COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is slowing down, Dr. Theresa Tam says
All the cogut 19 developments, for you over the next hour but. To break, up your routine in a way you may, not like today. That does not include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's daily pandemic, briefings I realize some of you have timed, yourselves, to sit here and hear that every day but the Prime Minister is today headed, to CFB. Trenton Ontario. For. The repatriation ceremony for. Those six Canadian, military members, that were killed last week in the helicopter, crash off the coast of, Greece he. Wants to be there for that and that will, happen later. This afternoon as, we, look live our focus will be over, the next hour though, here in the nation's capital anyway. We are expecting. Our daily, pandemic. Briefing, from government, officials cabinet, ministers, and public health officials so, we'll bring that to you in lieu of the Prime Minister today the, House of Commons is. Also sitting today in person, for their Co vid committee some, of them will be physically, there, not, in that building but right beside it in the West block of course where they're now doing their work, so, we'll carry some of that too through the. Afternoon as we monitor the, questions and answers of course the, Prime Minister not going to be at, that session either because, he is on his way to CFB, Trenton and, speaking of that let's go to southeastern. Ontario and, the Canadian Forces, Base where, cpc's Jacqueline Hanson is and she'll be there throughout this afternoon's, repatriation. Ceremony to. Honor those six Canadians, killed. In that helicopter crash, just. Almost a week ago a little more than a week ago, Jacqueline. What are we expecting, in terms of how the day will unfold. So. Rosy, it's expected, that the plane that we are waiting for will land just before 2 o'clock Eastern, time and that will be on the tarmac on the base that's just behind me we're off the base right now you, can tell there's quite a bit of traffic around if you catch some of that noise on the microphone, here, but otherwise a very quiet area at this point and. The. Department. Of National Defense is encouraging. People to, stay, home and not. To, watch. The ceremony this is quite a different ceremony, than in the past, in, keeping, with you're talking about physical distancing. That, will be the, name of the, day here, as well. Anyone. Who is on the tarmac of the Canadian, Armed Forces they. Will be required to be physical distancing, though there is one exception, so after the plane lands here the. Casket. Of sub-lieutenant Abigail. Cobra, will, be, taken. Off of the plane by pallbearers. Those, people, those pallbearers, will need to be a bit closer together in order to carry that off they will have gloves on we're. Also told that we'll be seeing some non-medical. Masks. On the. Canadian Armed Forces members, who, are taking part in the ceremony today but we, can expect to see that casket, come off the plane followed. By five. Other people and each of those people will be carrying a pillow with, a hat, on top that is the official. Headdress, of each of the other. Members. Who were killed in that helicopter crash. A week ago so, because we, know that the, only body, that was recovered from the crash was, of cobras, so the other are in place of caskets. Today rosy, and those mementos. The casket, and as well as the pillows those will be taken into a separate. Hearse each and each of those will be part of a motorcade, that will go down the highway of Heroes towards. Toronto, so the whole thing is expected, to take about an, hour, and a half this afternoon, here, and then into, Toronto that's right and the premier saying the same thing as you sent there off the top that even. If you'd like to be along the highway of heroes it's not a good idea given what. We're dealing with we'll will there be fat along, with the Prime Minister will there also be family, and other people who will be in attendance in, some way given.
The The, parameters, that they have to deal with. Yes. So as soon as the plane lands, here they will bring, out family, members as well as those VIP guests, which would include the. Minister and family, members are able to be here today because the, military. Sent. A plane to pick them up we know that commercial travel, is incredibly, limited right now as Canadians, are encouraged, to stay home and and and not to travel and. You know it is an interesting occurrence. That we're having today because, so, many Canadians, have lost, family. Members and in loved, ones over, recent weeks to Kovac. 19 and and for other reasons but. They. Haven't been able to celebrate those lives commemorate, those lives in a, traditional, sense and so we'll. Be seeing this ceremony today but not the, typical, repatriation. Ceremony that, we have, seen in the past like, you mentioned when, Canadians, would locally. Come out and line the highway of Heroes to stand, and honor those, members, who are killed that, you. Know there be encouraged not to do that to stay home watch, it on television or watch it online to try to find that alternative, way to engage. In and to honor those, lives lost if they if they choose, to do so okay. Jacqueline, Hanson at CFB Trenton where, she will be through the day thank you very much for that Jacqueline appreciate, it I'll just remind you at this time that CBC News Network will of course have special coverage of that repatriation. For those six Canadian, Forces members as. Jacqueline, says the flight lands later this afternoon at, CFB Trenton and our news special will begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern I'd also just remind you that at, this hour we don't know what caused the crash the data recorders, are back here in the nation's capitol, for examination. But as our Marie Brewster reported, earlier this week we do now know that the Tropper was making its way back to. HMCS. Fredericton, and that there were a number of their colleagues who witnessed, the crash all, right I want to take you now to our briefing. From public health officials, here here is the president of the Treasury Board Johnny Flo who is also the co-chair of the profit cabinet committee. By. This strategy. Is. A companion listen. II did exhume. In. Their grief and profound, sadness. Like anomaly technique I tell, nerve. From. British, Columbia, to. Newfoundland. And. Labrador. People. Are grieving for the loss of their loved ones. We. Will continue to. Be there for the. Friends and families, and loved ones during. These difficult times and. We will continue to provide them. With all the required support. Today. We'll. Begin by, providing you with an update in. Public, health statistics. Hello. Everyone, we'll start with the latest numbers on Kovac 19 in Canada, there, are now sixty-two. Thousand, four hundred and fifty-eight confirmed, cases, including. 4,100. In an eleven deaths over. 27,000, or. 43%, of cases have now recovered. Labs. Across, Canada, have tested over nine hundred and seventy, thousand, people. For covert nineteen to date with, about 6% of these testing, positive, overall. This. Is Mental, Health Week which, began on Monday and continues. Through to Sunday May the 10th this. Year mental. Health Exynos special meaning in light, of the, additional, stress and uncertainty. That. We are all experiencing. Due to Koval 19, across. Canada, and around the world people have been struggling, with concerns. Of all manner and scope. During these long weeks. Fitting. The theme for this year is social, connection, we. Said many times leading, up to this week that while we're apart physically, there, has never been a more important, time to stay connected. Canadians. Have shown resilience, finding. Creative ways, to remain, connected virtually, while. Keeping close relationships. With family friends. And communities, even, during holidays, and important, religious observances. But. This doesn't mean our new ways of connecting have, been ideal or without added stress and recognition. Of the many challenges that we're facing.
