Prime Minister Justin Trudeau encouraged employers Monday to use the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) if they have not done so already during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to save the jobs of their employees.
Trudeau also encouraged business owners to apply for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), stating the federal government has recently expanded the eligibility for this program to include more business owners, such as farmers. A new application process for CEBA will open Friday with more information to come from Ottawa soon.
Trudeau also said the government is working on a solution to extend the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) for people who cannot yet return to work, with more details to follow later this week.
During Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s daily COVID-19 media briefing Monday Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries Lisa MacLeod stated her sector was “hit first, hardest and will take the longest to recover.”
MacLeod said the sector contributes more $75 billion to the provincial economy.
She said those industries must now overcome “the triple threat” of public health, economic and social crisis brought on by COVID-19.
MacLeod said the government stepped in with over $200 million to support the sector, and in addition, another $13 million will be spent by the province to encourage Ontarians to start taking vacations closer to home in their respective regions of the province to avoid COVID-19 spread.
Public Health Ontario is reporting fewer than 200 new cases of COVID-19 (181) for the second day in a row, also reporting 252 new recoveries.
The province is reporting eight more deaths due to the virus, including three people between the ages of 60 and 79 and five people over the age of 80.
Public Health Ontario has reported 1,629 deaths of long-term care residents to date, which is 64.5 per cent of all COVID deaths reported by the public health agency.
The province has also reported 5,380 of its total confirmed cases have been long-term care home residents (over 16 per cent of all cases confirmed in Ontario).
There have been 32,370 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Ontario as of data compiled June 14. Of those, 27,213 are reported recovered (84 per cent), and 2,527 people have died (7.8 per cent).
Locally, we looked at the role community gardens can play in this era of COVID uncertainty as it relates to food security.
Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from Algoma Public Health, updated at 8:30 a.m., June 15, 2020:
- 9,478 tested
- 23 positive
- 8,476 negative
- 979 pending
- 0 deceased
- 21 resolved
Total confirmed cases by area of residence:
- 18 in Sault Ste. Marie and area, with evidence of community spread
- 2 in central and east Algoma
- 3 in Elliot Lake and area
- 0 in north Algoma
