Why every Canadian should get a $2,000 cheque ASAP Welcome to the Maclean's daily newsletter. As the coronavirus disrupts life in Canada, and Canadians get used to the notion of "social distancing" and "flattening the curve," Maclean's has expanded this newsletter to include everything you need to know about the global pandemic. You'll still find our best stories of the day at the bottom of the newsletter, but we'll also catch you up on news and notes from around the world.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We don’t just need to flatten the curve, we need to plank it”—Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer
There are 772 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, more than 55,000 people have been tested to date, and 10 Canadians have died, said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, at today’s midday briefing. There are at least 235,000 cases in 160 nations, per Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, and more than 9,700 have died. A big concern is a growing backlog of pending tests, as Canada ramps up testing (it did more than 10,000 on Wednesday alone, Tam said). In Ontario, the bottleneck doubled to almost 3,400 in just one day, with a four-day wait for results. Health Minister Christine Elliott calls it “unacceptable.” Tam also revealed that Canadian jurisdictions put in short-term requests for seven million masks, and the federal government has been able to fulfill around 75 per cent of those requests, though she cautions even that may not be enough, depending on what happens in Canada and how supply chains are affected. The situation in the United States is noticeably more concerning. The Providence St. Joseph Health system in Washington state bought supplies at craft stores and Home Depot and assembled 500 homemade masks for front-line workers. As well, the CDC released a document, “Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of Facemasks,” which advised facilities to use outdated masks, reuse others and even to try bandanas, scarves and other homemade masks when no other options are available. Italy’s death toll rose to more than 3,400, as it now overtakes China as the nation with the most COVID-19 deaths. Canada’s border with the United States will close to virtually all non-essential travel as early as Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters. As travel grinds down, Air Canada will suspend most international flights by the end of the month. Around 70,000 more Americans filed for unemployment claims last week, making for a total of 281,000—up from 211,000 the previous week—and is from a period before most self-isolation measures took effect. Researchers at Western University in Ontario are beginning work on a COVID-19 vaccine, helped by fast-track funding announced Thursday by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The team is building off of work done by Chil-Yong Kang, who is also working on a MERS vaccine (MERS is similar to COVID-19). The World Health Organization is launching “a multi-arm, multi-country clinical trial for potential coronavirus therapies, part of an aggressive effort to jumpstart the global search for drugs to treat COVID-19,” according to StatNews. The article reports that Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said that four drugs or drug combinations already licensed and used for other illnesses will be tested, and 10 countries have already indicated they will take part in the trial. Calling all Raptors fans with lots of self-isolation time on their hands: Starting tomorrow, TSN and Sportsnet are replaying the entire 2019 championship playoff run of the Toronto Raptors. The sports networks will alternate in providing coverage of the games each night, so check this schedule for details. —Patricia Treble
As of last night, this is the number of confirmed cases in Canada. We're updating this chart every day. 
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