The Canadian Mental Health Association, is, leading, the way on Mental, Health Week by, encouraging us to get real with our feelings these. Mental, health experts, remind, us that for the sake of our mental wellness we, shouldn't marry or hide our emotions, so. As we move forward into, the uncertain, days ahead let's, not forget that we're on this road together and there is help don't. Be afraid to speak up and talk, if you are struggling with the, weight of what you are feeling. Talking. Things out can, help you and it, can also help others who, may be finding, it more difficult to voice their own struggles, we, might still be apart physically but, by talking about how you're feeling you're. Fine you're not alone Thank, You Massie. Thank. You doctor Dan doctor new, nexi, Burnap. Remedy, thank, you. As. Usual, I will begin with the. Latest numbers, on Kovac 19 in Canada there. Are no sixty-two. Thousand four hundred and sixty-eight confirmed cases, including. Four thousand, one hundred and eleven deaths, and. Over 27 thousand now. Recovered. Labs. Across Canada, have tested. And. Seventy, thousand people for. Kovac nineteen to date with about a 6% of these testing, positive. This. Is Mental Health Week which. Began on Monday and. Continues, through to Sunday May. 10, this. Year mental. Health takes on a special, meaning in light of the additional, stress and uncertainty, we. Are all experiencing. Due, to covert 19. Across. Canada, and around the world people. Have been struggling with concerns, of, all manner and scope during these long weeks. Sitting. Lee the. Theme for this year is social, connection. We've. Said many times leading, up to this week that, while we're apart physically, still there has never been a more important time to stay connected. Canadians. Have shown resilience. Finding, creative ways to remain connected virtually, while. Keeping close relationships, with, family, friends. And. Communities. Even. During holidays, and important. Religious, observances. But. This doesn't mean our new ways of connecting have. Been ideal. Or. Without, added, stress. In. Recognition, of the many challenges were, facing the. Canadian, Mental Health Association, is. Leading, the way on, mental, health week. By. Encouraging us to hashtag, get real with our feelings. These. Mental, health experts, remind, us that for. The sake of our mental wellness we shouldn't bury or hide our emotions, so. As we move forward into the uncertain, days ahead let's. Not forget, on. This road together. Don't. Be afraid to speak up and. Talk if you, are struggling with the weight of what you're feeling. Talking. Things out can help you and it can also help others, who. May be finding it more difficult to, voice their own struggles. We. Might still, be apart physically. But. By, talking about how you're feeling, you'll. Find you are not alone Thank, You. Missy. Doctor, thank, you doctor knew I'd. Like to take this opportunity to, provide. You with a quick update on the, Canadian, Armed Forces activities. Both. In Quebec and in Ontario the Canadian, Armed Forces. Have. Six, hundred and seventy. Six. Hundred and sixty. Members. That, are supporting. Care. Staff in. Thirteen, long-term care facilities, most. Of them are either in Montreal, or in, the, Greater Montreal, region the. Canadian government is working very hard with the Quebec government to. Deploy. More. Troops. Into. At least seven, more long-term, care facilities. Canadian, Armed Forces are also working night and day for this deployment to take place as quickly as possible. So. Far there, should be. Approximately. 1,000, members of the. Armed. Forces when, the deployment will be done, Forces. Is following the. Guidance. Of the Ontario government they. Are working, very collaboratively. To. Make sure that the. Five long-term, care centers, that were identified. Or. Provided. With appropriate. Support, from the Canadian, Armed Forces always. Under the leadership and the guidance of the, Ontario, government. I will. Also want, to take advantage of this opportunity to, provide very brief updates, on a few, of the key. Programs. That we have put into place to support workers. Families. And small businesses, in particular in. The last few, weeks a. Total, of five hundred forty-five, thousand, businesses. Have, received a, emergency. Loan up, to forty, thousand, dollars through the Canadian. Emergency. Business account, as of. May 5th, in. Terms of the Canada emergency. Response benefit, the total of 7.5. Million, Canadians. Have received, at least one, payment, of the benefit for, a total of ten point nine million.
