Here’s a look at what’s happening across Canada, including the latest from Quebec, where there have been more than 50,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The latest:
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As efforts continue to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Canada, where the number of reported cases has surpassed 90,000, a cluster of cases in Quebec’s elementary schools is shining a light on the cost of reopening the hardest hit provinces.
At least 41 staff and students tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the first two weeks after elementary schools outside the Montreal area reopened, the province’s education department says.
“It’s normal that by having the daycare, the school being open to the community, there can be cases,” said Dr. Horacio Arruda, the province’s director of public health.
WATCH | Wastewater samples point to where COVID-19 cases are:
Wastewater samples from sewage are being used to determine the existence of COVID-19 in communities and could give advance warning of where a second wave is taking shape. 2:03
“The advantage in those areas is that they’re young children, and we didn’t put any personnel who was high-risk (in the classroom).”
The numbers came from a survey of school boards conducted May 25, which found that 19 students and 22 staff members were infected. Twelve of the province’s 72 school boards did not offer up data.
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News of the outbreaks came as Quebec reported another 530 cases of the virus on Friday, pushing its total above the 50,000 mark. With 419 more cases on Saturday, the total climbed to 50,651.
Ontario reported another 323 cases on Saturday, for a total of 27,533 cases and 2,297 deaths.
As the case count surged by 344 with 2,230 deaths on Friday, Premier Doug Ford said he was looking at reopening the province region by region. Two-thirds of the province’s cases are in the Greater Toronto Area, while some other public health agencies say they have few or no current patients.
The province is set to reopen drive-in theatres and batting cages on Sunday. It will reintroduce backcountry camping as of Monday, the government said in a news release Saturday.
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New Brunswick, which didn’t report any new cases of the virus for the two weeks leading up to May 21, continued to grapple with a new outbreak of eight cases in the Campbellton area. Two of those infected are in intensive care, said Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health.
WATCH | N.B.’s chief medical officer of health responds to new cluster of COVID-19 cases:
Dr. Jennifer Russell calls for people to reserve judgment until an investigation into an outbreak in Campbellton linked to a doctor who didn’t self-isolate is complete. 12:15
As of 11:00 a.m. ET Saturday, Canada had 90,161 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases, with 47,903 of them considered recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial data, regional information and CBC’s reporting stood at 7,123.
Russell said over the next four to five days, teams will be doing “a lot” of testing.
WATCH | Ban on large cruise ships in Canadian waters extended through October:
It’s another blow to the tourism industry, which is already struggling because of COVID-19 cancellations, closures, and travel bans. 1:58
Russell urged people to be patient and understanding as public health officials work to trace contacts and complete tests. The Campbellton region has been pushed back a level in terms of reopening, which has meant some businesses that were getting ready to open their doors will now wait at least another week.
N.B. Premier @BlaineHiggs says it is “prudent” to postpone the province’s next reopening phase, until officials can determine just how many people may have been exposed to COVID-19 by a medical professional who failed to self-isolate after returning from Quebec. pic.twitter.com/xATvgE1rUs
Statistics Canada, meanwhile, has announced that gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 8.2 per cent in the first three months of 2020 — the worst quarterly showing since 2009 — even though efforts to contain the novel coronavirus by shuttering businesses and schools didn’t begin in earnest until March.
Many of those businesses are now reopening in a bid to re-employ some of the three million people who lost their jobs, putting workers and clients in close proximity and lending new urgency to the testing and tracing process.