The steps the Ontario government has taken so far to limit the spread of COVID-19 have likely saved tens of thousands of lives, public health officials said Friday, but even with further action the death toll could reach as high as 15,000. Projections released by the province showed 100,000 Ontario residents could likely have died over the full course of the pandemic if the province hadn't implemented measures such as widespread closures of businesses and schools in order to promote physical distancing. As it is, the figures estimate thousands of people could still die without more aggressive

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Canadian Forces are being sent to northern Quebec to help communities there prepare to respond to COVID-19. He says the federal government is answering a call from the Quebec government. In a daily appearance outside his Ottawa residence today, Trudeau also says the federal government has an agreement with Amazon to use its distribution network to send medical supplies to meet provincial needs. Trudeau also announced that the government would donate $100 million to meet urgent food needs across the country, including in northern and Indigenous communitie

City of Surrey has laid off 1,900 part time and auxiliary staff members, and 140 regular staff members who worked at the city's now closed recreation centres, libraries, ice rinks, museums, cultural centres and pools.The City of Vancouver has laid off 1,500 staff to date, mainly workers at the community centres, libraries and theatres that have been closed in the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.In Delta, 500 auxiliary and part-timers are also off the job, 90 per cent of them workers at now closed community centres.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will share a small video message with the people of the country on Friday. "At 9 am tomorrow morning, I'll share a small video message with my fellow Indians," Modi said in a tweet. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi interacted with the Chief Ministers through video conferencing to discuss measures to combat COVID-19. He also thanked the states for supporting the decision of lockdown due to which India has achieved some success in limiting the spread of COVID-19. In his last address to the nation on March 24, the Prime Minister had announced a 21 day lockdown

There are 11,283 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 5,518 confirmed (including 36 deaths, 224 resolved) Ontario: 2,793 confirmed (including 53 deaths, 831 resolved) British Columbia: 1,121 confirmed (including 31 deaths, 641 resolved) Alberta: 968 confirmed (including 13 deaths, 174 resolved) Saskatchewan: 206 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 36 resolved) Nova Scotia: 193 confirmed (including 16 resolved) Newfoundland and Labrador: 183 confirmed (including 1 death, 10 resolved) Manitoba: 152 confirmed (including 1 death, 11 resolved), 15 presumptive New Brunswick: 91 co

The B.C. government says there are 55 new cases of COVID-19 in the province for a total of 1,121. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says one of the new cases is an inmate at the Okanagan Correctional Centre. She says it's the first positive test in a correctional facility in B.C. Henry also reports that six additional people have died after contracting the virus, bringing the total number of deaths in B.C. to 31. She says 149 people are hospitalized, while 641 people have recovered.

More than 11 million face masks have arrived in Canada in recent days, including a shipment of one million masks that arrived at a Hamilton warehouse overnight, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today. He said workers are trying to quickly assess that they meet the needed standards, and that 10 million masks are already being distributed to provinces and territories. He also said the government has ordered hundreds of thousands of face shields from Bauer, the company that normally makes hockey equipment.

Alberta is reporting 96 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total in the province to 968 cases. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province's chief medical health officer, also says two men in their 90s have died, bringing the number of deaths to 13. She says the outbreak has spread to nine continuing care centres, including Calgary's McKenzie Towne centre, where there are 65 cases. She says 174 people who tested position in the province have recovered.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says 15 people living in Indigenous communities have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Miller says the virus is a unique challenge in communities that are remote and he says the government is trying to get equipment there to help. But he says COVID-19 is just one of the challenges Indigenous communities are facing this spring, including the risk of flooding.