The chart
Premier Doug Ford brought a prop to Friday's press conference — a chart comparing COVID-19 rates in Ontario and other jurisdictions, namely in the United States.
The chart showed the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in each jurisdiction, with Ontario at 284 cases and others like Pennsylvania at 994 cases. Giving the appearance of a business presenter or a teacher in front of his class, Ford thanked Ontarians for following public health guidelines and protocols, but stressed that the chart "is not a victory lap."
"We need to never take our eye off the ball, we always have to be diligent, we always have to wear the face mask, we always have to wash our hands, sanitize our hands and we always have to have social distancing," Ford said.
He also used the chart to plead with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep the border closed. Canada and the U.S. have extended their deal that would keep the border closed to non-essential travel until Sept. 21.
"I always say I love our American friends, I really do, I spend a lot of time down there, but this is the reason, prime minister, we can’t open the borders — it’s very simple," Ford said.
This comes as Ontario reported 122 new cases of COVID-19 and six more deaths, a slight increase from 118 new cases the previous day, but a significant jump from 88 cases two days prior.
The number of active cases in the province has risen in recent weeks. On Aug. 19, the province reported 965 active cases and on Aug. 28, 1,103 cases. Asked if this made him nervous, Ford said he's "always concerned" because COVID-19 "moves like an Australian bushfire, once it starts it starts moving in and it's hard to control."
But he said that even with most areas of the province having been in stage three for about one month, "everyone seems to be doing a fairly good job." Ford also noted that most of the new cases are in four areas — Toronto, Peel, Windsor and Ottawa — though he stressed that he's "not blaming them at all, they're just large populations."
And aside from the prime minister, Ford also had a message for the province's youth that he repeated: "When you’re going back to college or university, I know the first few weeks (are) party, party, party — guys do me a favour, no partying, you’re going to have later in the summer to party all you want."
Social circles
Ford was asked about the possible expansion of social circles beyond 10 people and whether he had any hesitations given the COVID-19 case count, but the premier said he'd leave the decision on that to the province's command table and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams.
"I'm sure they have a sharp eye on this. And if it moves any more then I'm sure they'll give us direction, but right now I think we're doing fairly well. But I wouldn't be too confident, that’s for sure," he said.
Child care and the reopening of schools
As schools get ready to reopen, school boards are working on plans that include cohorting students and trying to limit contact between cohorts. A CBC reporter asked the premier about the government's plans to tackle the possible mixing of cohorts of children in before and after school programs.
Premier Ford said Education Minister Stephen Lecce is working with boards, but that each board is different.
"I hear what you're saying mixing the groups of kids, but I know the minister has worked diligently with the boards and each board is going to come up with their own plan, but there's money there to support them," Ford said, adding that he would ask Lecce about this issue.
As for where the premier will be on the first day of classes, Ford said he'd pick a school and that he'd visit some schools before classes start as well.
"I want to see the classrooms," said Ford, adding that he's going to "be on call" and that he's often working each day from 6 a.m. to midnight.
"Buy local suits"
Ford said he's "always concerned" about the restaurant industry when asked about businesses that will soon be faced with the end of patio season. He said hopefully restaurants will be able to stay open by spreading out tables and following health guidelines.
"A lot of these restaurants are family-owned restaurants and it really hits home (with) these family-run companies and they're struggling. But, hopefully, they'll be able to hang in there and we'll do everything we can to support the people, these small businesses," he said, going on to make another pitch about buying local.
Ford, who was rather jovial on Friday, said he needs to go "buy local suits."
"They’re giving me a hard time," he said, not specifying who he was referring to. "I've lost a few pounds, not too much, but they say I kind of look like I have a clown suit on. This suit’s really baggy."
"So what I did I offered ... Minister Smith, I call him Smitty. I said, ‘Smitty I'll give you all my old suits for half price, $25 apiece.’ And so I'm going to take him up on it, you know, he saves a lot of money and I get new suits," said Ford, speaking of Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Todd Smith.
New rules for long-term care residents
Ontario seniors will now be able to leave their long-term care homes for day or overnight trips, the province announced on Friday.
For "short-stay absences," or day trips that would include visiting family, running errands or going for medical appointments, homes would need to give residents a face mask that they can wear when they leave. The home would need to screen the resident when they return, but testing or self-isolation wouldn't be required.
A home would be able to decide whether or not to permit residents to leave the home on "temporary absences" of one or more nights, depending on the activity the resident will be participating in, local transmission rates and the resident's ability to follow public health guidelines. If a home decides not to permit such an absence request, they would need to provide written communication with the reason. Residents would also need to self-isolate for 14 days once they return to the home.
Residents with a temporary absence in hospital can return to the home if the facility is not experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, if they test negative for COVID-19 or are cleared of an infection, if the home can help them with 14 days of self-isolation and if they can return to a room with one or no other residents.
"This is a day we have all looked forward to, and it is my hope that these welcome changes will improve our residents' quality of life, while keeping them safe," said Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton in a statement.
The government said it would release an updated policy on visits to long-term care homes next week.
Funding for youth training
The government announced the members of the Premier's Council on Equality of Opportunity, which is being chaired by Jamil Jivani, the province's Advocate for Community Opportunities.
Premier Ford and Smith attended the first meeting of the council on Friday morning, according to a government press release.
"We have all seen the tragic stories, we know that hate can destroy communities and as premier I can’t sit back and I won’t sit back," said Ford. "I vowed to keep our communities together and recognize the pain and where it’s coming from and to always stand with those who experience discrimination, because racism and hate have no place in Ontario." He said this is why his government established the council.
"We want to empower the next generation of leaders, we want to remove the barriers to their success and help them reach their full potential," he said, adding that the group of 20 is committed to creating opportunities for youth — an important task as the province aims to boost its economy after taking a massive hit because of COVID-19.
Jivani, who joined the premier for the announcement at a Youth Employment Services (YES) office in Toronto, said the group discussed during its first meeting the ways in which COVID-19 had an impact on students and young workers. They also talked about the province's Black Youth Action Plan, which provides funding to different programs to support Black youth and their families. Jivani said the group would consult with government officials and organizations on the action plan and seek input on how to increase the impact.
The premier and his ministers also announced $2.2 million for eight projects to help 500 underrepresented youth get on-the-job experience in different sectors. This included $500,000 for a 12-week program focused on training youth in cloud computing and programming that will by run by YES along with other partners like Amazon.
According to YES's website, Jivani is listed as a member of the organization's board of directors.
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