Welcome to our daily COVID-19 update. We’ll bring you the latest coronavirus news and stories about how Canadians are coping during these scary, uncertain times.
What’s the government doing? On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said students can apply for a previously announced benefit starting tomorrow. He revealed that more than 120,000 Canadian companies have been approved for wage subsidies and more than 500,000 small businesses have received emergency loans.
The federal government is giving $2.3 million to Saskatchewan to help fight the outbreak in the northern part of the province.
The Canada-U.S. border will not reopen until at least June 21.
What’s happening across Canada? Ontario Premier Doug Ford is set to announce the details of the first phase of the province’s reopening plan. It’s expected to include retail stores that aren’t inside malls, seasonal businesses and in-person health services.
As Ontario is still continuing to lag in its testing goals, the provincial government has announced it plans to expand its testing criteria to anyone with symptoms.
Quebec is also missing its test targets, only testing around 9,000 people a day. Its goal is 14,000.
The Northwest Territories could start the first phase of its reopening plan as early as Friday.
Alberta let some businesses and daycares to reopen Thursday outside of Calgary and Brooks, which have seen the majority of the province’s cases.
Health officials in British Columbia are asking people to continue to avoid non-essential travel during the long weekend.
Newfoundland and Labrador had no new confirmed cases for a sixth day in a row.
Canada has now seen 5,304 deaths and 72,278 confirmed cases of the disease.
Lift me up. We leave you today with the news that thousands of businesses reopened in New Zealand Thursday as the country’s lockdown was lifted. Kiwis celebrated by going to barbershops at midnight to get haircuts.
Stay safe.