Local statistics are in for the COVID19 pandemic in the Golden Horseshoe area. Hamilton is now reporting 101 coronavirus cases, Halton region says there are 59 confirmed cases. Niagara is reporting 47 cases and Haldimand-Norfolk has confirmed 27 illnesses. Brant County has 14 confirmed coronavirus cases and Six Nations of the Grand River has 3 confirmed cases. Ontario now has 1966 active cases. No new deaths were reported. Currently there are 291 people in Ontario in hospital because of COVID19, 82 of them are on ventilators there are 4000 people waiting for test results – 51,000 being tested for the virus were negative and 534 people have had the virus and completely recovered.

Ontario has reached tentative contract agreements with the unions representing the province’s 12,000 French-language teachers and 83,000 elementary teachers.
The government announced their tentative deal late Tuesday afternoon.
The agreement contains a two-year, $89-million “Support for Students” fund, which ETFO says will create about 434 teacher positions, to address areas such as special education, English language learning and mental-health initiatives.
Ontario committed to maintain current class sizes.
ETFO members are set to vote on ratification April 23-27.

Health Canada says those who are infected with COVID-19 may have few, if any symptoms, or may not know they’re infected because symptoms of the novel coronavirus are similar to a cold or flu.
Those symptoms have included fever, cough and difficulty breathing.
Other symptoms can include fatigue, mucus production, muscle or joint pain, sore throat, headache and chills. COVID-19 can sometimes escalate to pneumonia.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 78 per cent of the people confirmed to have COVID-19 in this country have developed a cough, 57 per cent reported weakness, and 57 per cent have experienced headaches.
Symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure to COVID-19. As of April 1, 64 per cent of all COVID-19 cases were related to community transmission, while 36 per cent were either exposed while travelling or exposed to a traveller returning to Canada.

Schools in Ontario will remain closed until at least May 4 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as his government introduced a new plan for students to continue learning at home.
Extended closures have been recommended by the province’s chief medical officer of health as a way to continue to fight the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier this month, the government ordered schools closed for two weeks following March break, and had set April 6 as the date for them to reopen.
The plan sets standards for different grade levels, ranging from five hours of work per week for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students and 10 hours of work per week for students in Grades 7 and 8.
High school students will be required to complete three hours of work per course per week for semestered students, with 1.5 hours per course each week for non-semestered students.
The plans will incorporate online learning, but where that is not possible, telephone calls and mail-out packages will be used.