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? Members of the Canadian Armed Forces also submitted a report on the state of some nursing homes in Quebec, and the details are no better than those in a recently released report about the squalid conditions in some of Ontario’s long-term care facilities.
What’s happening across Canada? Ontario is taking over the management of four of the five nursing homes included in the military’s report. The provincial government plans to ramp up inspections of these facilities and others. Premier Doug Ford’s government significantly cut back inspections last year.
The Ontario government has also refused to release areas that have been hotspots for the virus, claiming it would “stigmatize” these places. Despite this, the City of Toronto went ahead and released detailed geographic information about where the city’s hotspots were located.
Alberta reported its lowest level of active cases since the end of March.
On Monday, Manitoba plans to enter the next stage of its reopening plan, which includes letting restaurants, bars and gyms open again with physical distancing measures in place.
On June 5, Nova Scotia will let many businesses reopen, including restaurants, bars, gyms and hair salons.
Beaches in Prince Edward Island’s national park will reopen next week.
Newfoundland and Labrador has now had 20 straight days without a confirmed new case of COVID-19.
Canada now has 87,891 confirmed cases and 6,799 deaths due to COVID-19.
Lift me up. We leave you today with the news that SpaceX had to delay its launch of a rocket that was scheduled to depart yesterday to take NASA scientists to the International Space Station. It was set to be the first time a spacecraft developed by a private company would carry people into the Earth’s orbit. Lightening scuttled the launch.