Coronavirus Update: Pandemic will reshape how Canadian children experience school in the fall

Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. The only certainty among educators this summer is that the pandemic will reshape how Canadian children experience school in the fall
2. Members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family were paid thousands of dollars to speak at events for WE Charity, the organization at the centre of his third conflict-of-interest investigation
3. WHO to set up independent panel to review its handling of the pandemic, government responses

In Canada, there have been at least 106,746 cases reported. In the past week, 1,975 new cases were announced, 8 per cent fewer than in the previous week. There have also been at least 70,509 recoveries and 8,746 deaths. Health officials have administered more than 3,254,790 tests.

Worldwide, there have been at least 12,041,480 cases confirmed and 549,468 deaths reported.

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and the COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Updates and essential resources • Coronavirus in maps and charts • Lockdown rules and reopening plans in each province

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25 per cent

Postmedia’s quarterly revenue dropped more than 25 per cent as advertising revenue declines “accelerated” as a result of the pandemic.

• “Results in our third quarter reflect the impacts of the near economic standstill brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Postmedia’s CEO said.
• Postmedia applied for the federal wage subsidy and has received $20.4-million so far.
• The company has already implemented two rounds of layoffs and a salary reduction program for much of its staff.

Coronavirus in Canada

• Ontario reported 170 new cases and three more deaths. Eighty-six of the new cases today were temporary foreign workers in Windsor-Essex. The government extended its emergency orders until July 22.
• Starting Friday, bars in Quebec will operate at half-capacity and will not be allowed to serve alcohol past midnight. Inspectors will be deployed to ensure they follow the new rules.
• Manitoba posted no new cases for the ninth day in a row. There are only five active cases in the province.

In Ottawa, news broke that both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mother and brother were paid to speak at WE Day events, following the recent confirmation that he did not recuse himself from a cabinet decision to award WE Charity a $900-million student grant contract despite the family’s ties to the organization.

Also today: New research from a Canadian doctor may help officials understand how far viral particles may travel from a coronavirus patient. But it won’t reveal whether those particles contain enough viral material to make people sick. Earlier this week, a group of 239 scientists from around the world signed a letter asking the WHO to recognize the potential for airborne spread.

Unprepared: Canada is ill-prepared for a second wave of COVID-19, said a Senate committee in calling on the federal government to deliver a plan by Labour Day to help people and communities hit hardest by the pandemic.

COVID-19 and kids: Of 21 suspected cases of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, only four had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus around the world

• Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf have agreed to head an independent panel set up by the WHO to review its handling of the pandemic and government responses.
• Watch: A top health official in Tulsa, Okla., says U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign rally there likely helped cause a spike in cases.
• Germany-based Carnival Corp.’s AIDA Cruises said it would resume sailing operations in August, months after cruise operators were forced to pause voyages.

Around the world: The WHO released new guidelines on the transmission of the novel coronavirus that acknowledge some reports of airborne transmission – but stopped short of confirming that the virus spreads through the air.

Coronavirus and business

Canadian home building rebounded 8 per cent in June, but the CMHC cautions that risk remains.

• In Toronto, new builds – mostly condos and multiresidential properties – rose 33 per cent. In Montreal, housing starts increased 20 per cent.
• The CMHC’s chief economist attributed the bump to some businesses reopening but cautioned that the rebound “doesn’t mean that there’s not a lot of risk left out there.”
• An RBC economist said there’s a risk the weak labour market would “outlive” the high levels of government aid, which would hurt household finances later this year when financial support is expected to expire.

Previously, CMHC forecast new home construction could drop by as much as 75 per cent and prices could drop up to 18 per cent. But so far sales are bouncing back in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

Also today: Alberta’s new billion-dollar program to issue grants to companies to build new petrochemical facilities underscores the value the government places on that industry as a means of climbing out of the fiscal hole caused by the pandemic and the oil price crash.

Globe opinion

Andrew Coyne: “Economic and Fiscal Snapshot” is an oddly flippant name for a document whose purpose is, ostensibly, to describe the state of the government’s finances, amid the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, to the public that will have to pay for it all.”

Coleen M. Flood and Jane Philpott: “Post-SARS, several significant changes were made to public health governance, notably the creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and pan-Canadian committees sup­porting better co-ordination and sharing of data. As COVID-19 has unfolded, Canada’s performance was strengthened by these reforms, yet serious vulnerabilities remain.”

Robert Greenhill: “Citizens, who have been told that physical distancing is critical in bars and restaurants, are understandably confused why it is not necessary when seated side-by-side in aircraft.”

Slyvia Fuller and Yue Qian: “Perhaps, some wagered, the pandemic would result in men stepping up on the home front, paving the way to more egalitarian gender divisions of working and caring. Statistics Canada’s Labour Force survey, however, suggests otherwise.”

Pedro Antunes: “Policy makers and business leaders must now deal with a problem they have never faced – how to restore the economy while holding the number of COVID-19 cases at bay.”

More reporting

• Canada is not prepared for a second wave, the Senate’s social affairs committee said today.
• MLS is Back Tournament: Nashville SC withdraws after nine players test positive for COVID-19.
• First Person: Never mind the pandemic, the wedding must go on!
• Parenting in a pandemic: Families worry about COVID-19′s impact on children’s social lives.
• Ahead of Saturday’s planned reopening, the union representing 750 performers at Disney World filed a grievance against the theme park.
• The latest retail closure during the pandemic: Sur La Table will close 50 of its 121 stores as it seeks bankruptcy protection.

Distractions

🏋️‍♀️👨‍💻 For the athlete at home: Seven tips to help ease WFH pain points

• Are you working from home? Get up. Sitting is terrible. You should aim to stand at least two hours per workday, in addition to exercise, since sitting is affecting your metabolism.
• If you have bad posture, try sitting up straight and rolling your shoulders 10 times, along with seated arm circles and rotations to help ease tension and strengthen your upper back muscles to stop hunching.
• If you are sitting, try these quad-hamstring-glute squeezes to work your lower body.

And don’t forget, getting some exercise each day won’t just help offset the impact of sitting, it will help your mental health, too.

Information centre

• Pandemic personal finance: Rob Carrick’s 10-point checklist of things you should have done by now to protect or improve your money situation. Tips for minimizing damage to your credit score; how to manage retirement anxiety during difficult times; and things to think about if you’re considering home delivery.
• Here are the expectations for self-isolation; tips for managing anxiety and protecting your mental health; what to do if you think you have the virus; and what you can do to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. How to break a bad habit (like touching your face).
• The best foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; how to keep a healthy diet while working from home; four eating tips when working from home; and five mistakes that might cause you to gain unwanted weight. Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples; and how to stop stress-eating. What to cook with rhubarb (aside from pie).
• Here’s what you should do if you are newly laid off; how to apply for the CERB, EI and other financial benefits; how the CRA might identify CERB fraud; and other coronavirus and employment questions answered. What to do if your employees don’t return to work because they want to collect the CERB.

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