Applications, Seven. Point ten point seven million, of them have, been processed, already. And finally. Regarding, the, important, wage, subsidy. Emergency, wage subsidy, program, as. Of yesterday. 110,000, businesses. Have submitted their requests for reimbursement. Of these emergency, waste subsidies, the. Information. Cannon-armed, in most cases be, found on the part of businesses, on their account, my, account at the canada revenue revenue. Agency. The. Majority. Of these business businesses, have, seen their applications, processed, by the Canada Revenue Agency. And many, of them will, receive the payment, they are in this their, reimbursement. Of the Canada wage subsidies, by, tomorrow, allows. An OPA. Bosse. So that brings. Us to the. Questions Thank. You minister, as. Usual we'll begin with questions on the phone, one. Question one follow up with a Delta. V. Thank. You you. Had a question, after, you forget while I make not proposing gets them. Connected. From our, first questions comes from time on video David, please, go ahead. Question. I have a question for Minister do clue to, come back to the issue of the Canadian Armed Forces members constitute. Oh yesterday was saying during his press conference that it was taking too long why's it taking so long to deploy 1000. Troops. That they asked for two weeks ago, answer. Thank you for the question of, course we know this is a collaborative, exercise. And, it's very close collaboration, between the Quebec government which, of course is responsible, and has jurisdiction over. Managing. The long term care institutions. And the Canadian Armed Forces as, I, was saying a few moments ago there, are over. 750. Members, of the Canadian Armed Forces that, have already been deployed to, support 13, long-term care facilities, we, know that there, will be an additional deployment, of four. Five other long-term. Care. Establishments. And overall, we expect there to be about 1,000. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces who, very, soon be deployed. For, total.
Of Added in a total of 20 long-term, care facilities. Talked. About a, more. Support, for seniors will that be coming, this. Week answer. Well as to win of course the Canadian Armed Forces must, work in, collaboration, with, and. Under the leadership of the Quebec government one, of the extremely. Important issues that the Quebec government. Discussed. With the Canadian Armed Forces was. The support. That. Had to take place in a context to reassure not only to, protect not only their only health and safety but of course to protect the health and safety of, the staff, that's already. On site and the. People. Who are being taken care of there. We. Know how important, it is that these collaborative. Process, cease when new staff comes in. That. Things must be done correctly. Requires. The, training and integration. And coordination. In. Response. To your question on seniors we were very clear their prime minister reminded. Us several times that. And, we, understand that it's very difficult, for millions, of seniors in Canada. And in, Quebec in particularly and an announcement, will soon be made because, it is important, to support our seniors in the difficult circumstances they find themselves in. As. Soon as you mean Thank, You Minister next question our, next question is from Christie gurkha from the Globe and Mail. Please. Go ahead. Hello. Good morning thank you very much for, taking my, question, my. Question is about the. Recent. Outbreak in, northern, Saskatchewan, particularly. Affecting, indigenous, communities, there, can. You characterize. The. Level, of concern, about this particular outbreak, and. What's. Being done on the ground to try and contain, it, over. Them. Yes. Thank you for the question and it is an, area of concern because, it is in a more. Remote. Area, but also with. Indigenous. Communities. In. That areas so there's, been a lot of collaboration between, the province, the local health authorities the, communities, also. Indigenous. Services Canada, and. The agency, has, offered their support wherever, that's. Needed so it is a collaborative. Response. They. Understand. That a local and provincial public health have mobilized. Some. Significant, number of health. Workers. To, do door-to-door. Investigation. To see if there's any cases. To do case finding contact. Tracing so they are really, seized with the. Issue, and they. Do have. Sort. Of on-site, laboratory testing, capabilities, but, we're also there to support them if needed so I think people, are taking it extremely, seriously because, these are more. Vulnerable, situations. Follow. Up thank you very much and, just as a follow-up on another matter I. Apologize, if my pronunciation is, off on this but I'm wondering if the public. Health agency of Canada is, aware, of reports of the. Kawasaki. Like illness in children in, canada and if so where. Are the cases, that the, public health agency is, aware. Of and how, many cases, are we talking about. So. Kara, Zaki. Disease. Or some variants, of that syndrome. Thus, is observed, on a regular, basis. For. Children. After. A viral, or even, bacterial, infection, so it's a sort of immunologic, inflammatory. Response, so. The paediatric.
