Canada now has more than 22,100 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including at least 569 deaths.
Worldwide, health officials are reporting more than 100,000 people in total have died from the disease.
In their daily update Friday, federal health officials said it’s important to track the spread of COVID-19 without violating Canadians’ privacy.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam explained they’re exploring that avenue and other ideas, like alerting people to remind them to practice physical distancing.
She said there’s a “significant amount of interest” in the topic, along with plenty of innovators who could develop methods for contact-tracing.
Tam added she believes Canada will continue to increase its capacity for testing for COVID-19.
Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, said the government has received 3.8-million applications for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit since Monday.
She said they have now processed just over 5.6-million claims going back to March 15.
Qualtrough pointed out some applicants have gotten two payments of $2,000 this week instead of one but reassured Canadians “we’re on it.”
She said those people will be contacted with their next steps.
“[Canada Revenue Agency] and Service Canada are working together to ensure that these situations are reconciled, and payments do not exceed the maximum amount allowed per individual of $8,000 per 16-week period,” Qualtrough explained.
As for businesses, Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos fielded a question about businesses docking workers’ pay by 25 per cent, with the other 75 per cent supplied by the federal wage subsidy. He said they expect employers to pay employees their full wages, but understand that some are getting less revenue during the pandemic and can’t afford to supply the final 25 per cent.
