Global National: April 8, 2020 | Premiers call for more COVID-19 testing and increased screening

This Wednesday night, Ontario is sounding the alarm. Why does the province with the most people do fewer tests for Kovac 19? Alberta's stern warning is unacceptable. It all depends on how Albertans act in the coming weeks. The Prime Minister's plan to increase

testing

there to shore up the battered economy and better

screening

of inter

national

travelers as

call

s multiply to improve checks at the Canada-U.S. border are not about relaxing rules on travel. emergency wage subsidy even

more

businesses are now eligible and post-pandemic preparations a top Canadian doctor on what is needed This helped us get out of this

global

national

with Donna Freezin, good evening and thank you for joining us as we all continue enduring unprecedented restrictions in all aspects of our lives.

Pressure is mounting to increase kovat 19

testing

in this country, so far testing has been mostly restricted to people with symptoms and those who have been in close contact with an infected person and Ontario has lagged far behind. It has conducted fewer tests per capita than most other provinces. It has the capacity, we are told, to test 13,000 people per day. In the last 10 days, the most that has been done is between 6,000 and less than 3,000 tests per day. It is unacceptable. We say we can do 13,000 a day. Then we have to start making 13,000 every day. The days that end are these two and 3,000 per day. proven, we have to make this happen and we have to start doing it immediately starting tomorrow, that's Premier Doug Ford.

Now testing was limited at the beginning of this pandemic due to a lack of supplies and lab capacity everywhere, but it has since ramped up and there is now intense pressure to test a much broader group, starting with healthcare workers. front liners and employees and residents in long term care facilities Travis dhanraj from Global with me from Toronto Travis Doug Ford is excited about this, why has it taken Ontario so long to ramp up testing? A very good question, Donna, and you could hear the frustration in the Prime Minister's voice today. He said that he spoke to the Cova Dean board that they have here in Toronto and he spoke to health officials across the province, saying that he really wants these tests.

Initially, the problem intensified because we did not have enough reagents and there were not enough testing centers. That problem, as she mentioned, has been fixed, so now what health officials are saying is essentially that there is a delay in the first tests that were needed. What needs to be done is that first they have to pass, they also have to give we reintroduce new guidelines for testing in public health units now that we know that the prime minister has said that he wants long-term care residents and also health care workers long-term care are tested and We saw how desperately those tests are needed one day at a long-term care facility here in Toronto, Sevenoaks, there were a hundred patients who are confirmed or suspected cases of kovat 19 and almost a dozen workers from health in that center, so the prime minister says that there are no

more

excuses that these tests must be

increased

, but only time will tell in the coming days if that becomes a reality or not.

Donna, okay, Travis Dhanraj in Toronto, thank you. Alberta's premier also wants to seriously ramp up testing there and take a much more rigorous approach to tracking returning travelers who were under mandatory self-isolation orders Jason Kenney aims for 20,000 tests a day and says he believes it was a mistake why Canada waited so long to close borders, especially to countries with high levels of infection Tom Vernon is with me from the Alberta legislature in Edmonton Tom, what's behind Prime Minister Kenny's tough new message? Yes, Donna, Premier Candy says we really are facing a triple threat here in Alberta.

Obviously, there is a public health concern when it comes to it. until kovat 19 and the economic downturn caused by that pandemic, but Alberta is also facing a collapse in

global

oil prices, which is compounding economic problems here. Now you mentioned that you had concerns about the return of international travelers. He also raised these concerns last month, she says. Alberta will provide more resources to track, quarantine and test these people as they return, although it has not said exactly what quarantine will look like to enforce the premier has also floated the idea of ​​using cell phone technology to ensure the quarantine.

Orders are being followed, which has obviously raised some privacy concerns here in Alberta, but the premier says these measures are to, and as we learn more details, really stop the spread of the virus, we simply can't risk letting for the virus to break loose in Alberta, creating a public health catastrophe that would force an even stricter lockdown in the future and leave our economy even more battered. Premier Tom also warns of 25 per cent unemployment in Alberta and paying some companies to keep Alberta's oil. What is his strategy to try to mitigate what he?

