:45 p.m.: Hajdu told reporters that the official pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization does not alter Canada’s actions. “We have been preparing as if it was a pandemic,” Hajdu said, adding it underlines Canada’s response to changing circumstances including a $1 billion aid package Wednesday.
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12:31 p.m.: The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
Its director general says the virus that causes the respiratory illness can still be fought but some countries are struggling with a lack of resources and some with a lack of resolve.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who heads the UN agency, said the WHO is “deeply concerned by the alarming levels of spread and severity” of the outbreak. He also expressed concern about “the alarming levels of inaction.”
“We have, therefore, made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic,” he said at a briefing in Geneva.
“All countries can still change the course of this pandemic. If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilize their people in the response,” Tedros said.
More than 121,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 4,300 have died.
But the vast majority of people recover. According to WHO, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
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While an epidemic is defined as more than a normal number cases of an illness in a community or region, a pandemic is the “worldwide spread” of a new disease.
The last pandemic was the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. A report three years later suggested somewhere between 151,700 and 575,400 people died worldwide.
11:35 a.m.: A Hamilton doctor has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Hamilton Health Sciences says a doctor working in its cancer centre — who lives in Halton Region outside Toronto — has tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from an international trip.
She’s one of the five new cases Ontario reported Wednesday.
A hospital spokesperson says the doctor returned to work after the trip and was in contact with patients and staff on Monday afternoon.
The hospital says it is now contacting people who came into contact with the doctor and she is in self-isolation at home.
11:25 a.m.: Toronto medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, released a statement regarding the Sudbury case, which is being investigated as evidence of the city’s first COVID-19 case due to community spread.
She said Toronto Public Health is investigating the patient’s activities while he was in Toronto earlier this month for a mining conference.
“In general, large gatherings with transient interactions including walking by a person who may be infected COVID-19 or briefly being in the same room with that person are considered a low risk,” she said.
She said it wasn’t a surprise that this case was identified, given what’s happened around the world.
“Individuals who attend events and large gatherings are reminded to monitor their health for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 which includes: fever (greater than 38 degrees Celsius), new onset of cough and difficulty breathing,” she said.
“Being in close contact with someone who does not have COVID-19, though was exposed to someone with COVID-19, does not require public health follow up. If symptoms including a cough, fever or difficulty breathing develop, then you should contact your local public health department. Otherwise, we recommend continuing with your regular routines.”
11:24 a.m.: Iran’s senior vice-president and two other cabinet members have contracted the new coronavirus, a semi-official news agency reported Wednesday as the death toll in the Islamic Republic from the outbreak rose by 62 to 354.
The report by the Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, comes as President Hassan Rouhani took control of the country’s much-criticized response to the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Authorities announced that there were some 9,000 confirmed cases of the virus across Iran.
The Fars story also comes amid days of speculation about the health of Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri. Jahangiri has not been seen in pictures of recent top-level meetings, raising concerns about him.
Also on Wednesday, Kuwait announced a two-week shutdown of the country while confirmed cases in Qatar jumped from 24 to 262.
11:30 a.m.: Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont., has cancelled all classes as of noon Wednesday as a precaution amid the coronavirus outbreak.
All classes will be moved online on Thursday until further notice. All events between now and Friday are cancelled.
“We are considering the cancellation of further events and will communicate further shortly,” the statement from the university read.
The move comes after a Sudbury man, who attended a mining conference earlier this month in Toronto, tested positive for COVID-19.
An email from administrators says the school had a “major presence” at that mining conference.
The school remains open, even though classes are cancelled.
11:22 a.m.: Air Canada says travellers can now change their tickets up to 24 hours before their flights without incurring a rebooking fee, the airline’s latest response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The new policy allows passengers to make a one-time change to any ticket purchased between March 4 and March 31.
It adds leeway to Air Canada’s announcement last Thursday that it would waive change fees up to two weeks before a departure, with travel controls imposed by foreign governments evolving daily.
The ongoing March 31 deadline still falls short of announcements by several U.S. airlines this week, with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines allowing passengers to rebook tickets to any destination through April 30 without paying fees.
