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In a Monday afternoon press conference, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches, said there may be as many as 4,000 undiagnosed cases in the city.

“It’s not the time for non-essential excursions outside the home. It’s not the time to have friends or family over to visit,” Etches said. “Limit contact to everyone outside your household.”

-The number of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada rose to 1,472 by the end of Sunday, an increase of 141 over the previous 24 hours. The country’s death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 21.

-Speaking to the media on Monday, Prime Minister Trudeau had harsh words for Canadians who are not adhering to guidelines on social distancing in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“If you choose to ignore that advice … you’re not just putting yourself at risk, you’re putting others at risk too,” he said.

The prime minister said that frontline workers in Canada “need you to make the right choices.”

“Enough is enough,” he said. “Go home and stay home.”

-Speaking from Rideau Cottage where he remains in self-isolation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “everything is on the table” in the bid to slow the spread of the virus. Trudeau also announced the government will invest $192 million in companies researching a vaccine.

-Trudeau also promised more money for farmers through the Farm Credit Canada program. He said $5 billion dollars will be made available to food producers to keep the farmers operating through the pandemic.

-Ontario says it will provide $200 million in relief funding to food banks, shelters and other emergency services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

-The mayor of Toronto has declared a state of emergency in the city.

-British Columbia says it will provide a tax-free $1,000 payment to people whose jobs have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

-The Canadian Armed Forces says there is no link between the movement of dozens of military trucks and armoured vehicles over the weekend and COVID-19.

-The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are being postponed, according to International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound. Pound told USA Today on Monday that the Games likely will be pushed back to 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” he told the newspaper in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

As the pandemic continues to surge globally, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee issued joint statements Sunday evening saying they refuse to send their teams to Tokyo unless their respective Games are pushed back, and are advocating for a year.

-For the first time since the 1998 ice storm, Montreal police have declared a state of emergency to allow the force more flexibility in using its resources. Quebec Premier François Legault announced an official ban on gatherings of two or more people to help limit person-to-person contact. Police have the power to break up groups and fine them $1,000 if they are gathering indoors and outdoors.

-Transat AT Inc. says it has temporarily laid off about 70 per cent of its workforce in Canada, about 3,600 people. The decision comes as non-essential travel around the world comes to a standstill as governments close borders in an effort to slow the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Ottawa says arrangements have been made to help repatriate Canadians stranded in Peru due to COVID-19 related restrictions.

-Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it won’t be possible for the government to repatriate all Canadians stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war. That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world - @antonioguterres #COVID19 — UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) March 23, 2020

#BREAKING More than one billion people have been asked to stay home in more than 50 countries and territories around the world as governments battle the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, according to an AFP tally pic.twitter.com/Gq4EsuZvfM — AFP news agency (@AFP) March 23, 2020

–Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has increased to 1,812, with 127 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry spokesman told state TV on Monday, adding that the country’s total number of infected people has reached 23,049.

-The death toll in Spain has reached 2,182, adding 462 fatalities overnight, the health ministry said on Monday. The number of cases registered in Spain rose to 33,089 up from 28,572 cases on Sunday.

-Globally, there are now more than 337,500 cases of coronavirus and more than 14,650 deaths related to it, according to a Reuters tally on Monday. Italy remained the country hardest-hit outside mainland China, registering 651 deaths in the last day.

-The U.S. surgeon general issued his starkest warning to date on Monday about the health risk posed by the coronavirus outbreak, warning Americans that the crisis was “going to get bad” this week. The country’s top public health official, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, sounded the alarm as nearly one-third of Americans awoke to “stay at home orders.”

WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020

–Germany has banned public meetings of more than two people unless they live together in the same household or the gathering is work-related.

-The Conference Board of Canada has estimated how much our economy will shrink if both Canada and the U.S. continue with social distancing policies and travel bans until the end of August. In a report released Monday the board estimates that under those conditions the Canadian GDP will fall by 1.1 per cent in 2020, instead of growing 0.3 per cent, what was its “baseline” forecast.

A recession is often declared when a country’s economy has two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

“Canadian leaders, business owners and households are facing unprecedented uncertainty,” said says Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist at The Conference Board of Canada, in a release. “If this scenario holds true, we can expect a deeper and longer-lasting hit to the Canadian economy. Still, governments have acted swiftly to mitigate health and economic impacts, once COVID-19 is contained, the economy will rebound.”

The report estimates the Canadian economy could shed more than 330,000 jobs in the second and third quarters of 2020, boosting unemployment rate to 7.7 per cent.

Photo by CARLO HERMANN / AFP via Getty Images

-The Eastern Ontario Health Unit said a healthcare worker at the Ottawa Hospital has tested positive for COVID-19. The individual is in their 30s, from Prescott-Russell and doesn’t have any history of travel.

“Ottawa Public Health and The Ottawa Hospital have been actively engaged in the investigation and contact tracing of individuals or patients who may have been in close contact with the healthcare worker at the hospital,” said EOHU, in a statement Sunday. “The EOHU has been investigating and tracing contacts in the EOHU region. The investigation is ongoing.”

-The Canadian death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped almost 50% percent to 19 in less than a day, according to official figures released by the federal government on Sunday. The government said late on Saturday that 13 people had died from the respiratory illness caused by the virus, but by 9 a.m. on Sunday that number had grown to 19. The number of confirmed cases rose to 1,302 from 1,099, with a further 69 people listed as probably suffering from the highly contagious virus.

-A woman in her 20s is the newest confirmed case of COVID-19 in Ottawa, pushing the total number of official COVID-19 diagnoses in the capital to 21. She’s now self-isolating. Another new case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Eastern Ontario Sunday morning — a man in his 30s who is is self-isolating. The province-wide confirmed case total is 424, up from 377 Saturday.

