Quebec, Ontario case numbers skyrocket
Ottawa loosens nation's border restrictions
The second wave of the coronavirus appears to have arrived in two of Canada's largest provinces.
For the first time since early May, more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Quebec in a 24-hour period. Health officials in the province said the number of new COVID-19 cases in the province rose by 1,052, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 76,273.
Seven new deaths were reported in Quebec on Friday, however none of them took place in the preceding 24 hours. Six of those deaths took place between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30, and one took place before Sept. 25. There are now 302 people in hospital, an increase of 27 from the previous day, and 49 people are in intensive care, an increase of three.
After such a dramatic increase in numbers, The Logic reports the Quebec government is close to adopting the federal government's exposure-notification app, just weeks after a provincial report advocated against adopting it.
Ottawa on Friday loosened Canada's border restrictions to allow siblings, grandparents and adult children of Canadians and permanent residents to soon be able to enter the country.
Those who don't directly qualify under the expanded family rules will still be able to apply to enter for compassionate reasons.
Ontario came a close second to its eastern neighbour in the number of new cases reported, with 732 new cases and two deaths. In a bid to curb the recent rise in confirmed cases, the province is introducing a slate of new restrictions.
Masks will be mandatory in public indoor spaces across the province and tightening restrictions on businesses in virus hot spots such as Toronto, neighbouring Peel Region and Ottawa.
Starting Oct. 3, restaurants, bars, gyms and banquet halls in those areas will be allowed no more than 100 customers and no more than six people at a table.
The province is also shutting down walkin testing starting Oct. 4 in an effort to cut down the backlog of 90,000 untested swabs. COVID-19 testing will be available by appointment only as of Oct. 6.
Nunavut has seen another case of COVID-19 at the Hope Bay gold mine in western Nunavut, bringing the total to eight possible cases. No Nunavut residents work at the mine, and the balance of the territory's population is COVIDfree.
Nunavut chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson says he is still deciding if the mine workers will count as Nunavut's first cases.
One new virus-related death has been reported in Manitoba, bringing its total to 21. The province has added 43 new cases to its current tally, 29 of which are in Winnipeg. The most recent death was of a man in his 70s connected to the Parkview Place care home in Winnipeg.
On Friday, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said Indigenous communities have been facing an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases during the past few weeks.
Miller says 673 COVID-19 cases have been reported in First Nations communities in all, and about 130 of them are currently active cases.
Kluane Adamek, Yukon regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said Wednesday that Indigenous people get their strength from connecting to their land, culture and languages.
“We need resources to support community-led, community-driven solutions,” she said.
Being out on the land, spending time with elders and being able to harvest are things that help First Nations to face the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. “The connection through spirituality, through ceremony and through cultural practices is incredibly important.”
A lot of these practices have been impacted by COVID-19, she said.
Overall, Canada reported 160,535 total cases on Oct. 1, an increase of 1,777 on the day, and 22 new deaths, taking the total fatalities from the pandemic to 9,319 deaths, latest federal government data showed.
Ottawa also announced it will beef up efforts to monitor travellers who are required to quarantine for a full 14 days after arriving in Canada, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said community spread is the main challenge, not cases imported from outside the country.