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s the biggest challenge of a generation, yes, Donna, that 25% unemployment figure you gave yesterday to a business audience that would add about 500,000 Albertans out of work, so some of the measures the province is suggesting while said in his speech last night that he is putting a lot of the blame on Saudi Arabia and Russia, they have to do what takes a lot of effort and reduce that amount to supply oil in the market, but he said more needs to be done to supply the work of North American energy security.

On that front, another step the Premier noted was Alberta's investments in the Keystone XL pipeline and moving that project forward he says will provide long-term stability here in Alberta, Opposition members here are quick to point out that the Prime Minister's vision is too narrow, he needs to look beyond oil and gas, he needs to start talking more about diversification Donna Tom Vernon in Edmonton, thank you, the number of Canadians confirmed with kovat 19 is changing rapidly, here are the latest numbers , more than 1,300 new cases were reported. today most of them in Ontario in Quebec with today's jump Quebec now has over 10,000 confirmed cases Ontario has just over 5,200 in total, over 19,000 people in Canada are known to have the virus, although we know, of course, that many people have not yet been tested in at least 430 people have died in Canada Global News has learned that there are no public health officials at land border crossings to test people for the virus;

It's a gap in testing that potentially puts people at risk and raises questions about whether there is enough monitoring and enforcement at the border to detect and track people returning from abroad Mercedes Stevenson joins me now Mercedes BC announced today an offensive against

screening

tests, what can it tell us well? Premier John Horgan was out and he's telling people that not only are they expected to isolate, they're actually going to have to show a plan when they get to the airport or cross that border crossing, saying this is how I'm going to isolate if you don't.

They are satisfied, but the plan that is presented, which If they treat it as a legal document, then they will have a plan for you and force you to self-isolate, which means they are obviously concerned about people coming forward and presenting self-isolation plans, or They are not fulfilling them or they are not realistic. Listen to what he had to say this afternoon, they will be met by BC officials, they will be met by federal officials and they will be asked to explain in detail using forms that will be provided on the flight forms that are also available on the web to ensure that these legal documents are complete upon arrival and that a plan is in place.

Donna, there have been inconsistent requests at different border crossings and in different provinces for these quarantine orders and self-isolation, one of the things we learned. is that there are no public health officials at land border crossings, this despite the government publicly saying that when you cross the border, if you say you have symptoms, you will be referred to a public health official, but they are not there and the The vast majority of people coming into Canada are coming through those border crossings, which is creating a lot of concern for frontline border officials who want to have someone they can actually refer people to who is an expert on this.

Marcedes Health Canada apparently warned that this tracking of returning travelers would be a problem, what do we know about that? That's right, in a document it says about a thousand pages that were presented to the Health Committee. There is advice from public health officials to the minister warning that they did not even have the resources to be able to track and enforce a quarantine order against people returning from mainland China let alone from around the world and we have that quote for you, we can post it there. You can see that federal health officials said that if this approach were to extend to China it would be unsustainable given the volume of travelers Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked why they weren't putting more resources into Public Health if they were getting early warnings about the difficulty in track people, this is what I had to do Today, in retrospect, I'm sure there are many things we would have done differently and could have done differently, but I can tell you that every step of the way we followed the advice from our medical professionals and our public health experts and from Marcedes.

Do you have information that Kovat 19 could be used as a weapon by terrorist groups and others, what have we learned about it? Donna, as you know, intelligence agencies are always trying to figure out every possible scenario, so this does not suggest that there is an imminent threat. attack or that is just around the corner, but the RCMP has been sending a memo from the United States Department of Homeland Security from whom they got it written by railways in the US warning that some violent extremist groups could try to exploit the holes and security around hospitals and grocery stores where there are lines of people right now.