-Ottawa’s chief medical officer Dr. Vera Etches announced Sunday that Ottawa Public Health now has laboratory confirmation of the fact that COVID-19 is spreading within the community, and estimates there could be up at 4,000 cases in Ottawa right now. “The doubling time we’re seeing is sometimes down to three days … and so, by this time next week, it could be 16,000. That’s the concerning picture, unless we do our part to really slow things down,” said Etches.

-Quebec announced that all restaurant dining rooms, shopping malls, hair salons and schools will remain closed until May 1. Pharmacies, grocery stores and SAQ outlets will remain open. There are now 210 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Quebec, an increase of 38 over Saturday.

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-Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is declaringa provincial state of emergency due to COVID-19. He says people are blatantly ignoring the need for social distancing.

-A new poll shows nearly half of Canadians say they can’t afford to miss work and have no benefits to fall back on. “The income level of these people is simply not going to be there, so the question is how can governments respond to it,” said pollster John Wright.

-Federally, the House of Commons has been recalled and will meet Tuesday at noon “for the consideration of measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the office of the Speaker announced Sunday. The last time the House was recalled during adjournment was Sept. 8, 1992.

-Around 12% of adult critical care beds in hospitals in England are occupied by patients with COVID-19, a that number is expected to rise drastically, England’s deputy chief medical officer, Jenny Harries, said.

-The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday to help it to battle the new coronavirus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin. The death toll from the outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 651 to 5,476, officials said on Sunday, an increase of 13.5% but down on Saturday’s figure when some 793 people died. The total number of cases in Italy rose to 59,138 from a previous 53,578, an increase of 10.4%, the Civil Protection Agency said — the lowest rise in percentage terms since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday that all Italian businesses must close until April 3, with the exception of those essential to maintaining the country’s supply chain, in the latest desperate effort to halt the coronavirus epidemic. “It is the most difficult crisis in our post-war period,” Conte said. Italy also banned travel within the country on Sunday.

–Spain’s death toll from coronavirus soared to 1,720 on Sunday from 1,326 the day before, according to latest data from the Health Ministry. The one-day rise in deaths of 394 was higher than the previous day’s increase of 324. Spain is grappling with Europe’s second-worst coronavirus outbreak. Reports say that the Spanish government wants to extend for another 15 days a 15-day state of emergency that it imposed this month to try to curb the spreading coronavirus outbreak.

-Confirmed Dutch COVID-19 cases are up 16% to 4,204, with 43 new deaths.

–Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul has tested positive, becoming the first member of the upper chamber of Congress to announce he has COVID-19 as the number of U.S. cases continued to grow.

-McDonald’s Canada has joined the list of restaurants that are no longer offering dine-in service. A statement issued on Saturday read, in part: “With our people, our guests and our communities in mind, we have made the decision to stop offering take-out and curbside service.” McDonald’s Canada will still be offering drive-thru and home delivery.

–Emirates, one of the world’s biggest airlines, said it would temporarily suspend all passenger flights by March 25 while maintaining cargo operations. Saudi Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali said the kingdom recorded 119 new cases of the virus, raising the total number to 511, the highest to date in the Gulf Arab region.

1/12 Amanda Ahmed, RN, inside the new Mobile Health Clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. 2/12 Nurse practioner Cynthia Kitson (L) and RN Amanda Ahmed have been working with the new Mobile Health Clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. 3/12 Mayor Jim Watson tours the Mobile Health Clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. 4/12 Mayor Jim Watson tours the Mobile Health Clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. 5/12 Nurse practioner Cynthia Kitson inside the new Mobile Health Clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. 6/12 Cots set up in a former classroom, now a dormitory, as Mayor Jim Watson tours the isolation centre for vulnerable residents, ahead of its opening on Monday. 7/12 Mayor Jim Watson gets a look at the stacks of fresh linens as he tours the isolation centre for vulnerable residents ahead of its opening on Monday, with Wendy Muckle, executive director of Ottawa Inner City Health, and members of the Human Needs Taskforce. 8/12 Mayor Jim Watson tours the Mobile Health Clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. 9/12 Mayor Jim Watson tours the isolation centre for vulnerable residents ahead of its opening on Monday with Wendy Muckle, executive director of Ottawa Inner City Health, and members of the Human Needs Taskforce, seen here setting up cots in a former classroom that will become a dormitory. 10/12 Mayor Jim Watson tours the isolation centre for vulnerable residents ahead of its opening on Monday with Wendy Muckle, executive director of Ottawa Inner City Health. 11/12 Mayor Jim Watson tours the isolation centre for vulnerable residents ahead of its opening on Monday with Wendy Muckle, executive director of Ottawa Inner City Health. 12/12 Nurse practitioner Cynthia Kitson inside a new mobile health clinic operated by Ottawa Inner City Health. to test vulnerable COVID-19 patients in the community. Previous Image Next Image

NOTE: Generally, statistics for official diagnoses should be viewed with caution. Testing does not track down all cases in a community because the mild symptoms most people have aren’t distinguishable from common colds, and because public health can’t test large numbers of people.

-With files from Reuters, CP, The Telegraph, Christopher Nardi, Andrew Duffy, Steph Crosier, Jesse Snyder, James McLeod, Paul Cherry, Aaron Derfel, Andy Riga, Kait Bolongaro, Tiffany Crawford, Tom Spears, Elizabeth Payne, Jacquie Miller, Blair Crawford and Taylor Blewett.