On Monday, the federal government announced that the Canadian Armed Forces is getting ready to deploy supports and resources to municipal, provincial territorial and federal authorities in an effort to help slow the spread of the virus while helping vulnerable populations.
The federal government also announced over the weekend that it's providing $7.5 million in funding to Kids Help Phone for more counsellors.
In local news, Algoma Public Health reported three more positive cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total of confirmed positive cases up to four in the Algoma District as of Monday morning.
In all three positive cases identified by the public health agency, travel was a common thread.
The second recorded positive test result for COVID-19 in the Algoma District is a woman in her 40s who recently travelled to Michigan, while the third and fourth positive cases - both in their 60s - travelled to Toronto and Florida.
Here are the latest COVID-19 test numbers from Algoma Public Health:
- 314 tested
- 4 positive
- 165 negative
- 148 pending
Meanwhile, Sault Area Hospital confirmed with SooToday that it's looking for "alternate locations" for the hospital and its services in preparation for a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.
Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Christian Provenz-ano released a statement Sunday evening, cautioning people against shaming COVID-19 patients.
Kidney Clothes also used the weekend to announce that it's suspending its collection operations locally due to COVID-19.
SooToday also explored the impacts of COVID-19 upon real estate and dentistry in Sault Ste. Marie.
In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford used media availability Monday to announce that the province is doubling its funding to $10 million in order to protect seniors living in retirement homes and long-term care facilities by implementing more intense screening and cleaning measures for residents and staff.
The provincial government has also announced that it's banning all gatherings of more than five people, and imposing stiff fines for price gouging companies.
On Monday, the province released its latest COVID-19 case numbers, which show an additional 351 positive test results, the largest single-day increase in positive cases in the province to date.
Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for Ontario as of Monday morning:
- 1,706 positive cases
- 431 resolved
- 23 deceased
- 48,461 tested
Of all positive cases in Ontario, 42 of those cases are 19 years of age or younger.
The majority of the cases - a total of 1,319 - are between 20 and 64 years of age.
343 of those cases are 65 years of age or older.