The fee waiver by Canada’s largest airline underscores ramped-up efforts to mitigate the blow dealt by the spread of COVID-19, which has seen bookings plunge and cancellations soar at carriers across the globe.
National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen forecasts that the epidemic will cost Air Canada $1.4 billion in adjusted earnings this year, which would mean a 40 per cent decline from 2019.
11:13 a.m.: Health officials in Quebec say the province is now up to seven confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Authorities said in a tweet late Tuesday a presumptive case involving a cruise ship passenger has been confirmed.
Two other new confirmed cases involve a passenger returning from Miami and the Caribbean who is hospitalized at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and someone returning from the Dominican Republic who is in self-isolation.
Quebec’s public health lab is now able to confirm cases, but if officials are unsure, a second result may be requested from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
11:06 a.m.: A Canadian under quarantine at an Ontario military base after leaving a contaminated cruise ship in California has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Public Health Agency of Canada isn’t revealing any details about the patient’s identity.
The person seemed healthy upon leaving the Grand Princess ship in California but was found to have a mild fever and a cough in an assessment at CFB Trenton.
The patient is in isolation at the base, where hundreds of other Canadians repatriated from the cruise are also staying.
11 a.m.: Ontario’s four new cases are: a woman in her 30s from York Region, who travelled to Egypt; a man in his 30s from Toronto, who travelled to the U.S.; a man in his 40s from Ottawa who travelled to Austria; and a woman in her 30s from Halton Region who showed up at a Hamilton hospital after travelling to the U.S. All the latest patients are at home in self-isolation.
10:55 a.m.: Ontario announced five more cases, including the Sudbury man who attended the mining conference which was reported late Tuesday night. The other four cases are all travel-related. Ontario now has 41 cases, with five “resolved.” Resolved means the patient is no longer infectious based on two consecutive negative tests performed at a laboratory at least 24 hours apart.
10:25 a.m.: Ontario health officials say they are investigating whether the province’s latest case of COVID-19 is evidence of community spread.
The latest person in Ontario to contract the novel coronavirus attended the Prospectors and Developers Association in Canada Convention on March 2 and 3 in Toronto.
The man in his 50s is now in self-isolation at his home in Sudbury, Ont., but officials have not said if he had recently travelled internationally.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott says public health officials are investigating the case, but can’t confirm at this point if he contracted the virus through community spread.
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9:41 a.m.: Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam advised people who attended the Prospectors and Developers Association in Canada conference in Toronto this month — where one attendant had the virus — to monitor symptoms of COVID-19. She said whoever has symptoms should call a medical professional and stay home.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who spoke at the conference, said he hasn’t been tested.
Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan tweeted Tuesday that he’s in self-isolation after being tested for COVID-19. He said he’s had a persistent head cold but says he feels fine and awaiting test results.
9:19 a.m.: Trudeau announces $1 billion to aid provinces and territories in their fight against COVID-19. It includes $200 million for resources such as surgical masks and face shields; and $275 million for research including vaccine development and clinical trials.
He said there’s $50 million to help other countries respond.
Trudeau also announced that Ottawa will waive the mandatory one-week waiting period for Employment Insurance benefits.
9:09 a.m.: The Ontario government says Premier Doug Ford is in good health and not experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms after attending a conference where one attendant had the virus.
Health officials say the latest person to contract the novel coronavirus had attended the Prospectors and Developers Association in Canada conference earlier in March.
Ford and Trudeau both attended the prominent mining conference on one of the same days as the new patient.
Health officials in Sudbury, Ont., say the patient is now in self isolation at his home in the central Ontario city.
A spokesperson for Ford said Sudbury health officials have not yet contacted the premier during their case tracking process.
The new patient brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 37.
8:33 a.m.: While cases have been waning in South Korea , a new cluster in Seoul raised alarms. The cluster was connected to a call centre in one of the busiest areas of the capital. So far, 93 people have tested positive among the call centre’s employees and their families, but the number could grow as hundreds more undergo testing. South Korea’s caseload of 7,755 infections and 54 deaths is the fourth highest in the world after China, Italy and Iran.
