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This country is easing lock down restrictions. Entering phase two of its re-opening plan but there are troubling signs in some parts of the province, namely in kingston and windsor-essex. They’ve seen a spike in cases recently. We’ll take a closer look at all of that coming up. Let’s bring in My colleagues, Vassy kapelos and the cbc’s catherine cullen. As well as those two sort of hotspots in Ontario, one of them related to migrant workers and in the case of kingston, we’ll talk to the mayor in just a moment, an outbreak that started at a nail salon and also what is happening in the United States, which continues to be very troubling for Canada, although the border remains closed to nonessential travel. Vassy, I’ll get you to start off there and anything you know that the Prime Minister is going say today.
Vassy:
For sure. Obviously the restrictions remain in place until nearly the end of July between Canada and the unite at the border. But I think we’ve kind of been saying the same thing over the past two weeks. Every time I turn on the news in the morning, south of the border, you see state after state report increases in the number of cases, but not only the number of cases in the number of hospitalizations as well. a place like Arizona, for example, where hospital workers and doctors and nurses are particularly sounding an alarm about reaching capacity in many of the hospitals and their ability to even treat some of these patients. Obviously a worrying trend because the economies in those states opened up much faster than here in Canada province-by-province. But there are less restrictions still in place in many of those places. I think there is a desire, especially not only with the Prime Minister, but those modeling numbers to figure out what can we glean from the information there that might impact the forecast or our ability to mitigate the spread of the virus here and in particular one thing that I think is going to be interesting to zone in on what I want to know more about is the rise in cases among young people. That is something that we have seen be especially pervasive throughout the United States in those states in particular where we’re seeing the spike in cases and spike in hospitalizations. Now the mortality rate is not necessarily going up. Young people aren’t dieing from the virus at this point. To the same degree that older people are and we know that to be true to a certain extent in Canada as well. But the problem, of course, is even if you are asymptomatic and your symptoms aren’t that bad, you can transmit the virus to someone who could very much have a dire consequence because of that or pass away or just suffer a lot more than a younger person does. So, now we have seen, in some provinces, I’m thinking of – I know in Ontario, and I know in Alberta as well, a majority of newer cases are actually among younger populations which does echo some patterns we’ve seen emerge into the United States. I don’t know if it will have the same outcome, but I’m curious to hear from Dr. Tam what the modeling shows her about that. and also just studying against the backdrop that you mentioned, rosie, the economy – anyone who went outside for the weekend and saw anyone for the first or second time, we all feel it. Things are certainly relaxed compared to what they were a month ago or two months ago. But what kind of effect is that going to have on the spread of the virus. As you mentioned we saw in kingston, for example, what happened there. How are we dealing with incidents like that. What kind of overall trajectory of the virus. June 4 was the last day that the modeling with reflexive of that. a different society when we were still very much in the month preceding that locked down. This will be, I think, a different look, more based in the kind of way of life that we’ll have over the next few months, at least.
Rosemary:
Phil, My trustee producer, pulled out some number and we’re not sure if if they’re new numbers or the numbers we’ll get at noon where it does say that the highest incidents in age and gender remain in Canadians over 80, which is the trend we’ve been seeing from the beginning but as you rightly point out, younger adults aged 20 to 29. They now represent 22% of the cases reported in the last week and people in that age category, 22 to 29 comprise just 14% of the Canadian population. So, we’ve seen some stories of Hamilton, we’ve seen nit other places. There is certainly something going on there. and it does seem to be the case in the United States as well. and I don’t know if it’s because people are feeling relaxed or no longer following the public health advice, the same way, because things have been eased? I’m not sure what that’s about. But there is definitely something going on, something troubling and something to watch as you rightly point out. Doesn’t mean the same number of deaths for young people. They usually don’t have the same kind of – it is usually not a severe case, but something very much to watch. I’ll bring in you, Catherine, on that point or what you’re expecting from the Prime Minister. I know you did work on Friday around the bid to try to get students to do volunteer work. and that story continues a bit today as well.
Reporter:
That’s right. The conservatives are trying to push this issue forward and saying that they want scrutiny of this programme. The Canada student service grant programme. Folks may remember that is a $900 million programme and the aim is to get students across Canada, many of whom would have hoped to have summer jobs and are not finding them, to put them in touch with charity organisations. They will be paid for that work, somewhere between $1, 000 and $5, 000 depending on how much work they put in. The group that is administering this programme, it is not the federal government. They put a group called the we charity in charge of this. People may know, they may be able to cast their minds back to 2015 when Justin Trudeau made his very first speech actually after being sworn in as Prime Minister. First big public event was one of those we day events where he was speaking to crowds of thousands of young people, getting his message out. Now the Prime Minister doesn’t get paid for his work nor does his wife or his mother. They are also associated with this charity. But the Prime Minister was asked on Friday, is there some impression that could be left of, for instance, favoritism, preference, conflict of interest because your family so close with this charity. He defended the decision to give this charity this contract. Listen, this is what departmental officials told us to do. They said this is the only charity that could handle, the only organization that could handle work of this nature. So, finding positions for all of these students, getting them connected with it. But the questions remain, the conservatives now saying it needs scrutiny by the auditor general, talking particularly about the outsourcing of the programme to a third party, saying it raises justifiable concerns and a number of questions and, of course, raising those connections between the Prime Minister and his family. Since then, we’re hearing about other concerns as well. I’ve received e-mail and you have, too. Perhaps Vassy Vs well from students and others, labour lawyers and whatnot questioning the nature of the programme itself. Why give students a sum of money, but not pay them, for instance, the minimum wage. If you break it down, it is less than the minimum wage. Some people – well, I think people generally applauding getting students out into the community. But questioning whether or not it is appropriate to be giving them some money, whether that muddies the sense of volunteerism, but not enough. We heard the government defend that and say listen, thises a tough time. These charities need help. This is a way to help them. Students need additional money. This is encouraging work in the public service. But the questions don’t pile up today and the Prime Minister may be facing more of them today as well.
Rosemary:
Yeah. Worth pointing out this is a volunteer position so you wouldn’t normally get money and the government pointing out to deal with two issues at the same time. One, charities that need labour at a time when pandemic is happening across the country. and students who are looking for work and the work isn’t created. I think you have new numbers on the number of people, too, that have reached out and – or put their hand up and said yeah, I want to do this.
Yes. and it’s also interesting because it link back to the concern by the conservatives. The government has some numbers and I think we’ll hear more from the Prime Minister about this today. They see good-news numbers. 25, 000 applications that they received. I believe the applications opened on Thursday, that was when the Prime Minister married his announcement. So they were hoping to get 20, 000 students in place. They’ve already received 25, 000 applications. They see that as good news. They received 1, 000 in just the first few hours. The demand is there. Students are eager for the opportunities and the money that comes along with I. But what’s interesting in that is we’s involve independent this project is scrutinized, of this $900 million-plus programme, according to the information we received from the government – now we is not going to make any kind of profit the Prime Minister said on Friday, but they are getting paid to administer the programme and that amounts to $19.5 million. About $5 million of that goes to other agencies. But that number can keep going up if there is more interest in the programme. If the programme itself expands. Certainly these latest numbers, it’s only been a few days suggests that the interest is there. Therefore, the programme can expand. The other trick in all of this is are the opportunities there because we know that that’s something that other groups such as volunteer Canada, which people who have been listening to news network, our colleague janyce mcgregor has heard her talking about today but they have a concern amoensing other things, not only muddying the sense of volunteerism but also of having a rash of people offer up their services and then not actually have a spot for them and that they fear that in the long-term that dampens people’s sent of enthusiasm. Interesting to see how that plays out. It is a multifaceted issue and there are a number of concerns being raised. and there is people very interested in this.
Rosemary:
For sure. and that might be the encouraging part, I guess, for the programme and for the government to see young people wanting to help out. We are standing by for the Prime Minister as he comes in and out about three minutes. Kingston, Ontario is dealing with a surge of COVID-19 cases after an outbreak at a nail salon. Brian Patterson is the mayor of Kingston. He joins me now. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you. Good morning.
Rosemary:
There is a public health update at 1:00. But give us a hint of what we should expect. How big is the problem right now in Kingston because of this outbreak?
We are definitely seeing an increase in cases. We expect that number to go up for the next little while. But the same time, it was good that we caught it early. So, we have done a ton of testing. There have been hundreds of people that have come forward and doing the tests and making sure that we’re doing the contact tracing. All of those best practices that we know were important and I think that’s what I’m hearing from My public health officials. That, you know what? this was only a matter of time. We’ll see these outbreaks from time to time as we live with COVID-19 over the next year, year and a half. So, the key is to catch it early and move quickly and get that testing done. So, so far what I’m hearing is that it’s not great, but it could be a lot worse.
Rosemary:
Yeah. I think the last thing I heard this morning was 3, 000 people had been tested, all related to this contact tracing which is what you’re supposed to do, of course, when you get this. How many cases do you know are confirmed to this outbreak? the last number I heard on that front is 25. is that still the number?
