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8:45 a.m.

Spain’s coronavirus death toll surpasses that of China

Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP via Getty Images

Spain registered an overnight jump of 738 deaths from coronavirus on Wednesday, pushing the death toll above that of China, where the disease originated, for the first time as the country struggles to cope with soaring numbers of infections.

With 3,434 fatalities, Spain now has the second-highest number of deaths globally after Italy’s 6,820, in an outbreak that has seen a Madrid skating rink turned into a makeshift morgue and dozens dead in overwhelmed nursing homes across the country.

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8:30 a.m.

Amazon workers at eight U.S., three international warehouses test positive for COVID-19

Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters files

The U.S. coronavirus outbreak has spread to at least eight Amazon warehouses and three internationally, infecting workers racing to deliver massive volumes of packages for consumers leery of leaving their homes to shop.

Amazon had already confirmed that three of its warehouses in Europe (two in Spain and one in Italy) had cases of the virus, but ruled out shutting the warehouses down — prompting its Italian workers to strike in protest.

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7:45 a.m.

Opinion: Only Ottawa has the financial firepower to fix Alberta’s devastated economy

Photo by David Kawai/Bloomberg

Calgary Herald columnist Chris Varcoe says Ottawa will need to do more than its already doing if it hopes to keep Alberta’s economy moving.

He writes: “Alberta is pressing Ottawa to take immediate steps to help vulnerable areas of the provincial economy now being decimated by the coronavirus — including airlines, the energy sector and small businesses.

“The province needs to keep calling for action.”

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7:15 a.m.

House of Commons passes legislation for COVID-19 help with unanimous support

Photo by Michel Comte/AFP/Getty Images/File

The House of Commons has passed emergency legislation to free up $82 billion to help Canadians weather the COVID-19 crisis.

After a day of tense negotiations, MPs began debating the bill in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, and a vote took place shortly after.

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7:10 a.m.

Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus, symptoms ‘mild’

Photo by Tim P. Whitby / Getty Images

Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to the British throne, has tested positive for coronavirus but is in good health and is now self isolating in Scotland with mild symptoms.

Charles, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth, is displaying what Clarence House said were mild symptoms but remains in good health and has been working from his Birkhall residence in Scotland. His wife, Camilla, 72, tested negative.

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7:00 a.m.

One-third of businesses fear COVID-19 could lead to permanent closure within a month

Photo by Eddie Keogh/Reuters

A new poll from The Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that close to half of small businesses across Alberta were at least partially shut down.

The average cost of the outbreak for affected businesses has already reached $136,000 nationwide, with more than half of Alberta companies surveyed indicating their sales revenues have dropped by at least 51 per cent since early January.

“At this rate, the only way to prevent massive additional unemployment is for government to introduce a much larger wage subsidy program,” CFIB president Dan Kelly said Tuesday.

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Yesterday

57 new cases in Alberta, second death due to COVID-19

Photo by Al Charest / Postmedia

Alberta announced the first death of a Calgarian from COVID-19 Tuesday.

A woman in her 80s from the McKenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre died of the virus, Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said during her daily update from Edmonton.

Two more residents from the same continuing care facility have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and are in stable condition. One staff member, who did not work while symptomatic and did not travel, also tested positive.

Additionally, 11 more facility residents have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, Hinshaw said.

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Up to 28 of all cases are suspected to be the result of community transmission. A total of 19 people have been hospitalized and seven are receiving care in ICU.#COVID19 #COVID19AB — Sammy Hudes (@SammyHudes) March 24, 2020

I know that today’s news “will be distressing to many people,” says Dr. Hinshaw.



“It reinforces the need to practice physical distancing, but we need to make sure that while we are keeping at a physical distance between us, we’re staying socially connected.”#COVID19 #COVID19AB — Sammy Hudes (@SammyHudes) March 24, 2020

Breakdown of #COVID19 cases in Alberta (as of March 24) by region:



-214 cases in the Calgary zone

-86 cases in the Edmonton zone

-28 cases in the Central zone

-8 cases in the South zone

-20 cases in the North zone

-2 unknown#COVID19AB pic.twitter.com/NQmcmHrDXe — Sammy Hudes (@SammyHudes) March 24, 2020

Revera also said that the two other residents who have tested positive are currently in isolation, as are other residents in that area of the home. #covid19AB #covid19alberta — Jon Roe (@theJonRoe) March 24, 2020

You can watch the chief medical officer of health’s update below.

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Yesterday

COVID-19 by age and gender in Alberta

Yesterday

Parliament deadlocked over Liberals’ $27B COVID-19 aid package as opposition cries foul

The Liberals $27 billion COVID-19 aid package bill was struggling to pass Tuesday after the opposition accused the government of a “power grab” by including provisions that would give it far reaching financial powers.

The government had planned for the bill to be debated in the afternoon, passed swiftly and then sent to the Senate on Wednesday so the whole package could become law.

But the opposition accused them of planting measures that gave them vast spending authority with a lack of parliamentary oversight, sabotaging the possibility of swift passage.

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Yesterday

Westjet issues leave notices to 6,900 employees

Photo by Gavin Young / Postmedia

WestJet Airlines is eliminating nearly half of its workforce as a result of COVID-19’s devastating impact on the aviation industry.

The Calgary-based airline announced Tuesday that 6,900 employees are receiving notices of both voluntary and involuntary leaves, in a move CEO Ed Sims called “devastating.”

Some of the options employees took include unpaid leave of absence, early retirement, voluntary resignation, reduced work week, or reduced pay.

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Today, 6,900 WestJetters are receiving notices of both voluntary and involuntary leaves due to the impact of COVID-19. This is devastating news.



We commend those who are standing down so that our airline can stand up.



Read more — https://t.co/avVxVDrzcV pic.twitter.com/DH8kaU2Ybz — WestJet (@WestJet) March 24, 2020

Yesterday

A pastor from Singapore triggered a ‘super spreader’ event and now a Calgary man is in the ICU fighting for his life

Photo by Family photo

Jay Chowdhury’s wife and three boys, ages 10, 12 and 18 haven’t been able to go to the hospital to check in on the much-loved husband and father. Not long after he tested positive for COVID-19, they all fell ill and tested positive. They now know he contracted the virus at one of those prayer meetings in a private residence on March 6.

On that same day, Alberta reported its first presumptive case of COVID-19, a Calgary woman who had just returned from a journey on the Grand Princess cruise ship.

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