Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday almost 5,000 Canadian companies have reached out to help produce critical items such as personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks, gloves and gowns, as well as test kits and 30,000 ventilators, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
The federal government announced more than 788,000 people applied for financial aid Monday from the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to help with COVID-19 related layoffs. Another 178,000 filed for employment insurance, meaning a total of nearly one million Canadians applied for federal financial help on Monday alone. 3.6 million Canadians have applied for these two types of benefits since March 15.
Canadians can go to Canada.ca for information about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
Payments are $2,000 a month for up to four months.
Applicants who have direct deposit are expected to receive the first payment within three to five days. Those who use regular mail should receive the first payment within 10 days.
Those eligible for CERB, born in January through March, applied for the benefit Monday. People born in April through June may apply Tuesday, those born in July through September, on April 8, and Canadians with birth months October through December can sign up on April 9 (any month, Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
Canadians applying by phone may call the automated toll-free line at 1-800-959-2019.
The number of COVID-19 total cases in Canada was 17,063 as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, with 4,726 cases in Ontario. There have been 153 COVID-19 deaths provincially.
Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday the first batch of made-in-Ontario face masks (1,000 of them) are ready, a day after he warned the province would run out of PPE in one week. A company in Vaughan hopes to eventually produce one million a week and have them ready for use in all health-care settings.
Ontario says a new Health Workforce Matching Portal will allow health-care providers, including retired or non-active health-care professionals, internationally-educated health-care professionals, students, and volunteers with health care experience to join in the provincial struggle against COVID-19.
In local news, here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from Algoma Public Health:
- 603 tested
- 9 positive
- 382 negative
- 212 pending
The statistics reported by APH were updated at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
