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Afternoon News: Thursday, May 7, 2020

COVID-19 Ottawa:

Two more people have died from complications related to COVID-19 in Ottawa.

Ottawa Public Health is also reporting 21 new confirmed cases of the Novel Coronavirus.

There have been 1579 confirmed cases, and 141 deaths in the capital, while staff are fighting outbreaks at 24 different local institutions.

Meanwhile,

Beechwood Cemetary and Funeral Home will soon begin a phased-in re-opening.

Access to the cemetery will resume from 4:00 pm until sunset on Saturday. Those hours will remain in place on weekends. Weekday hours will stretch from sun rise to sun set.

You’re asked to enter off of Beechwood Avenue, and maintain physical distancing guidelines, including gatherings of five people or less.

COVID-19 Ontario:

Ontario is reporting 399 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, and 48 more deaths.

That brings the province to a total of 19,121 cases, a 2.1 per cent increase over Wednesday’s total, including 1,477 deaths and 13,569 resolved cases.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 and the amount of people in intensive care remained stable, and the number of people on ventilators dropped from 174 to 155.

Ontario’s Ministry of Health is planning for hospitals to resume scheduled surgeries as the spread of COVID-19 slows. But officials say hospitals will need to reserve 15 per cent of beds for coronavirus patients and meet a number of other criteria.

Ministry officials say there’s no timeline for when these procedures will be allowed to resume, but hospitals and health regions are now in a position assess their situations.

Cottage Country:

Premier Doug Ford says cottage country mayors have asked people not to travel to their regions this upcoming May long weekend.

Ford says there will be other long weekends, though he did not explicitly tell people not to travel to their cottages. He does say those who do travel should follow public health measures.

More Support For Essential Workers on Minimum Wage:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the details of a wage boost for essential workers are still being finalized with some provinces.

The federal government, provinces and territories will spend $4-billion to increase wages for front-line workers who are making minimum wage.

The federal government will cover three-quarters of the cost of this program, with lower-tier governments kicking in the rest.

Off-Duty Ottawa Police Officer Charged:

An off-duty Ottawa Police officer has been charged with impaired driving.

James Monroe, 50, was stopped in the area Old Montreal Road and Dairy Road around 1:45 Wednesday afternoon after the force received calls about an erratic driver.

The force says he has been placed on administrative duties.

Saskatchewan School to Offer Cree Education:

A school in Saskatchewan is offering a new Cree language program.

Students enrolled in kindergarten at John Diefenbaker Public School in Prince Albert will have the option to enroll in the Cree program this fall.

Students will still receive the basic kindergarten curriculum, but half of the instruction will be done in Cree.

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