Networks, Are. Looking. At this and there. Have been cases identified, but not necessarily. Found. To be, what. They haven't verified to be linked to covered 19, specifically. So those, investigations. Are underway, I. Believe, that there are investigations. Underway, in different areas of Canada including the, biggest provinces, Ontario. And Quebec. Thank. You doctor operator next question please. Enjoy. This evening for quasi Canada, please, go ahead. My. Question is for dr. Tam I lasted in French, but you can answer in. English if you please or if the doctor, knew could answer. In French that'd be appreciated, - this. Morning we. Heard. That, there was not enough testing being done in the country and. Therefore. It's difficult to correctly, assess. The. Progression. Of this pandemic do, you agree with that statement here. In. Cancer. This, is doctor new thank you for the question. It's. Not, so. Easy as, to answer yes or no to your question when it comes to testing. There. Are three or four perhaps more aspects, to the issue. It's. An issue it's about testing. The right people at, the right time. In. The right place what. Does that mean that means that we. Must also target. People. For testing, if they have a, good chance of being affected. With kovat 19 it makes no sense. To. Do random testing, of everybody in the industry because. Risk. Of false positives, is higher if. We go about it that way. Another. Thing. Is. That we have to test at the right time. Because. Even if someone is contaminated. Or infected. But. It's very early in the incubation period, we. May obtain negative, results but. Three, or four or five days later, that same person, may. Have developed symptoms and, then, more clearly being, seen. To have contracted. To cope at 19 and then when it comes to the right place we know that in. Some. Environments. Such as long-term, care. Facilities. Of, course if there's one case in, a place like that then, you have to. Test. The staff, and the residents to try and identify further, cases. Normally. The testdb. Stash stay, for almost so these tests, really have to be very targeted. According. To public health principles, and medical principles, to. Perform. The right tests. With. The right people at the right time and in the right place thank you. Question. So, you're saying that the. That. The chief. Scientist, was wrong to say that I'm, sorry I didn't understand your question, well. What I'm understanding from what you said is that what the chief. Scientist saying is that. You. Don't agree with. Answer. I'm not saying I don't agree I. Can't, I have no comments, as. To what other people say but. I think that. On. The same path in thinking that it's very very, important, to use, laboratory. Tests, in. The best possible way in. Order to be as efficient. And effective, as possible in, identifying. Cases. As. I've said before we. Must find the, right cases and isolate. Them and treat them properly and then, we also have to do contact tracing following. Following those preliminary, tests, that's. Good public health policy and if our interventions, are targeted. With. These goals in mind things will go well. Thank. You doctor with irony from CTV I it's, Annie Bergeron Oliver from CTV News my question is for dr. Tam and dr. new there, are still a lot of questions, about the, degree.
Of Community, spread and the same with asymptomatic transmission. And now in certain jurisdictions people. Are being warned to watch for other symptoms, from, pinkeye. To, abdominal, pains, I'm, wondering, one what you can tell us about Canada's, stance on asymptomatic, transmission. And how, concerning, that is and - until, we have firm, scientific evidence, on the. Importance, of those different. Outbreaks how, can we start reopening, schools and the economy. So. I think and. It. May link to the previous question, which is that, provinces and territories. Increasing. Their testing. For people with almost any symptoms, or even mild symptoms. Just. Because some of the symptoms might be vague and some of the people, may be what, we call in the sort of really pre-symptomatic, and, or, when they only have a few symptoms so. For sure that many. Jurisdictions, now. Opening. Up clinics where people with you know even mild symptoms we. Can get tested so that is definitely happening. And, the. Range of symptom is quite, broad and so. That's part of the strategy to. Look. To see if there's any further activities, in the community that we haven't you know as yet detected, with the normal, set of symptoms, I, think it is extremely. Important, when. Any. Of, the. Reopening. Plans is that, there. For, every establishment whether, it's a school or workplace that. There is a plan in place for the, distancing, between, people for all the hygienic, measures and, also. To to. Watch for some things because if you actually. Dealing. With a virus which is actually, quite difficult, to. Detect, I'll deal with those, distance and measures and the your hand hygiene measures are absolutely, fundamental, as. People, are opening, up businesses. Etc and so. I think and. Schools. Will schedule people so that maybe there's less students, in a class and, of course using the teller. Telework. And teller, against. Schools learning. Remote. Learning just, in order to increase. The spacing so. Some of those methods, will still apply for. Because. Of the characteristic, of this virus and we do know based. Are more and more information, that, this, virus, can. Spread in, the priests, and somatic and, the, asymptomatic, stage. Okay. Now I'm gonna be a bit of a pain and do a double edged question, sorry about this in advance dr.. Tam your Lea's projection, said that there would be about 3,800, deaths by May fifth obviously. Now we're up over 4,000, I'm wondering what you can tell us that means about where we are in the outbreak about, the control measures in place and, why. Our death numbers have gone up and following. To that Minister, Duke lo you, know it looks like deaths are still going up the number of cases are still going up and yet right now the CRB, is halfway through is the government going to extend the CRB, beyond. The four-month timeline. So. The. Projections, a, methods. Of. One. Methods, of looking. At what might happen so, again these are not exact numbers but they're in the right kind of ballpark whether it's three thousand eight hundred or you know just close to that on May the fifth I think it was, it. Was actually extremely close, and there's a ball parking, of the deaths. So. What I think is. Happening is, that the epidemic is actually, still slowing down so the number of new cases yes, we will see the numbers being reported but the daily increase, continues. To go down so, it has been at about three percent daily. Increase, and that continues, in this sort, of slowing trajectory, and we know that the doubling time has, is now, probably around 20 days so, the epidemic, itself is the, decelerating. Unfortunately. And tragically, what's happening right now is, that those who have been infected, of course. Coming. To the end of the clinical outcome, and, with. So, many long-term care facilities, affected. I, think, that the. Number of tests will continue to increase and so, the death in. In terms of numbers of deaths and the projections, are very much. I think, dependent. On some of the measures, that are being put in place to prevent serious. Outcomes, in those high-risk, populations. So, those, projections will have to be adjusted again so if there's more long-term care facility, outbreaks, that. Is where, the, energy should. Be put in in, terms of further, increase. In cases of deaths thank. You dr. Mike, Global. Very. Briefly, then it's connected to the. Answer, that dr.. Tam provided, we obviously, knew. From the start that we needed to implement the Canada emergency response benefit. Quickly in order to make sure that Canadians, could stay healthy, while being, able to put food on the table so 7.5. Million Canadians, have received.
