COVID-19: Provincial & Federal Briefings - Operational Impacts and Strategy

A summary of the day's activities of Tuesday, September 29, follows.

Federal Government Relief Measures

Prime Minister Trudeau announced an additional $400 million in international development funding this year to support trusted partners on the ground fighting COVID‑19 as well as the recovery and resilience of developing countries.

Statement of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres convened the second High-Level event on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID 19 and Beyond.

Federal Government Briefings

The Hon. Dominic Leblanc, Minster of Intergovernmental Affairs
The Hon. Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement
The Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health
Dr. Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
Dr. Njoo, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer of Canada

The surge of COVID-19 cases west of the Atlantic Provinces has underlined the need for quick and easy access to testing.

The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement announced that the Government of Canada had signed an agreement with Abbott Rapid Diagnostics ULC to purchase up to 7.9 million ID NOW rapid point-of-care tests, pending Health Canada approval of the tests. If approved, these tests would be deployed to provinces and territories to support them in ramping up surge capacity for COVID-19 testing.

Minister Anand reported that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) now had more than 2 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) in stockpile and ongoing deliveries were replenishing the inventory. She announced a new contract with Metro Logistics Inc. to help with the warehousing and distribution of PPE in the provinces and territories.

Minister Anand stated that logistics would be just as important when it comes to distributing vaccines to the provinces and territories as soon as one or more of the six vaccines were approved for safety and efficacy. “Depending on which vaccine is ultimately approved, warehouse and delivery will come with unique specifications and will require a unique logistics solution,” said Minister Anand.

She reported that the federal government was seeking information directly form industry to secure the transport, storage and distribution of potential COVID-19 vaccines and that last week the government issued a broad letter of interest inviting input on industry logistics capabilities and expertise.

Minister Hajdu said Health Canada had doubled staff to review and grant approval of testing applications within 40 days. She highlighted that Health Canada had approved 36 tests to date, including 2 point of care tests. To date, Health Canada had not received applications for home tests.

Minister Hajdu also reminded the public that provinces and territories were sharing $4.3 billion under the Safe Restart Agreement to enhance their capacity for testing and contact tracing. She said the federal government would continue to provide assistance to enable provinces meet surges in testing needs, including in remote and isolated communities. She also referred to the 15,000 reserve personnel that was made available to the provinces and territories this spring to help with contact tracing.

Dr. Tam reported that there were 155,301cases of COVID-19 in Canada, including 9,243 deaths. Laboratories across Canada tested an average 71,000 people daily over the past week, with 1.7% of these testing positive. Yesterday, 2,176 cases were reported nationally. Of these, 437 were backlogged from the weekend and 1,739 were newly identified cases. The national daily case count continues to increase, with an average of 1,412 cases reported daily during the past seven days. The national daily case count has now reached the same level as in April during the initial peak.

Dr. Tam noted that this wave is different from the first. Cases are escalating rapidly. Public health authorities are testing and detecting more cases. Younger age groups are predominating among cases. Testing, tracing and isolation to interrupt the transmission of the virus and to prevent further infection is a cornerstone of the pandemic response.

Statement of Ontario Premier Doug Ford

In a news conference at Queen's Park, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the government was investing close to $540 million to protect residents, caregivers, and staff in long-term care homes from future surges and waves of COVID-19. The funding is part of the province's COVID-19 fall preparedness plan, Keeping Ontarians Safe: Preparing for Future Waves of COVID-19.

Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott, Minister of Long-Term Care Dr. Merrilee Fullerton and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health joined the Premier to provide details on the plan.

According to the news release issued by the Offices of the Premier and Minister Fullerton, the new investments include:

$405 million to help homes with operating pressures related to COVID-19, including infection prevention and containment measures, staffing supports, and purchasing additional supplies and PPE;

$61.4 million for minor capital repairs and renovations in homes to improve infection prevention and control. These repairs and renovations may include minor upgrades to support physical distancing, plumbing or water supply cleaning, updating HVAC systems, or repairing or replacing furniture and equipment that cannot be fully cleaned;

$40 million to support homes that have been impacted by the changes in occupancy numbers due to COVID-19. As the sector has been directed to stop admissions of third and fourth residents to larger rooms, a key source of income for each operator will be impacted. This funding will help stabilize the homes through the transition to lower occupancy rooms;

$30 million to allow long-term care homes to hire more infection prevention and control staffing, including $20 million for additional personnel and $10 million to fund training for new and existing staff. This new funding will enable homes to hire over 150 new staff;

$2.8 million to extend the High Wage Transition Fund to ensure that gaps in long-term care staffing can continue to be addressed during the pandemic;

Provide all long-term care homes with access to up to eight weeks of supply of PPE so they are prepared in case of outbreaks. This supply will be available starting the week of October 5, 2020. The province will also continue to deliver PPE within 24 hours of urgent requests;

The government continues to look at innovative solutions to provide more care where and when people need it. Through the skills of community paramedics and working with municipal partners, the government will be making an investment to help people on the long-term care waitlist stay in their own homes longer.

