GTA

COVID-19 in Ontario: Brampton bus driver tests positive, renters appeal for help

A Brampton bus driver has tested positive for COVID-19, the city says.

In a statement, the city said it learned of the case on Monday evening. The driver is at home in self-isolation, it added.

It marks the first COVID-19 infection in a Brampton Transit employee, the city said.

The driver worked on the following routes:

  • 11 Steeles.
  • 51 Hereford.
  • 53 Ray Lawson.
  • 57 Charolais.

Peel Public Health is reaching out to other employees who would have had close contact with the driver and they will be directed to self-isolate for 14 days.

The city said that public health officials informed it that “there is no additional risk to the riders on the Transit bus than there would be in the general community.”

Ontario currently has 588 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including eight deaths and eight cases that are considered resolved. The Brampton bus driver is not included in the province’s official tally, but that will likely change when public health officials provide updated numbers at 10:30 a.m. ET.

1st day of 2-week shutdown

All non-essential businesses in Ontario are closed as of today.

Premier Doug Ford’s order to shut shop for at least 14 days took effect just before midnight.

But many companies will still be doing business after being designated as essential by the government.

They include construction firms, utilities, health-care professionals, veterinarians, grocery stores and pharmacies.

Drone video shot by CBC News on Tuesday shows relentless pleas for people to stay at home are having a dramatic effect on life in Toronto.

The video captured empty parks and eerily quiet streets in parts of the city that are usually bustling. Even the Gardiner Expressway, normally packed with vehicle traffic, was mostly an open road.

Fiscal update coming today

Ontario’s finance minister is set to release a fiscal update later today.

Rod Phillips was originally supposed to present a full budget, but opted not to in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Phillips says the update will contain a one-year outlook based on the new economic realities caused by COVID-19 and will also serve as an important signal to the many groups the province funds such as municipalities, school boards and hospitals.

“It’s also going to make clear to Ontarians we’ve got the money to support our health-care system, we’re going to be supporting jobs and people as well and that their government has a plan,” he said.

The outlook won’t contain any long-term fiscal projections, something normally seen in a provincial budget. The unpredictable circumstances surrounding the pandemic make things too uncertain, Phillips added.

“What we won’t be doing tomorrow is providing any multi-year projections,” he said Tuesday. “That’s because it would be impossible to do so at this time. We’ll do that, hopefully, when the dust has cleared and we have a better sense of things.”

Philips is set to deliver the update starting at 4 p.m.

Tenant rights groups call for help

Tenant advocacy groups across the country are expected to formally ask governments for help paying rent today as an April first deadline looms.

Many renters have been left scrambling as the COVID-19 outbreak shuts down businesses and causes thousands of job losses.

Landlords say they still have to worry about paying mortgages, taxes and other expenses during the pandemic.

But Geordie Dent, the executive director of Toronto’s Federation of Metro Tenants Associations, says many renters won’t be able to make their payments without help.

He says that tenant associations across the country plan on issuing a joint statement today seeking some kind of government relief.

CBC

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CBC

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