Support, From the CRB, and will continue to be there for Canadians. And. Also. The debacle, we. Knew. The, CRB. Was going to be an essential measure we wanted to ensure that Canadians could continue, to remain healthy and follow, the, social, distancing. Directives, and keep washing their hands and do all the other measures that in many cases was going to prevent them from going to work so. Remain. Healthy well. Still. Being able to make ends meet and, we will continue to be there for Canadians, super serious Mike Thank, You minister. The. Ontario premier, is calling. For a national strategy, on contract, tracing is. That feasible, and what would something like that look like. So. I think that. Would. Contact. Tracing first of all is, absolutely. Critical piece. Of public, health measure. As. We, go into the mixed. Phase. Or next steps of living with kovin 19 so it's a fundamental aspect, of the public health response and, we know that public, health units, are doing this we, want and, if needed we, can help with increasing. Contact, tracing capacity, so that means, trained. People who can also do contact tracing, that, is already, in, place as the fundamental. Measure but. So how do we make, it maybe even more effective, and, more efficient, some of the discussions. Have been about. Whether certain. New technologies. Could help I think, that's the area where people are interested, in looking at well is there some sort of additional. Layer, of solution. That we can look at across the board because if people, keep use, or different, kind of tools then. They will be more difficult and, some, contacts, of course may go, in between provinces, so I think that's a important. Area of discussion. On technology, the Alberta, Alberta's. Rolled out an app to, do, some contact tracing with is that something something like that could that be used across. The country I think. Different. Area. What difference. Solutions. Are being sort, of piloted. Or put on the table so I think what we want is to make sure we have we know what's. Going on every jurisdiction and learn, what's. You, know been happening, because I think if there are certain tools are better than others that's, the kind of knowledge that you want to share not, just whether the application, works, but. All the other policies. That go with it like privacy, and. Which. I think is the most paramount. Of some. Of the policy, discussions. So all of those aspects, are the, kind of thing that we can help facilitate. In terms of discussion. Across the country and then also to see if there's any one. Tool that might be useful to everybody so, and. And. So. Though I think those are actually. Quite, active, discussions, right now. Thank. You doctor yes, Sean, Kilpatrick with, the Canadian Press Photo Department, my question is for Tam and it has to do with our immune systems. What. Happens, to our immune systems, when we are isolated.
So. The immune system is quite, a complex, system and it's affected, by many different I. Think, domains, I don't think it's, necessarily. Being studied we know that even the immune response to the virus itself, is, still. Needs to be understood. I'm, sure, there's a lot of other studies related. To mental. Health and all sorts of other stresses, and what that's that to do, to the immune system and I, think that's worthy of. Study. And for people who are more expert in that area to. Look at but I absolutely, agree that you know the immune system is a very complex, thing and. You, need to maintain both physical, and mental health and that can be difficult to do if you are you. Know at home, so. All. Of that is, some of the discussions, right now in, order to sort, of restart every open things is that. It's, not just the effectiveness, of the isolation, or quarantine, measures from, a public health perspective is, what, are the potential. Negative impacts. Of those. Policy. So I think that, goes into the complex discussion, locally, on how do they safely, restart. Is. This a concern, with children, returning to school. So. I think as. I've. Said before, every. Local. Medical and, chief mark offices, looking. At this very carefully what we you. Have to start carefully, and monitor, what actually happens when kids go back to school and. We what, we do know is, children. And. Younger children in particular have. Much mother illnesses, and. It. Still remains to be studied in terms of how, infectious. They, are but. There's, some studies that suggest, that they are not as infectious, which may mean that they've had less exposure, to the virus and that. Is, actually, still. Need to be studied in fact, you. Know some of the most important, questions, I think related. To covert. 19 is the role of kids, in transmission. And then, just. Like with adults we don't understand, enough about the immune response to, the virus, except. That people do generate antibodies and, we have to see how those. Antibodies, might work and how long they last fall. Thank. You doctor we'll just go back to the phone for three questions operator. A. Following. Question, is from an individual, to Devon I depend on please go ahead. Question. I'd. Like to come back to the CRB. ESB, for students the emergency benefit for students. The there, was a bill that was, adopted. Last week but it was fairly vague and many, details, weren't. Too finalized, and needed to be done, so through regulations. Perhaps. For example you might be able to keep more of the benefit even if you're working so. One. Week later I'm wondering what. Does. What. About these details and. What. Can you tell us about that answer. Thank you for the question it is an important, part. Of our plan to help all Canadians. And. That include students. I. Taught. For 25 years and, I know very well that the impact of such a crisis, can have serious, repercussions. On. For example the. Decision by students, to get to pursue, their studies or to abandon. Them for now and of. Course it also depends on their ability to meet ends meet in the coming weeks and they also need enough money and money to pursue, their studies in the coming, year that's. Why very soon there will be more, specific information provided. Both. By Minister, Culture and, administer, you would see as to. This particular emergency, benefit. Follow-up. Question so. Am I to understand, that yes the original plan may be amended, and so these students, because, especially, for university, students the, summers summer. Begins in name usually and. When. Do we expect to the first checks to be issued. Look. We. Are working. Very, rapidly. On all of these measures and very, very. Very soon the, further. Details will, be. Announced. On the, same website. In, which term where students can apply for the benefit and we expect this to take, place, smoothly, and quickly just as it, did with the CRB, just only took a few days for. People to be able to apply and receive their benefits and, this time it that, will be true for students too so. We. Will very very soon be announcing further, details on that, Thank. You Minister operator, next question. Next. Question is from Roja Othman from, The Canadian Press please, go ahead I get up a house. Good. Morning I wanted. To talk again about this inflammatory, response, it's, being found in children. I understand, there's no definitive link to Cove at 19, but this news is you. Know kind of freaky for parents especially is very considering.
