Canada's health minister says even as several provinces and sectors engage in a "cautious reopening," people need to understand that the coronavirus outbreak is "not over." Her message came as the number of COVID-19 cases in Canada exceeded 60,000.
Patty Hajdu said Monday that "the new normal will have to include new ways of living, new ways of working, that will protect us in this unique and difficult time."
The number of known coronavirus cases around the world has topped 3.5 million, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University, with more than 247,000 recorded COVID-19-related deaths.
As of 1:00 p.m. ET, Canada accounted for 60,616 presumptive and confirmed coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 25,757 cases as recovered or resolved. A tally maintained by CBC News based on provincial health data, regional health information and CBC's reporting lists 3,850 coronavirus-related deaths in Canada, with two known COVID-19-linked deaths of Canadians abroad.
Governments around the world have been scrambling to try and slow the spread of the virus, build up health systems and sort out how to conduct testing on a large scale. In some areas — including provinces across Canada — those same governments are also looking forward to how they will exit the lockdowns put in place to respond to the pandemic.
Several provinces are taking some steps toward what many officials have called the "new" normal.
Ontario took its first steps Monday with the reopening of some businesses, including lawn care and landscaping, garden centres for curbside pickup, automatic and self-serve car washes, auto dealerships by appointment, and many construction projects.
In Quebec, the hardest hit province in terms of numbers of cases and deaths, Premier François Legault announced Monday the province will delay the planned reopening of retail stores and other non-essential businesses in the greater Montreal area by one week, to May 18. Construction and manufacturing sectors across Quebec will reopen, as scheduled, on May 11, as will non-essential businesses outside the Montreal region.
In most of Saskatchewan, non-urgent medical offices are allowed to reopen and rules around some outdoor activities — including fishing and boating — are being loosened. But one owner of a physiotherapy clinic told CBC Saskatchewan she's got mixed emotions about opening up.
"It's very apparent that there is a huge need that's getting missed," said Alison Matsyk, who is a physiotherapist and owner of Stapleford Health and Rehab Centre. "The nervousness part comes with, 'What's it going to be like? What's our risk?'"
Newfoundland and Labrador recently followed New Brunswick's lead and allowed families to come together in "bubbles" made up of two households. But on Monday, Health Minister John Haggie told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show that some of what he was hearing on social media after the first weekend of "bubble" families was a "a little bit worrying."
Haggie said he is concerned people are moving too quickly, and urged them to slow down, just "nudge [the door] open gently."
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said Monday that even as things begin to reopen, people will have to keep practising physical distancing and cough etiquette, and stay home at the first sign of symptoms. Working while sick, for example, can no longer be allowed, Tam said, noting that this will be a challenge and require support from workplaces and governments.
The novel virus, for which there is no proven treatment or vaccine, first emerged in China and has since spread around the world. Public health officials have cautioned that actual infection numbers could be much higher, as recorded numbers don't account for people who haven't been tested or cases still under investigation.