Terrorism experts say the virus has disrupted terrorist groups as well as all others, but they are still watching closely. On this, the RCMP says that they are always tracking these types of threats to be careful with them and, of course, they are also keeping an eye on frontline officers and military, who some groups are trying to encourage people to cough in the face as a way to spread this, fortunately, it's hard to tell if you're infected with kovat 19 and if you are, you may not be well enough to go and do it. Donna, okay, Mercedes Stevenson in Ottawa, thank you.

Well, the restrictions that are shutting down the economy are really starting. To get home now and today, the criteria for the federal emergency wage subsidy program were relaxed to qualify. Companies now only need to show a 15% decline in revenue in March instead of a 30% decline in overall revenue. Charities can choose whether to include government subsidies. When calculating your lost income and when it comes to students, the government will cover 100 per cent of the salaries of those hired under Canada's summer jobs program, there are also broader changes, but, as Michael Couture reports, there are still there are some gaps.

I'm not feeling very regal, but this takeout window is the only way King Eddy's restaurant can stay in business. Business owner Jonathan Bonny isn't sure he can use the government's wage subsidy program to project income that he knows will allow us. I know how to make those forecasts and say yes, I think we can, you know, rehire some of our employees. He has some time as the program still needs parliamentary approval. Get going. A little less conversation. A little more action. Please, evoking the image of Elvis conservatives. They are calling on the government to speed up the process - the Prime Minister emerged from his own lockdown on Wednesday to chair a cabinet meeting.

On the agenda were data from the Kovan 19 federal model and when Parliament will reconvene to approve the wage subsidy bill that Justin Trudeau supports. has some shortcomings. What we've talked about in recent days is ways to fill those gaps and make sure that more people who find themselves in circumstancesexceptional or different people can access the help we need. Accelerating a program of this size could mean a miss. of checks and balances, so the government hopes to deter anyone caught abusing the program could face penalties of up to two hundred and twenty-five percent of what they have received and up to five years in prison, important penalties to protect a program that the representative The Prime Minister says it will allow the country's economy to bounce back strongly, this will maintain that essential connection between people and their jobs and help businesses remain fully functional and intact for that purpose.

Air Canada announced it will rehire 16,000 previously laid-off employees on The airline's CEO says the wage subsidy program will help keep workers on board until the economy is ready to take off again Donna, okay, Mike ligature in Ottawa Thank you, we are getting a better idea of ​​how many Canadians have been laid off and can't work because of this. Since Monday, more than 1.7 million people have applied for the federal assistance program supporting Canada's emergency response, and since March 15, the government says more than 4.2 million people have applied for CRB or employment insurance, several people, including some accused of Serious crimes are being released from correctional facilities in Canada that are at high risk of Kovach 19 outbreaks.

Some judges have cited the

increased

risk in the confined spaces of the detention centers as a factor in their decisions to grant bail. Canada's court system is closed except for emergency cases at this time and there will be a delay when normal operations resume. It is unclear when trials will begin for some of the people detained in custody. You can read the full story.by globals Stewart belet's on our website Global news CA / global national crowdsourcing the corona virus pandemic is approaching a call to action from Canadian doctors in the UK new Kovac 19 cases are starting to decline but the death toll is out of control 938 people died in the last 24 hours British Prime Minister Boris Johnson himself is not yet out of intensive care, although, as Crystal begins to explain, his condition is said to be improving , the world is waiting and watching, the hope is that Boris Johnson walks out of this London hospital. but the latest has not yet arrived from the hospital is that the Prime Minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving.

I can also tell you that he has been sitting up in bed and interacting positively with the clinical team. Johnson has now been in the hospital. He was in the ICU for two nights. He was admitted Sunday night at a time he said it was just a precaution. He needed some proof. I have a temperature. The Prime Minister is not known to have any pre-existing conditions. The 55-year-old man was diagnosed around two. weeks ago he is one of more than 60,000 who have been infected in the UK the news about the prime minister reminds us how indiscriminate this disease is almost everyone will know someone who has been affected friends family neighbors colleagues kovat 19 has caused death of more than 7,000 people here, an emergency meeting will be held on Thursday to discuss the lockdown with the prime minister still in ICU, his appointee taking the lead.

