COVID-19 Government and International Response: June 22, 2020

WHAT TO KNOW

Global COVID-19 cases have reached 9,124,002, up from 8,693,872 at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Canada now reports 101,568 cases, up from 100,565 cases of COVID-19 on Friday. Ontario reports 33,637 cases, up from 33,095 cases on Friday.

The growth rate of new cases in the province is now under 1%, with 161 (0.5%) new cases reported since yesterday. Of the province’s total cases, 28,933 have been resolved (86%) and there have been 2,609 deaths (7.8%). The province has now completed 1,196,627 tests and reports 10,027 tests are currently under investigation. More information here.

On June 12, the City of Toronto launched a new COVID-19 monitoring dashboard. This new dashboard will provide a progress assessment for the local COVID-19 response. More information here.

A province-by-province breakdown of Canada’s COVID-19 case count can be found here.

FEDERAL

Responding to a letter by CEOs in the travel, tourism and related industries calling for Canada to begin in a “measured” way to reopen the country to tourism, Prime Minister Trudeau said Canadian’s health and safety will continue to be the priority. More information here.

The Bank of Canada’s new governor Tiff Macklem said while the Bank expected growth in the third quarter, COVID’s impact on the economy would be prolonged and bumpy. More information here.

PROVINCIAL

The Ontario government is allowing more businesses and services to open and getting more people back to work by moving the City of Toronto and Peel Region into Stage 2 on Wednesday. This decision was made in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the local medical officers of health. It is based on positive local trends of key public health indicators, including lower transmission of COVID-19, ongoing hospital capacity, public health capacity to do rapid case and contact management, and a significant increase in testing. More information here.

Last week, the Ontario government announced it will provide up to $10 million to Indigenous-owned small and medium sized businesses to help them with much needed capital as the province begins to safely and gradually reopen the economy.

Loans of up to $50,000 will be available to businesses that are either ineligible for, or unable to access, existing federal and provincial COVID-19 response initiatives for small businesses. The funding is being delivered through the Support for People and Jobs Fund. More information here.

INTERNATIONAL