COVID-19: New Ontario cases at March levels, minister says; No new cases or deaths in Ottawa

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COVID-19: New Ontario cases at March levels, minister says; No new cases or deaths in Ottawa

What you need to know, at a glance

ottawacitizen.com

The new legislation would maintain the orders in effect under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act for an additional 30 days, with possible further extensions of 30 days each on cabinet recommendation.

Cabinet would also be allowed to amend certain emergency orders if the amendments relate to labour redeployment or workplace and management rules; the closure of spaces or regulations regarding how businesses can be open; compliance with public health advice; or rules related to public gatherings.

The proposed legislation would limit the government’s ability to extend or amend orders to a one-year period, unless extended by the provincial legislature.

When asked Tuesday to address concerns that the legislation gives the government overarching powers, Ford disagreed.

“We haven’t overused that power at all,” he said. “I’ve been transparent and I’m out here every single day … It really comes down to making sure we help the people of Ontario.

“I’m dead against big government,” he added. “I’m dead against the big-brother/nanny state telling you what to do. That’s just not me, but we have to help the people of Ontario get through this, (and) there’s certain things that we’ve got to move, and we can’t just sit around and wait for three or four weeks. We’ve got to move in hours.”

Jones also said the bill will also introduce additional reporting requirements to bolster oversight. The government will have to report any emergency order extensions to a legislative committee once every month and table a report on the use of the law six months after it expires.

“We want to make sure that we’re not over-using the declaration of emergency,” she said.

Local

Ottawa Public Health recorded on Tuesday no new cases of COVID-19, and no new deaths in the previous 24 hours.

The number of active novel coronavirus cases in the city now sits at 47, while 1,808 cases have been resolved.

Two people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19, while one is in ICU.

The agency declared an outbreak at the Amica Westboro Park home on Richmond Road as of July 5, when a staff member tested positive for the virus. A second outbreak remains at the Perley Rideau Veterans Centre’s Rideau building with 11 reported cases among staff and residents. One death has been reported at the institution. Meanwhile, an outbreak at the city-run Peter C. Clark centre has been declared cleared. There were 45 cases, including eight residents deaths, at the centre.

Meanwhile, Comiccon announced that its annual convention, scheduled for Sept. 11-13, has been postponed to next year due to COVID-19 concerns.

Quebec

In Quebec, there were 60 new confirmed cases reported Tuesday, two of them in the Outaouais region.

The provincial report indicates there have been 55,997 confirmed cases, 608 of them in the Outaouais.

The province reported 13 new deaths on Tuesday, although four of them occurred prior to June 29.

This brings the provincial death count to 5,590 victims, 33 of them in the Outaouais.

With files from The Canadian Press

 

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Not the first time.