Man Singh Global News London is still ahead. Canadians use crowdsourcing to try to save lives without further evidence. We win. I don't know the true extent of Kovat 19 infection. Now a Canadian doctor hopes crowdsourcing can help. Jeff Simple explains that there is growing evidence and concern that Kovat 19 may be hiding in people with no symptoms or very mild symptoms. I don't have any underlying health problems. Others like Kyla Lee in Vancouver have symptoms but never got tested. The doctor recommended that unless I get to the point where I'm essentially breathing like this all the time, without teeth, then consider going to a hospital.

Serious evidence is missing, right? I don't have a good handle on what's going on community, this Canadian professor from Harvard Medical School just launched this website kovat near you mapping confirmed and suspected cases asking people to self-report what would happen if we just asked them how do you feel? Information about what X is in any way we can. The website asks users in North America to enter their ZIP code and from there they can see reported cases of Kovat 19 in their area, as well as others that have tested negative or are showing symptoms. According to the virus, even healthy people are asked to enter their data, which will then be used anonymously by researchers to track the spread.

Getting the real sense and true idea of ​​how many cases there are across the country will give us a better idea of ​​where this pandemic is headed, another company is taking it a step further starting next week. Any confirmed cases on Vancouver Island will be asked to share their recent contacts with this software. All of those people will automatically be sent this alert via email or text message asking. Let them know if they have developed any symptoms of the virus and, if so, list their contacts from the last few weeks so it can spread naturally and build a tree, from patient zero to if there are a dozen people they came into contact with. . or hundreds, its scale is infinite, collaborating in the fight against Kovat 19, your house, your Netflix and relaxing, maybe try Cove it and relax a little, be part of a public health surveillance system, you know, it's a few seconds so you really know, you really know. provide some data to support Canada in its fight against coronavirus simply Global News Toronto next learning from a Canadian doctor's international experience this virus waits for no one and when it arrives there is little time for doctors to do much more than try to save as many lives as possible as possible dr.

Joanne Lee, you know what it's like to be on the front lines of an emergency. She spent five years as head of Doctors Without Borders and is now back working at a Montreal hospital. Mike Armstrong spoke to his doctor. Joanne Leo says lessons were learned in the fight against Ebola. outbreaks in Africa and one is that the margin of error in the fight covered 19 is slim there is no forgiveness in the pandemic there is simply no forgiveness and most of the time the cost is life our Syrian colleagues are there as long as it lasts dr.

Leo led Doctors Without Borders for six years, the organization has more than 36,000 employees working in some 70 countries. When his term ended last year, the plan was to write a book, but now with his former colleagues at St. University in Montreal. . He is simply in the hospital fighting Kovat 19. He has stopped writing. Many of my colleagues and many people in this sector are scared and they are right to be scared. You have been disappointed by the shortage of protective equipment, asking doctors, nurses and nurses. doing their job without the necessary PPE, she says it's not fair, it also sets the entire system up for failure if we don't want our healthcare system to remain on its knees for the next few weeks, we're going to need a caring workforce healthy non-infected One of the procedures Liew suggests for hospitals is the use of observers who put on and take off PPE is dangerous and the person wearing it is often tired.

Doctors Without Borders has someone who accompanies the worker in every step they take. but he was the way we made sure we didn't get infected after the immediate worries that Leo also worries about in the future. What will happen when this subsides. Post-traumatic stress will be a problem, and not just for healthcare. Workers, everyone on the front lines, from grocery store employees to bus drivers, need help. I think this should be a direct line. I think people should be able to report their fear to be able to have that kind of support 24/7. kovat 19 can attack the lungs, but leo says governments have to worry about both the body and the mind Mike Armstrong Global News Montreal and that's national global for this Wednesday.

I'm Donna Freeze and we know that faith sustains many of you, especially in times of crisis. Easter is this weekend and Pesach. starts tonight and the message to everyone everywhere is to check your rituals, avoid large gatherings, even Jerusalem is closed tonight, thanks for watching, take care, bye.