Minister Fullerton also announced the government was making changes to its visitor policy to long-term care homes, to ensure that long-term care homes in areas of highest community spread are able to continue to keep residents safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19 within their homes. Effective Monday, October 5, 2020, visitors to long-term care homes in these areas will be restricted to staff and essential visitors only, which includes essential caregivers.

During the question and answer session with the journalists, Premier Ford had to defend his recent announcement as being long overdue and his government's record on testing capacity.

Journalists asked for guidance on the size of the social bubble in Ottawa, Toronto and Peel Region, the three regions among the province's hot zones, in advance of Thanksgiving. Dr. Williams suggested that the province may be asking people to tighten their social bubbles, limiting the number people in their social bubbles to those who are part of their household. This then led to questions on Halloween. Dr. Williams replied that “guidance would be provided on timely basis.”

Statement of Quebec Premier François Legault

At a news conference in Quebec City, Quebec Premier François Legault provided an update on the province's response to COVID-19. Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé and Quebec's Director of Public Health Dr. Horacio Arruda joined the Premier.

Premier Legault explained the criteria underlying the government's decision to close bars and restaurants in Montreal, Quebec City and Chaudières-Appalaches when maximum-alert level measures come into effect in those three regions on Thursday. In bars and restaurants, there is a “prolonged contact” with the same person for more than ten minutes, increasing the risk infection. Contact is more superficial in other types of businesses. They will remain open because there is less chance of being in contact with the same person for more than ten minutes.

Premier Legault reiterated that bars and restaurants impacted by closure would be compensated and that relief measures would be announced shortly. Regarding enforcement, Premier Legault said enforcement measures would be announced tomorrow at a news conference. He specified that police officers will not be authorized to enter homes without a warrant.

Premier Legault said the province would likely adopt the “COVID-19 Alert App”, promoted by the federal government.

“While there was a preference for a Quebec-based app”, said Minister Dubé, “it will take too long to develop that app.” Minister Dubé said the government expects to have an agreement with opposition parties to launch the “COVID-19 Alert App” in the province in coming days.

Elsewhere in Canada

Public health authorities of Alberta and British Columbia have compiled and released the weekend case numbers to the public.

Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw reported 406 new COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total active cases to 1,549, up 52 since the last update on Friday. Four more people died over the weekend, bringing the total deaths to 265.

British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy Minister of Health Stephen Brown reported new 193 COVID-19 cases and 3 deaths over the weekend. On Monday, public health authorities reported an additional 74 new cases, bringing the total number of people infected with COVID-19 to 8,908 and 233 confirmed deaths. Currently, there are 69 individuals are hospitalized, with 22 of those in intensive care. There are 1,302 active cases in the province and 3,372 people under active public health monitoring for known exposures.

Yesterday, the province of Alberta released an updated relaunch guidance document for industry-initiated COVID-19 testing.

Seven Alberta-based researchers received funding for innovative technology projects that will help fight COVID-19. A panel of provincial partners, including experts from Alberta Innovates, Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services, chose these projects based on their potential to improve Albertans' safety with regard to COVID-19. The projects will split $2.1 million in funding from Alberta Innovates through the Investment and Growth Strategy of Alberta's Recovery Plan.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Devin Dreeshen announced agriculture was leading Alberta's economic recovery. Harvest progress is estimated to hit a new record high in Alberta with farmers harvesting more than seven per cent above what is normal. Livestock market sales are expected to reach a new record high of $6.9 billion. The food processing sector has also reached a record breaking volume of production estimated at $14.8 billion.

The Alberta and federal governments are creating jobs and supporting permanent supportive housing with the opening of 42 new residential units in Edmonton. These units will provide a safe and stable home for those experiencing housing instability or homelessness, and residents will have access to social programs and Indigenous and cultural-based supports. The governments jointly contributed $6 million for this project, which created more than 70 jobs, as part of Alberta's Recovery Plan.

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