Canada edges toward post-COVID normalcy

Quebec death toll passes 2,000 as province gets set to ease restrictions

TORONTO—Canada took further baby steps toward post-pandemic normalcy on Friday as Atlantic provinces began easing rigid restrictions imposed to curb the COVID-19 scourge, while Quebec’s death toll climbed past 2,000 as it set to ease its measures.

Elective surgeries and other non-urgent health-care services, including physiotherapy and optometry, restarted in Prince Edward Island, as did outdoor gatherings of up to five people from different households and non-contact outdoor recreational activities.

Nova Scotia reopened garden centres and nurseries, along with trails and provincial and municipal parks. It also allowed single families to head to their cottages. New Brunswick had already OK’d interactions between two families, a return to school for post-secondary students, as well as golfing, fishing and hunting.

Quebec, with the largest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada, was set to reopen retail stores outside Montreal on Monday, despite reporting 163 new COVID fatalities going into the weekend. The province also said it aimed to double testing — to 14,000 a day — by the end of next week.

Ontario said some workplaces and businesses can reopen Monday.

“Our patience is paying off,” said Premier Doug Ford, who urged people to maintain physical distancing regardless. “We’re getting closer and closer to opening things up.”

Many non-essential businesses in Manitoba — retail stores and hair salons among them — are also set to open their doors on Monday.

The stiff restrictions that have idled much of the economy have plunged the country into a recession, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. Still, federal and provincial governments have called for a gradual approach to a return to normalcy informed by public health concerns.

When it comes to reopening schools and child-care centres, Canada’s top public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said distancing restrictions and strict cleaning were crucial for protecting adults who work in them, even if the virus appears to be less dangerous for the youngsters themselves.

Tam has also warned about the risk coronavirus disease poses to Indigenous communities, which are considered vulnerable due to often overcrowded living conditions and a lack of health-care services. To date, reserves have seen at least 129 cases and Inuit communities 16. Saskatchewan reported a jump of 26 cases, 19 of which were from in and around La Loche, a Dene village 600 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. What the government has been doing to prevent COVID-19 from ripping through the communities was the subject of a standing committee on Friday, with members of Parliament putting cabinet ministers on the hot seat. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller conceded the $15 million in emergency funding earmarked to help organizations that service Indigenous urban populations was not enough. Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador has released 65 inmates under the public health emergency declared on March 18. So far, the province’s jails have been COVID-free, but at least 285 federal prisoners, one of whom has died, and 82 guards have tested positive.

In Chatham-Kent, police said someone hacked an online meeting for a local charity this week and broadcast child pornography to 200 participants.