Sending Their kids back to school it's provinces start to look at that prospect so what, is your message to them if. They're concerned that there could be maybe more susceptible to Cove at 19 and they don't. So. We do know that. The. Illness in. Children. Malda. I mean that's been. Observed across. International. Studies. And, so. So. Clinically they have a much less, severe, outcome, that's, not to say that rarely. Some. Some. More severe outcomes could, occur but that's that's, basically what, the. Scientific. Data. Is telling us, but. Of course if there's any concerns. Contact. Your health provider. Pediatricians. Are. Very aware of, Kawasaki. Disease, because. They. Actually happens in other viral, illnesses, and infections. As, well so, it's not specific. To, Cove in 19. And. They. Will know how to manage that and so. I think again, if there's any symptoms, that parents. Worries, about province. Is already, you. Know as I said widening. The scope in terms of just sort of looking at the possibility, of Cove in 19 in people with all a whole range of symptoms and so, I think if there's any concerns, at all consult. Your health provider but. The bottom line is that we know that overall kids, have much mother, illnesses. Thanks. Dr. Tim I also wanted to ask about whether, any progress has been made on gathering more detailed, data about people suffering from Cove at 19 like their race sexual. Orientation or socio-economic. Status, in sort of a centralized, way. Yes, so I think there's, a, number, of gaps. In that data, and I. Think, at the national level that is something. That is. You. Know there's, an effort in order to try and address that. Yes. Afternoo I can just maybe add to that that certainly that at the technical, level our. Staff are having active discussion, with their counterparts in the provinces, and territories in, terms of looking at those. Types of issues and seeing what's within the art of the possible certainly. Everyone is a sees, with getting. You know data, in a timely fashion and obviously, everyone. Like you know the more variables, or more data we have it's great but certainly at this time it's, always a balance between you. Know what's feasible everyone's, stretched, in terms of working a you, know under. Extreme, circumstances. And so it's determining. What are the key. Items, or akia pieces. Of data that we would like to collect I think at a national, level from each of the provinces territories, and certainly, that needs that sort of a collaboration.
Agreement Between, the provinces territories, and ourselves but those discussions, are active and ongoing Thanks. Thank. You doctor operator next question please. Anybody. Home there's also CUNY please. Go ahead. Hello. My question is for Minister Zuko I'd like to come back to the. Military. Assistance system being sent to. Long. Term care institutions, you mentioned seven others are we talking about the ones and they're still in the region mature in the montreal area can. You tell us more details about which institutions. Are being targeted, answer. Thank you thank you for the question I don't have the details yet as to the other seven institutions this, is a target, that has been. Decided. Upon an agreement between the, Canadian government the Canadian Armed Forces and the Quebec government so. As. I said efforts, so far have been targeting. 13. Main long-term, care institutions, but seven others have been identified and I, believe this, information, will soon be available and. Provided, by at, the same time by the Canadian Armed Forces and, the Quebec government, follow-up. Question. When. It comes to the wage subsidy, week. Or two ago you. Said that the first. The. First amounts, would be provided. On, May 7th which is tomorrow is that still the case and how many how, much money do you expect to, be sending, out tomorrow, if so. Also, are, you considering, broadening, the scope of the. Wage. Subsidy thank, you. 110,000. Businesses. Had asked for to, be reimbursed for the through. This wage subsidies so they could pay their workers from, a retroactive. Leaf from March 15 to April, 11th, we, expect about 90%, of those applications, to. Have already been processed. Which. Means that as of tomorrow we also expect, most. Of those businesses, to receive. In their accounts, the. Reimbursements. For these, wages, that they paid. Their employees, over. The last weeks about. 10% of the businesses, need. To provide us with more information or to.
