Canada column for
Sunday, April 5/20
THE CANADIAN REPORT
(c) By Jim Fox
Canada is taking a
strong stand against an order from the White House to cut off supplies of
medical equipment to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau said it would be a “mistake” to block shipments of U.S.-made 3M respirators
and masks to Canada and Latin America.
President Donald
Trump said he would enable the Defense Production Act to require 3M to
prioritize the supply for Americans.
The company agreed
to the order but cautioned, as did Trudeau, that the action could backfire and
“end up hurting Americans as much as it hurts anybody else” through retaliatory
actions.
Both countries
receive essential supplies and products from each other as well as health-care
professionals.
There are “thousands
of nurses and health workers” from Canada who cross the border to work in
Greater Detroit hospitals, Trudeau said.
Canada is reporting
12,000 cases of the virus and 152 deaths including 20 at the Pinecrest Nursing
Home in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.
The U.S. totals
were 258,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 6,600 deaths.
---
People in Toronto
who are enjoying the warm spring weather are being told they’ll face stiff
fines if they continue to gather in groups violating the social distancing law
to stop the spread of the virus.
“Time is up” for
those not getting the message that parks and playgrounds are off limits, Mayor
John Tory said.
People who continue
to break the law could face a fine starting at $1,000, he said.
The city has called
in hundreds of bylaw officers and police to warn people against taking part in
this behavior that is “irresponsible and insensitive,” he added
---
News in brief:
- The several
hundred Canadians stranded at sea in Florida arrived home Friday afternoon
after Carnival Cruises arranged their flight home. They had been sailing around
Panama on Holland America’s ms Zaandam and Rotterdam and were not allowed to
dock due to four deaths and other passengers sick with the virus. Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis initially opposed allowing the ships with ‘foreign
nationals” to dock in Port Everglades until President Trump intervened.
- Canada’s banks
have lowered credit card interest rates for those under financial pressure due
to the virus outbreak. Rates have dropped to 10.99 percent and clients have
also been approved to skip payments on the cards and mortgage charges. The Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce said 80,000 clients have applied for relief from card
payments for up to two months.
---
Facts and figures:
The Canadian dollar
is lower at70.38 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.420 Canadian before
exchange fees.
After two recent
interest rate cuts of .05 percent by the Bank of Canada, the trendsetting rate
is 0.25 percent while the prime lending rate is 2.95 percent.
The Toronto Stock
Exchange is up at 12,938 points while the TSX Venture index is down at 383
points.
The average price
for gas in Canada is down to 75.9 cents a liter (Canadian) or $2.88 for a U.S.
gallon and as low as 58.3 cents in northern Ontario.
Lotto Max: (March
31) 5, 7, 22, 29, 32, 37 and39; bonus 3. (March 27) 3, 4, 13, 14, 30, 36 and 41;
bonus 21.
Lotto
6/49: (April 1) 4, 6, 10, 13, 25 and 49; bonus 41.
(March 28) 2, 7, 21, 30, 33 and 46; bonus 27.
---
Regional briefs:
- A weather system
that brought a significant snowfall to parts of Manitoba and eastern
Saskatchewan moved into northern Ontario yesterday. The Weather Network said
snowfall amounts, along with periods of freezing rain, totaled up to 20 inches
with mostly rain in Ontario. The cooler weather should continue until
mid-April, forecasters said.
- Researchers at
Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital are suggesting that the fight against the
pandemic could get a boost if Canadians boosted the relative humidity levels in
public and private spaces. They and international researchers say sufficient
indoor air moisture levels can have a powerful but little-understood effect on
the transmission of airborne diseases, said Dr. Samira Mubareka, a medical
microbiologist.
-30-
Jim Fox can be reached at canadareport@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment