Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 22, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 COVID-19 PANDEMIC ASSOCIATE EDITOR NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM A3 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 COVID-19 AT A GLANCE Cases: MANITOBA Confirmed: 1,608 Resolved: 1,227 Deaths: 18 Active: 363 CANADA Confirmed: 145,049 Resolved: 125,537 Deaths: 9,224 (As of 4:30 p.m. Monday) The latest from Manitoba: ● Manitoba has recorded two more deaths due to COVID-19, bringing the provincial total so far to 18. The two who succumbed to the virus are a man in his 80s from the Southern Health region and a woman in her 80s from the Prairie Mountain Health region. Public health officials reported 22 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the province on Monday, including 16 in Winnipeg health region. The current five-day test positivity rate is 1.8 per cent. There are 363 active cases of the virus in Manitoba. The latest from elsewhere: ● The White House is urging U.S. governors to put politics aside and help the Trump administration pro- mote future coronavirus vaccines as safe and effective. “What we don’t want is people undermining confidence in the process,” U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence said in a private call with governors, the audio of which was obtained by The Associated Press. U.S. President Trump has escalated his promise for a coronavirus vaccine before election day on Nov. 3. Democrats, independents and even some Republicans do not trust the administra- tion to produce a safe and effective vaccine on such an aggressive timeline. The vice-president stressed that no corners would be cut in approving a vaccine and said his request for support was apolitical. ● The World Health Organization and partners said countries comprising more than 60 per cent of the world’s population have signed up to its international initiative to buy coronavirus vaccines. Numerous countries that have signed their own bilateral deals with vaccine makers have declined to participate or to use the facility to secure their own vaccines, including China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. WHO is hoping that any vaccine used globally might be at least 70 per cent effective, but that a vaccine with 50 per cent efficacy would also be considered. ● Greek authorities have announced a new record high for daily confirmed COVID-19 infections, which hit 453 over the past 24 hours, many from a pre-existing outbreak at a camp for asylum-seekers on the eastern island of Lesbos. The new infections include 184 among migrants and refugees moved to a new camp on Lesbos after the overcrowded Moria facility that housed about 12,500 people was burnt down. Greek authorities say the fire was started by residents angry at a lockdown order after 35 COVID-19 cases were recorded at Moria. ● The Norwegian capital of Oslo on Monday banned crowds of more than 10 people in private homes after a spike in cases and “strongly urged” people to wear face masks when travelling on public transportations amid a strike among bus drivers. “The situation in Oslo is serious. This development must be stopped, and we have to do it now,” Mayor Raymond Johansen said. Quote: “The fastest route to ending the pandemic and ac- celerating the global economic response is to ensure some people are vaccinated in all countries, not that all people are vaccinated in some countries” — World Health Organization director-general Te- dros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appeals for co-oper- ation in efforts to produce a vaccine for COVID-19 TWO weeks into the 2020-21 school year, the province has released more details about how $137.4 million in government funding will be spent to keep teachers and students safe amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The province’s $52-million safe schools fund will be distributed for personal protective equipment, clean- ing and sanitation supplies, technology- related expenses, expanding bus trans- portation capacity, and hiring more custodians, substitute teachers and educational assistants. An estimated $12 million will be spent on face masks and personal pro- tective equipment, $32 million will be available — up to a per-pupil maximum — for school divisions and independent schools, and $8 million is being ear- marked for “serious and urgent health and safety measures” that exceed the per capita funding. The $85.4 million in federal funds for education will be used for similar ex- penses, in addition to remote learning costs. Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen told reporters divisions have been asked to spend savings accumulat- ed in the spring, which amounted to $48 million provincewide, and put forward accounting for how they plan to spend additional monies. “Rather than sort of flying a plane over and dropping hundreds of millions of dollars out over individual schools, we are having accountability process- es to make sure that we know that the money is being spent on the things that parents would expect it to be spent on when it comes to keeping their students safe,” Goertzen said during a call-in news conference Monday. “Taxpayers would expect us to have that line of sight.” The money will flow as divisions sub- mit their expenditures, he said, adding government officials are in contact with divisions on a daily basis about their needs — the most costly of which he suspects are increasing demands for staffing, school bus capacity and clean- ing supplies. In late August, both Manitoba and Ottawa announced funding to allevi- ate the COVID-19-related pressures on schools. Before students in Ontario and B.C. returned to school, both provinces had already announced how they planned to spend the amount allocated for their respective provinces in the Safe Return to Class Fund, a total of $2 billion being dispersed to provinces and territories based on student population. Goertzen defended Manitoba’s time- line Monday, saying schools have had an opportunity to get a better under- standing of their expenses since classes began. James Bedford, president of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, welcomed the details Monday, although he said he would have liked to see shrinking class sizes on the priority list. “Right now, too many classrooms are running on the minimum one-metre of social distancing and, really, if we want schools to be as safe as they can be, it’s got to be two metres,” Bedford said. “That’s only going to be achieved by reducing class sizes, which means we need to be hiring some additional teach- ing staff and perhaps, school divisions have to look at more creative ways to use and find space for classes to be taught in.” Many classrooms are housing the same number of students as in previ- ous years, Bedford said. The range is approximately between 15 and 30, de- pending on classroom and division. As for students studying at home this year, Bedford said there is a need for consistency when it comes to remote learning. Goertzen echoed those comments during the phone-in conference; the minister said the province plans to use the federal funding to ensure remote learning is standardized across Mani- toba. He acknowledged Monday it’s con- cerning some students in the prov- ince — albeit, he said, a small per cent — still do not have access to remote learning programs midway through September. “We need to better support and ensure that there’s a stronger and more con- sistent standard of what that at-home learning is,” Goertzen said about both remote-learning programs for students with medical notes and those required to stay home because of COVID-19 out- breaks. The province does not currently have plans to make remote learning an option for all families, regardless of underlying health challenges. The Manitoba Liberals put out a re- lease Monday criticizing the province’s funding distribution plan for not taking equity into account. “Some schools, students and families need much more support than others — rural schools, students and families who can’t afford Wi-Fi or devices,” said party leader Dougald Lamont in a pre- pared release. Lamont noted some of the $32 million in provincial funding is being distrib- uted to private schools that charge up- wards of $10,000 for tuition each year. As of Monday, there have been poten- tial COVID-19 exposures in nine differ- ent schools across the province. maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @macintoshmaggie Minister outlines safe school plan MAGGIE MACINTOSH $52M earmarked for PPE, cleaning supplies, custodians, substitute teachers MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Cleaning and sanitation supplies are eligible for financial support through the province’s $52-million safe schools fund — which Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen detailed on Monday. LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER A_03_Sep-22-20_FP_01.indd A3 2020-09-21 9:37 PM ;