That’s right. That is the number we have right now. I’ll have a call very shortly with our public health officials to see if any new cases have come. When we’re testing that many people, we are expecting that there will be more positive cases. Again, this is one of those things where we’ll continue to update it and work with the community and make sure that everybody who has been to that nail salon gets tested. When you are talking about 500 people from the last two week, that – two weeks, that’s a lot of people to identify.
Rosemary:
So, you are doing an enforcement blitz right now to make sure that they’re practicing the right kind of public health advice. Should that not have been done proactively or was the onus on businesses to do the right thing?
Yeah. I think to be clear, public health had done a really good job about letting all these business know exactly what the guidelines and what the rules were. URL some of those rule and guidelines weren’t follow sod that is where the inspection is going forward to make sure everyone else is following those rules. If no, they will be fined. Our medical officers have said that if they find more cases and further problems, that they may even issue an order to close nail salons. So that is something where we identify. It is a higher risk activity. You are talking about being in close contact with someone for about an hour and we have to make sure that those guidelines are put in place.
Rosemary:
Would you not – I understand you’re obviously taking their advice. But would it not be perhaps prudent to shut down all salon and then do sort of the inspections to make sure it’s happening because there is now two, right? two or three salons that have had violations.
We’ve already done a blitz and I think we hit just about all the salons in the city. So we’ll connect and see if there are further problems. We’re certainly willing to do that. It is a wake up call from the community to say you know, we’ve gone through a couple of months with hardly any cases at all and understand that, you know what? we have to be careful and stay vigilant that we’re living with this virus. It is not going to go away. As long as we do, that we’ll be in good shape.
Rosemary:
is that part of the problem? Kingston has been a success story, certainly in Ontario, in terms of containing the virus. Do you think people let their guard down a little bit?
I think in this particular case where the public guidelines weren’t being followed, that is probably an indication that some people had their guard down. I think a wake up call is a good thing. This is what I’m hearing from our local public health people, that we’ll have outbreaks like this. Until we have a vaccine. So we have to make sure that we can’t let our guard down. That physical distancing and hand washing and now wearing masks, those are things that are there for a reason to make sure that we can prevent the spread of any new cases.
Rosemary:
and the health unit is talking about wearing masks.
So, we issued an order that masks should be worn inside any public spaces. So, this would mean if you’re going to the grocery store or library, community centre or riding public transit, for example, and the response has been pretty good here in our community. Everybody is wearing it and taking it in stride. Just about every store that we’re selling masks has sold out of them. I think getting that uptake from the community is a really good sign.
Rosemary:
I know that customs officials have been warned about this and Americans coming across on the water, for recreational regions into Kingston s. That actually happening? have you seen evidence of that? how concerning is that for you?
Obviously that is a violation of the rules that are in place. We had people raise those concerns and have been and have been doing inspections and marinas to make sure that that isn’t happening. We’re encouraging people. If you see something that is a concern to contact border control directly. We’re learning to abide by those rules.
Rosemary:
Thank you. We appreciate it very much. and we’ll bring the news from the briefing later today as well. That is the mayor of Kingston, Ontario. An out break that started in Kingston has led to the city testing more than 3, 000 people. The case load is still positive cases, still quite low. That is the kind of thing that everyone needs to be aware of, that it can happen and public health officials have to be able to go in and test and contact trace in Kingston. The other place is where people are a major concern is in windsor-essex. We talked about it last week. If you were watching about migrant workers after the death of a third mexican migrant worker in southern Ontario and now, as of today, there are 117 new cases of COVID-19. In the region of windsor-essex. I should point out that My colleague chris ensing says of all the cases in that part of the region, more than 40% are in the farm sector. Obviously there is a push to get migrant workers tested but there is a sense of vulnerability in that part of the industry as well. Saskatchewan has seen an uptick and some of that is to be expected as restrictions are eased, but it is still something that we should be keeping an eye on. I’ll bring back My colleagues before the Prime Minister. We’ve talked about hotspots but it is interesting to see then how public health officials respond to these kinds of things and how quickly you can contain it which is what the goal is.
Vassy:
If I can zone in on the migrant worker. Because there might be questions for the Prime Minister on that. Th out break is in a couple of areas of Ontario. There’s shared jurisdiction over how this file is handled and in particular how to mitigate the spread of the virus among migrant workers. I know he is coming right now. But the federal government has some jurisdiction right here, especially around congregant living situations, which is a huge part of all this.
Rosemary:
All right. Here we go. Here is the Prime Minister of Canada.