Blazingcatfur

In the first nine months of 2020 as the COVID-19 catastrophe unfolded across Ontario, the three largest publicly traded long-term-care operators in the province made huge payouts to investors while taking millions in government funds, data shows.

A Star analysis of the financial statements of Extendicare, Sienna Senior Living and Chartwell Retirement Residences shows that in the first three quarters of 2020 (ending Sept. 30), these for-profit companies collectively paid out nearly $171 million to shareholders at the same time they received $138.5 million through provincial pandemic pay for front-line workers, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program or other pandemic funding.

It’s almost as if lockdowns do nothing to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

California has some of the nation’s strictest restrictions when it comes to COVID-19, yet it is one of America’s epicenters for the virus, Politico reported. The state has at times instituted “a complete ban on restaurant dining to travel quarantines and indoor gym closures.”

TORONTO — A new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 that first surfaced in the U.K. and has since been found in several other countries is likely already in Canada, a health expert says.

“I’d be surprised if it’s not, actually,” Ronald St. John, the former director-general of the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), told CTV News Channel Saturday.

Scientists in Los Angeles County have begun examining samples of COVID-19 found in patients to determine if a new, more infectious strain of the virus from Britain has made its way to the West Coast of the U.S.

The new strain is of particular concern given the ease with which it spreads from person to person, though it is unclear if it is more lethal than the strand that have been spreading for months.