8:33 a.m.: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is citing expert estimates that up to 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the population could be infected by the new coronavirus as she insists on the necessity of measures to slow its spread. She said the reason is because people do not yet have immunity to the virus and there are so far neither vaccines nor therapies to fight it. With some 1,300 infections and two deaths, Germany’s government has recommended the cancellation of all events with more than 1,000 people, among other measures. Merkel said such measures “are giving us time” and are invaluable.
8:22 a.m. Japanese Olympic organizing committee executive member Haruyuki Takahashi plans to propose at talks this month that the committee consider the possibility of postponing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus outbreak, Kyodo reported Wednesday, citing a phone call with Takahashi.
“In light of the reality, we have to respond accordingly,” Kyodo quoted Takahashi as saying.
Takahashi’s remarks in a Wall Street Journal report that the games could be delayed by one or two years if unable to be held on schedule prompted other Japanese officials to throw water on the possibility of a delay earlier Wednesday. Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto called postponement “inconceivable,” while acknowledging that the final decision rests with the International Olympic Committee.
8:06 a.m.: The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Wednesday he has received an apology from a board member who said the 2020 Games should be delayed a year to two because of the coronavirus.
Yoshiro Mori called a news conference at committee headquarters to shoot down the comments.
“There is no plan now to change our plans,” Mori said, speaking in Japanese.
He was referring to comments form Haruyuki Takahashi reported in the Wall Street Journal.
7:59 a.m.: As coronavirus cases crop up across the United States, some governors and other leaders are scrambling to slow its spread, banning large public gatherings, enforcing quarantines and calling National Guard troops.
With new deaths reported and the number of confirmed U.S. cases exceeding 1,000, lawmakers and health officials set up containment zones and quarantine areas and sought to limit contact with those who might be infected.
In Washington state, the governor was expected to ban gatherings of more than 250 people in virtually the entire Seattle metro area, home to some 4 million people. Schools and houses of worship were shuttered in a New York City suburb where a cluster of cases could be the largest in the nation, and the governor sent National Guard troops to help clean public spaces and deliver food.
4 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans today to announce federal funding to help provincial health-care systems cope with the increasing number of new coronavirus cases and to help Canadian workers who are forced to isolate themselves.
Business and labour groups say they want the federal government to loosen restrictions on employment insurance payments for people who are off work due to illness.
This would also make it easier for people with more precarious jobs to stay home and avoid infecting others.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Monday that the government was “looking at taking some initiatives this week” to help workers, employers and provincial health systems.
There are few confirmed instances of community transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 in Canada, but the number of cases continues to grow.
So far, there have been 94 confirmed cases of the illness in Canada.
10:30 p.m. Tuesday: A man from Sudbury who came to Toronto for a conference last week has been confirmed to have COVID-19, health officials announced Tuesday.
According to a health medical officer at Public Health Sudbury and Districts, a man in his 50s arrived to the emergency department on Saturday after experiencing a cough and shortness of breath.
He has since been discharged and sent home to begin self-isolation.
“Having a confirmed case in our area is not unexpected given the transmission of this virus around the world,” Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Sudbury & District Medical Officer of Health, said in the release.
The release said that health officials are now following up on information that he attended the mining convention in downtown Toronto on March 2 and 3.
The annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre is said to attract more than 25,000 attendees from more than 130 countries.
Among the attendees were Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford.
Sutcliffe says their focus is on stopping transmission and limiting the spread of infection. She also advises those who attended PDAC 2020 to monitor symptoms for 14 days as a precautionary measure, the statement reads.
9:30 p.m.: China’s outbreak of the new coronavirus continues to subside with about three-fourths of people once infected now free of the illness.
The health ministry Wednesday reported 24 new cases over the past 24 hours, along with 22 more deaths. That brings China’s totals to 80,778 cases and 3,158 deaths since the outbreak began in December.
Nationwide, 16,145 people remain in treatment and 61,475 have been declared free of the virus and released. Nine of the new cases
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