COVID-19 Government and International Response: April 14, 2020

What to Know

Globally there are 1,970,225 COVID-19 cases, up from 1,897,373 cases at 3:30 p.m. yesterday. There are now 26,897 cases in Canada with Ontario reporting 7,953 cases, up from 7,470 COVID-19 cases yesterday. The province has now tested 113,082 individuals and reports 2,107 tests are currently under investigation.

This morning the International Monetary Fund predicted the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown will be the worst economic depression since the Great Depression. “Under the assumption that the pandemic and required containment peaks in the second quarter for most countries in the world, and recedes in the second half of this year, in the April World Economic Outlook we project global growth in 2020 to fall to -3 percent.” As a result, the IMF says Canada’s growth projection for 2020 is -6.2 before rebounding to 4.2 in 2021.

The Bank of Canada is strongly advocating that retailers continue to accept cash to ensure Canadians have access to the goods and services they need. The Bank notes that while many retailers are going cashless to limit the spread of COVID-19, refusing cash purchases outright will put an undue burden on those who depend on cash and have limited payment options.

Federal

With some countries looking to reopen their economies, Prime Minister Trudeau said Ottawa and the Provinces are currently in talks to determine next steps for Canada’s economic recovery. In his daily news conference, the Prime Minister said timelines have been pushed out due to a number of factors including the difference in conditions across the country and the wait for a vaccine. Later in the day, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said his province could release its plan to reopen as early as next week.

While he did not provide additional information, the Prime Minister said new supports on commercial rent for businesses that are hardest hit will be coming soon.

The Prime Minister also announced that over the weekend, Canada received new shipments of essential personal protective equipment, including four planes’ worth of N-95 masks. Including supplies which were received last week, Canada has 1.1 million N-95s ready to be shipped to provinces and territories. The government has also received millions of pairs of gloves and expects domestic suppliers to deliver new protective gowns on Monday.

The Canada/US border will likely remain closed for a few more weeks, while the government will impose new quarantine measures for people coming into Canada tonight. The Prime Minister said: If you’ve come back to Canada from abroad, as of today, we are strengthening measures. Now, if asymptomatic travellers cannot explain a credible quarantine plan, they will be required to quarantine in a hotel. This will come into effect at midnight tonight.

Minister Hajdu and Bibeau announced this afternoon that the government is providing $20 million to the CFIA to support critical food inspection to ensure that Canadians will have continued access to safe and high-quality food supply.

Provincial

With long-term care homes quickly becoming the front line in the fight against COVID-19, the Ontario government will redeploy health care workers from different sectors to support long-term care homes. At his daily briefing, the Premier said: We’re going through everything we have at our long-term care homes and tomorrow we will launch an enhanced action plan to fight COVID-19 in long-term care homes.

MPPs returned to Queen’s Park today, so the Ontario government could pass legislation to extend the Declaration of Emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act for a further 28 days. Passed during a special sitting of the Ontario legislature and with the full cooperation of all parties, the Declaration of Emergency has been extended until May 12.

Toronto

Mayor Tory told CP24 that planning is underway on how the City could eventually re-open when it is safe to do so. More information is expected later today.

International