- Health Canada is waiving some of its usual regulatory requirements to increase supplies of hand sanitizers, disinfectants, swabs and personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns used to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Due to “unprecedented demand” for such products, Health Canada says it will temporarily allow them to be sold in this country even if they don’t meet the normal regulatory requirements. The temporary waiver will apply to products that are already authorized for sale in Canada but aren’t fully compliant with Health Canada regulations on things such as bilingual labelling or the type of packaging to be used.
- Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday the Canada Child Benefit will be temporarily increased within the coming months, delivering relief to families affected by the novel coronavirus. The measure would provide almost $2 billion in extra support for parents who may have been laid off from their jobs or unable to work due to the COVID-19 outbreak. “Families with young kids are going to find the coming months especially difficult with school closures and additional child care responsibilities,” said Trudeau. “To take some of that pressure off, our government will temporarily boost the CCB in the coming months.”
- The total number of Coronavirus cases rose to 151 in India on Wednesday, Ministry of Health has said. Three people have been reported dead so far, with the latest casualty reported from Maharashtra – the worst-hit state. The Novel Coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation with more than 3,000 deaths globally and over 1 lakh confirmed cases. The government has stopped incoming travel from a number of nations, including the European Union, Malaysia, Philippines and Afghanistan.
- China’s health ministry says the virus epicentre of Wuhan and its surrounding Hubei province have reported no new cases. The ministry said Thursday that results over the past 24 hours showed 34 new cases, all detected in people arriving from abroad. Eight new deaths were reported, all in Wuhan. Wuhan at the peak reported thousands of new cases of coronavirus infection daily, overwhelming its health care system.
- Hard-hit Italy reported an additional 475 deaths from the virus on Wednesday, and France imposed a draconian lockdown unseen during peacetime. In the United States, the virus has now spread to all 50 states. The coronavirus has now infected more than 200,000 people and killed more than 8,000 globally, with over 83,000 people having recovered from the infection, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
- New coronavirus cases in US jails heighten concerns about an unprepared system. The first known cases of coronavirus in the US federal correctional system emerged today, as the number of infected inmates and staffers at local facilities across the country continued to climb. Since Tuesday, a staffer at a medium-security federal prison in Berlin, New Hampshire, and an employee at a Bureau of Prisons administrative facility in Grand Prairie, Texas, have tested positive. Corrections officers in New York and Georgia have now caught the virus, as well as an inmate at New York City’s Rikers Island, marking the first case at the notorious jail.
- Financial markets reeled again on Wednesday, as the coronavirus continued its relentless spread, governments ramped up efforts to contain it and investors waited for lawmakers in Washington to take action on proposals to bolster the American economy. The selling reflected another extreme swing in sentiment on Wall Street. Stocks jumped on Tuesday as the White House called for urgent action to pump $1 trillion into the economy.
- Sources: CNN, New York Times, NDTV, CTV, Aljazeera, CTV News, Global News
