Coronavirus Update: Ottawa planning jail time, fines for false CERB claims

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

Top headlines:

1. Drafted federal legislation says people who have made fraudulent CERB claims could face fines or imprisonment
2. Complaints by over 1,000 migrant works in Canada reveal unsafe and exploitative working conditions during pandemic
3. Scientists say lockdown measures and restrictions prevented hundreds of millions of infections

In Canada, 96,153 cases have been reported. In the last week 4,448new cases were announced, 26 per cent fewer than last the previous week. There have also been 54,754 recoveries and 7,832 deaths. Health officials have administered 2,012,614 tests.

Worldwide, there have been at least 7,009,065 cases confirmed and 402,730 deaths reported.

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and 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

Photo of the day

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Number of the day

4.8 per cent

In the first quarter of 2020, the U.S. GDP fell 4.8 per cent.

• The second quartered is expected to show an even worse annualized decline of perhaps 20 per cent or more.
• The unemployment rate hit 14.7 per cent in April and 13.3 per cent in May, from February’s record low of 3.5 per cent.

Growth may recover from the second quarter lows, possibly making the current downturn not only among the sharpest but also among the shortest on record.

Coronavirus in Canada

• Starting Friday, outdoor patios and hair salons in Ontario – excluding the Toronto area – will be able to reopen. The cap on social gatherings will be increased to 10, Premier Doug Ford announced, as part of Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan.
• Starting next week, restaurants in Quebec will be able to reopen. Indoor gatherings of up to 10 people from three families will be permitted.
• In northern New Brunswick, nine new cases were reported today, the largest single-day new cases in the province.
• More restrictions in Newfoundland and Labrador were lifted, including retail stores, restaurants and personal service providers.

In Ottawa, the government is planning to legislate fines, up to $5,000, and for those who submit fraudulent CERB claims.

• The draft bill changes eligibility rules, saying the aid will be denied to those who “fail to return to work when it is reasonable to do so and the employer makes a request for their return."
• Eligibility windows are amended so the program now applies to any four-week period between March 15 and July 5 and any two-week period between July 5 and Oct. 3.

As of June 4, the federal government has paid out $43.5-billion, beyond its initial budget of $35-billion.

And: At the border, “limited exemption” will allow some Canada-U.S. families to reunite.

Coronavirus around the world

• While much of Europe begins reopening borders to encourage tourism, Britain has gone the other way, imposing a 14-day quarantine on international travellers that went into effect Monday.
• Two separate studies, one in the U.S. and another in Britain, have found that COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions in several countries helped prevent hundreds of millions of cases.
• The Chinese Foreign Ministry challenged U.S. Senator Rick Scott to prove his accusation that Beijing is trying to sabotage the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Scott said in an interview the evidence had come through the intelligence community, but declined to give details.
• At least half of Singapore’s newly discovered coronavirus cases show no symptoms, the government said today, reinforcing the city-state’s decision to ease lockdown restrictions very gradually. A health official said while asymptomatic cases had fewer opportunities to spread, there have been cases of asymptomatic transmission.
• Spain’s central bank said today the economy could contract by 9 per cent to 11.6 per cent in 2020 due to the pandemic, less than feared but still three times as bad as the record contraction in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

Coronavirus and business

After months of pressure, the Ontario government will ban commercial evictions for some businesses from June through August.

• The move follows similar bans in British Columbia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
• The ban applies to businesses who are eligible for CECRA, the federal commercial rent relief program announced in April. The measure reverses any evictions on or since June 5.

CECRA has seen only 16,000 applications filed in the first week after applications opened May 25.

Question and answer

Question: What is the expected source of the second wave of the virus as we open things up?

Answer: The public health measures taken to date are designed to slow the spread of coronavirus and they are working. However, there are still an unknown number of people in the community who are infected. The more we open up the economy, the greater the risk of those people infecting others.

The analogy that is often used is that there are embers in the forest and, with the right conditions, they could grow into a fire. The fear is that, in the fall, when we start spending more time indoors, and the regular soup of respiratory viruses like colds and flu take hold, it will create ideal conditions for the coronavirus to spread widely again.

Historians warn that, during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic, the second wave was much more deadly than the first, in large part because people were more complacent.

The Globe’s health columnist André Picard answered reader questions on social distancing and many additional topics.

An act of kindness

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Pitching in

Kevan and Barbara Orvitz, co-founders of Toronto-based company MEGAComfort Inc., are donating 20,000 shoe insoles to health-care workers. The couple had heard the stories of overworked doctors, nurses and other health care workers. “They just looked so exhausted,” Dr. Orvitz recalled from his office. “I started to think, how can we help?”

The company had a warehouse full of insoles and the couple decided to donate 20,000 pairs to front-line hospital staff, a donation worth about $500,000. “We put out a notice on Instagram and the response was overwhelming,” Dr. Orvitz said. “One nurse said she had been on her feet for 24 hours straight. We didn’t realize the need.”

Have you witnessed or performed acts of kindness in your neighbourhood? Share your stories, photos and videos and they might be included in The Globe and Mail. Email audience@globeandmail.com

Distractions

🍲 For the Instant Pot skeptic: Polenta with crunchy chopped salad

Polenta can be enjoyed simply, with flaky salt, cracked pepper and a pat of butter. And yet, that is only a starting point.

Polenta can be the backdrop to mushrooms sautéed with woody herbs and garlic; to pork sausage crumbles fried and sizzling, with a blanket of shaved fennel on top; or to roasted tomatoes and plump butter beans with paprika-stained oil.

For spring and summer, try this dish marrying temperatures and textures: a soothing bowl of polenta paired with a tangy jumble of lettuces and buttery olives.

More Globe reporting and opinion

• André Picard: “They call them the ‘guardian angels,’ the thousands of personal-support workers, orderlies, cooks and janitors who have been toiling for months in Quebec’s beleaguered and often overwhelmed long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all of them are women, many from racialized communities, including a disproportionately large number from Quebec’s Haitian community.”
• Abdullah Shihipar and Chris Ramsaroop: In the course of just a week, two migrant farm workers have died in Canada from COVID-19 – and the similarities between the tragedies are striking. Both men were from Mexico, and both were relatively young: aged 31 and 24. Both of their deaths occurred in Windsor, Ont. And both of their deaths could have – and should have – been avoided.
• Alberta is in the first phase of its economic relaunch and has released guidelines for businesses and medical service providers that often include the use of masks and other personal protective equipment, which are in short supply in Canada and around the world.

Information centre

• Here’s what you should do if you are newly laid off; how to apply for CERB, EI, and other financial benefits; and other coronavirus and employment questions answered.
• How to minimize 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.
• How to get physical distancing right; measures condo buildings are taking to encourage physical distancing; and what you can do to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
• Here are the essentials to stock up on and how to shop safely for groceries; the best pantry staples; foods to eat to maintain an immune system-friendly diet; and how to keep a healthy diet while working from home.
• How to break a bad habit (like touching your face) and what to do if you think you have the virus.

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Have questions about the coronavirus? Email audience@globeandmail.com.