The new $ 1.1 billion federal envelope for research, development and testing will be distributed as follows in the coming months:
- $ 115 million will be added to the amounts already committed to research on vaccines and treatments being developed in hospitals and universities across the country;
- $ 662 million will be spent on setting up and conducting clinical trials to be conducted in Canada;
- $ 350 million will be used to improve modeling of the epidemic, to set up immunity panels and to test at least two million Canadians for the disease over the next two years.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also confirmed in his daily press briefing that his government would accept the demands of Quebec and Ontario. The two provinces are calling for the deployment of soldiers to help the staff of the elderly care centers, overwhelmed by the pandemic.
In Quebec, where 350 soldiers and Rangers are already deployed, the Legault government is demanding 1,000 more, while Ontario is making its first request for military assistance. Explaining that Ottawa was going to respond to provincial requests during this pandemic period, Justin Trudeau warned them that this measure was temporary.
9,500 health care workers missing in Quebec
Meanwhile, the Quebec government is struggling with a shortage of staff and a high rate of absenteeism in long-term care centers in the province. Prime Minister François Legault, who clarified that 9,500 health workers are absent, once again appealed to employees who deserted their jobs due to fear of contracting the coronavirus, and assured them that all of the equipment protection is available to make their work safe.
Of the 9,500 absent, at least 5,000 would not be people in quarantine, contaminated or in preventive withdrawal, said the Prime Minister.
Quebec is therefore extending until May 31 the wage premiums of 4% and 8% granted to health care workers at the start of the epidemic as an incentive.
Latest assessment in Quebec
Health officials are reporting 109 new deaths and 873 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 1,243 deaths and 21,838 cases of coronavirus infection.
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Deconfinement: Saskatchewan takes the lead
As of May 4, the Government of Saskatchewan will launch a deconfinement plan that will allow citizens, among other things, to have access to medical services and to practice certain outdoor activities deemed low risk
.
The medical services
include dental, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and optometry, for example.
This step-by-step deconfinement will be done under certain conditions and under the constant supervision of the province’s public health authorities, said Premier Scott Moe. Saskatchewan is the first province in the country to present its decontainment plan.
Ontario extended emergency orders
Doug Ford’s government announces that it will extend all emergency decrees issued since the start of the pandemic until May 6. The state of health emergency remains in effect until May 12, as announced last week.
Measures still necessary, if we believe the 634 new cases of infection confirmed Thursday by the health authorities of the province. This is the largest daily increase in cases in Ontario since the start of the pandemic. The province has 12,879 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.
As in Quebec, COVID-19 is wreaking havoc in long-term care centers and homes for the aged in the province. Ontario has more than 400 deaths in its long-term care centers to date.
Budget cuts to the City of Montreal
Faced with significant revenue losses since the start of the coronavirus crisis, the City of Montreal announces that it will have to make budget cuts of $ 123 million, including the imposition of a salary freeze affecting all of its employees.
Balance sheet
There are 42,110 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Canada, and 2,232 people have died from the disease.
In addition, 14,774 people are considered to have recovered in the country.
After Quebec (21,838 cases) and Ontario (12,879 cases), Alberta (3,720 cases) and British Columbia (1,824 cases) are the most affected provinces in the country.
A lot of :
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