CRA. Rather the. Agency, has already been, in touch. With those businesses, as to. The future evolutions. Of this important, program to subsidize. Workers. Wages well of course there is still much, work to be done and, we must. Keep, consulting, to ensure that. That. Country's. Economic. Strength. Can be maintained, so that, the economic, recovery can, take place as quickly as possible and as efficiently, as possible. Thank. You Minister one. Last question in the room. I'd. Like to come back to the issue of seniors, do you recognize, that seniors. Purchasing. Ability, has diminished, during a crisis because they are on fixed income often. If so have you been able to quantify or, measure that, loss of purchasing power answer. Thank you very much well our seniors were affected in many different ways by this crisis, of course and we're, quite concerned as, to. Portion. Aliy affected. And. The, price of food has gone up of course. Which. Is another concern, because. Of supply chain. Problems, and transportation, issues that we've seen over the last weeks there's. Also the fact that many of these seniors, are. Less, mobile in. Quebec yesterday, we saw. That. Some restrictions, had been eased so. That they could go pick up their groceries themselves. Because. There. Are because, delivery fees may have increased. But. Statistics, Canada has not yet, studied the exact, nature, in of all the other increased, costs but the increased costs are there, we, know and, that's, why Prime Minister Trudeau. Recently. Said and it would be now step away from, this federal briefing, today but. Wanted to end on that note because we do know that's health, for seniors additional, support for seniors is coming. In the coming days according, to the prime minister I want, to wrap up a lot of what was set there with my colleagues, in a moment because, there was some new information some interesting, things there but first I want to turn to New Brunswick, because, it recorded its first case of Kovac 19 in more than two weeks yesterday. Dr., Jennifer Russell is that provinces chief medical officer of health and she joins me from Fredericton good to see you doctor. Hello. There so. Everyone was very, envious of, what you had managed to do in New Brunswick flattening. The curve and then you had one case after. Two weeks of no cases yesterday do, you know what happened. Well. This was to be expected obviously. In a pandemic where, we. Have Co big 19 cases in all the jurisdictions surrounding, New Brunswick with the exception of Pei, this. Was not a surprise this was expected and so you. Know having zero cases was lovely we really enjoy, but.
And. Also you know again having everybody have recovered. And nobody, in the hospital, and no deaths that, was obviously. A wonderful, success, but, the long-term success involves, living. With Koba 19 in a way where we can, mitigate. The issues, around, hospitalizations. Utilization. And ICU, beds and have the economy running and have. People protected, in terms of the knowledge and the, understanding of. What they need to do individually, to protect themselves from co19 I guess, this is one of those examples though, where contact, tracing that dr. Tam was just talking about in that press conference becomes, so critical to controlling. Spread. Of. Course, absolutely, and when we look at the opening, up the economy the things that really have to be in place and very very, strong. Things. That need to be in place would be the contact tracing the, testing capabilities, making. Sure that we are able, to respond, to outbreaks, making. Sure that again the hospital facilities, are available the hospital beds and the ICU beds are available so. There are many many things that have to be in place as we look at gradually, opening up a society, in the economy, for for, us to succeed in the long term this, was community, transmission, I imagine, because there's been no travel. Well. Our borders, are still, somewhat. Open in the sense that we are allowing essential, travel to happen so, land, borders and at, the airports we, some, people do get turned away so. If they don't have legitimate, need to be in the province they do get turned away so so we can continue, to see travel related cases so we have two new cases the. One yesterday we. Still haven't determined if it's community transmission, or not so it's, um. That, one is not is still being, investigated but the latest one we know is travel related okay. So now you're up to two I. Know. That the premier has talked with. My colleague Vashi and others about really, keeping the border closed to, people coming in who want to hang out in New Brunswick over, the summer how, important, is that going to be from a public health perspective, to. Really keep visitors, away, at. A time when you would normally expect them. Exactly. It's a balance, so again, we want. To be able to have, society. Function, and the economy function, as safely, as we can while, again, we protect the population from, having. Too many cases of Cove in nineteen at once and having our hospital, system overwhelmed. So, so. It is a balance, but obviously, we know that if we don't have community transmission, then we know that the cases, will be travel related and so limiting travel will be very important, and the travelers that do come in have to self isolate for 14 days, what.
What What, is your message to people right now I know you, know because we're all doing this at different speeds, I. Would. Say even people in provinces like Ontario, are sort of starting to relax a little bit even though they're not really supposed, to and I wonder if you have encountered that too in New Brunswick and and what your message is to people moving forward, as you get into this sort, of next phase of as you say living with cope at 19. Well. I think it's about setting expectations so. If the public understands. And and is able to internalize, the fact that we are going to be living with Kovac 19 for, 18 to 24, months until there's a vaccine so we're pretty much passed mile, one of a 26-mile. Marathon so. Get, some water get some Gatorade get a power gel and then we have to keep going and, it's a long way to the end and so we do have to stay vigilant we, do have to have to persevere, and and. Be very resilient and adaptable as, we go through this process so there's lots of learnings, there's lots of new pieces of information that we get every day and incorporating. That into our plans as we move forward has to be very important, but certainly, nobody. Should be complacent at this point in time, okay. So two new cases in New Brunswick after, two weeks of none I will say the rest of the country still envious, of that dr.. Russell so you're doing something right thank you for making the time appreciate it thank. You very much we are very proud of accomplished. You're super good, as you should be dr. Jennifer Russell New Brunswick's chief medical officer of Health thank you all, right let me bring back my colleague Sachi Capello's the host of power and politics and a CBC David Cochrane we'll, go back to the briefing there I didn't, want to make New Brunswick feel bad that they now have two cases, but. They are they are doing some remarkable things and there are other provinces, I know that are doing well as well a few things stood up for me in that briefing, one, was around the military issue because.
