COVID 19 Update July 20

COVID-19 Update from Mayor Wade Mills

July 20, 2020

Ontario saw a bit of spike in the daily number of new COVID-19 cases over the weekend but that number has dropped today. 135 new cases are being reported for Monday, bu this is still higher than the average numbers that have been posted over the past several days. It is too early to suggest that any uptick is correlated to the Phase Three re-openings which began last Friday but it will be interesting to see if that move does has any significant effect going forward.  Our cumulative reported provincial totals now sit at 37,739 cases, 33,519 resolved cases, and 2,752 total reported deaths.

Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health is reporting four new cases today throughout the region but the numbers for Dufferin County seem to be holding firm which is great news. Our cumulative total for the WDG region is now at 510 cases, with 21 active cases but no hospitalizations. For Dufferin County, our cumulative case total remains at 189, with no current active case being reported and no hospitalizations.

This past Friday saw much of the Province enter into Phase Three. It has now been announced that Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand-Norfolk, Lambton and York regions will join this coming Friday. At present, Toronto, Peel, and Windsor are going to be made to wait a little longer as many of the new daily cases are still being reported from within these regions. As mentioned above, I will be watching closely over the next week or so to see whether Phase Three results in any short or prolonged increases in the number of new cases.

Federally, it is expected that the House of Commons today will approve an extension of the Wage Subsidy program until December along with some loosening of the criteria necessary to qualify. While many businesses across the country are beginning to re-open, the expectation is that profit margins may be suppressed for some time and this program will allow employers to keep more people on the payroll despite that.

I hope that everyone is having a great start to the new week and I will report back on Wednesday.

Mayor Wade Mills