There Are, expected. To be a thousand, soldiers now heading into long-term care centers in Ontario. And Quebec and that is a staggering. Bit. Of information because, of what we're seeing inside those centers fasci yeah, that definitely stood out to me and that kind of joins, up with something else that dr. Tam said around I think a number of questions a lot of us have all, we of course the the models that the federal government put forward are not crystal balls and everyone, who's presenting them have to be to have been explicit, about it but, it does specifically, look when it comes to the number of deaths in this country like some of the projections, are being exceeded, and obviously that depends on where you live but overall. It. Looks like at least that the number of Dex deaths that were projected are being met if not, exceeded, and and it was interesting to hear the explanation from. Dr. Tam about that specifically, that I would, note this the doubling time for the rate of infection has gone to 20 days it was at 3 days about a month ago and then at 16 days at the point at the time they were releasing the last set of federal models it's now at 20 days and basically, she said this is the epidemic is decelerating. But, we are at the sort of end of many of those who contracted. The virus are, at the end of the clinical outcome, and that, is particularly, significant, in long-term care homes and as a result, we are seeing sort of an uptick, in the number of deaths but that's not necessarily, reflective, of the, overall curve, of the pandemic at this moment I mean a thousand, soldiers in long-term care homes I think underscore. Is what you have been talking about so often on this special that these long-term care homes are the epicenter of the. Virus. In this country, eighty-five percent of the deaths in Quebec have occurred in long-term care homes seventy-nine percent of the deaths right, across the country again. I'd point towards the conversation, around essential, workers in those homes whether. There will be an agreement with the federal government the feds are promising, to top up wages for those who make less than $2,500. A month my understanding, is there, could, be an agreement in the coming days but it might not be exactly what every province wanted. So I've got my eye on that for sure okay, and and, just to give people a sense of where those, soldiers. Are going and David no I won't say everything I promised, they're going into there in 13, long-term, care centers mostly. In Montreal, right now five in Ontario, and headed into seven, others I mean it, again, again we've talked about it time and time again but it does highlight how. This pandemic. Is hitting parts. Of the population very, differently David yeah, to things like the modeling projections. Of a death rate again is not a projection or a prediction it's a range of things and it also that's, applied across a broad general, population, what we have is an epidemic in a very specific population that, is acutely vulnerable, to this and this, is why the soldiers are in there and I understand Quebec has expressed some frustration on, the pace of getting the soldiers in it, was easy to get the first waving because it was primarily army. Doctors and nurses, and medics who could go in and they are trained, to deal with specific. Medical situations, you're a rank-and-file, soldier, the highly trained is not necessarily, trained to work in a long-term care environment, in the middle of a pandemic, they have field training, in terms of medical emergencies, in battlefield, medic, medical, training but. Dealing, with a virus is a completely, different thing than dealing with a casualty in the field, and. Part of the challenge too Rosie when you look at the Montreal situation. The. Finding is that because, people are getting sick and coming out of this medical, staff are getting sick and coming out of long-term care homes and coming out of hospitals they're pulling from hospital a to help Hospital B and then sending them back to hospital a and moving them into long-term care homes the, medical staff moving around are themselves becoming, vectors of transmission, they, are carrying or they have helped spread the disease, unintentionally.
By Contracting, it in one home and bringing it to another which is why in British Columbia they stopped the practice of people working in multiple homes but we've heard you, know that people in multiple hospitals, people in multiple facilities has. Actually helped. Spread and carry the virus through. Parts. Of Montreal the Greater Montreal area all the more reason to make sure that the soldiers we are sending in are trained, to deal with this properly so they do not become vectors of transmission, yeah. And I should say that Montreal, is really. In in quite a dire place, right now because the. Hospital capacity, is quickly melting, away which is one of the the. Statistics, that the premier there had pointed to as a reason for allowing, the loosening, of Public Health restrictions, they are now even moving towards. Dave, and I were talking about this earlier shipping, people from hospitals, in Montreal, to other regions, of the province to, deal with that capacity, issue and there is a field hospital that, had been prepared that will now likely, even be used in Montreal, so again, a different picture it, depending, on where you are in the country as we know so well but to end on a good note I'll just remind you what Vashi said earlier the cases, are doubling, now every, 20 days which shows that things are moving in the right direction okay, we. Will leave you now with our coverage Thank You Vashti thank you David appreciate, it of course, our coverage will continue here on CBC news network of this story and the repatriation, of Canada's soldiers, coming up at two o'clock Eastern, um rosemary Barton thanks for watching.
2020-05-14 10:08
