The public of Nova Scotia had been warned by a couple of tweets sent by the police force to its thousands of followers late Saturday, and early Sunday morning and asked the people of Portapique to lock their doors as they investigated a firearms complaint and that the shooter was armed and dangerous.

But the police force failed to realize that not everyone has internet or twitter and face book account, the police could use emergency sent to phones could have saved several lives.

It was also confirmed Tuesday by Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil that never received a request from the Mounties to send a message to the community through Alert Ready, Canada's emergency alert system, which sends messages to Canadians through television, radio and LTE-connected cell phones.

The province's Emergency Management Office had been activated, McNeil said,  technicians were brought in Saturday to send such an alert, but the request never came from the Mounties.

Under the terms of the Alert Ready system, federal, provincial and territorial governments are "responsible for issuing emergency alerts."

At a press conference Monday, the RCMP could not explain why an emergency alert wasn't sent to warn local residents about an active shooter.

When asked by the media Tuesday why the RCMP did not immediately respond and directed requests for comment to the provincial RCMP.

LiberalParty; #NDP; #ConservativeParty; #ReconveningOfCanadianParliament
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Ottawa, Apr 19 (Canadian-Media): A tentative agreement reached by the Liberal government with the NDP and the Bloc Québécois about the conditions under which Parliament will reconvene this week, was rejected by the Conservatives Sunday afternoon, media reports said.

Andrew Scheer, Leader of Conservative Party of Canada as well as Opposition Party leader had been insisting on meeting in the Commons three times a week, which implies negotiations between the Conservatives and other parties must continue ahead of Monday, the original date MPs were  to reconvene when Parliament adjourned five weeks ago.

Andrew Scheer. Image credit: Twitter handle

Conservatives had been criticized by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his Sunday COVID-19 briefing earlier in the day, for their repeated calls to convene in the Commons' chamber. 

In contrast, the tentative deal between the Liberals, NDP and Bloc starts with a proposal for a single in-person sitting beginning this Wednesday.

By next week, one session would be held virtually on Tuesday, followed by a sitting in the chamber on Wednesday.

When Trudeau said that to all 338 MPs and their staff in the House of Commons would be an irresponsible move due to public health guidance of physical distancing, Scheer fired back at Trudeau and said his proposal of two hours per session to question ministers is in line with the protocols legislators had been following during the government's last two emergency sittings. 

While announcing several new funding initiatives Friday, including a plan to help the energy sector, Trudeau said that the federal government will keep working with Quebec to find ways to support the province, including working with the Red Cross and specialized volunteers who have signed up with Health Canada.

Thursday saw more than 90 percent of COVID-19-related deaths among people were over 60, Health officials in Canada said,  but they also said the homeless and people with unstable housing situations are at increased risk.

Although about 2,000 specialist doctors had signed up to help provide care to the elderly, Quebec Premier François Legault said Thursday, but he noted challenge of integrating the physicians into the system.

Several other provinces, including Ontario, B.C., and Alberta, have reported multiple outbreaks in long-term care facilities. While most cases of COVID-19 are mild to moderate, seniors and people with underlying health issues are more at risk of severe disease and death. 

​As of 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Canada had 31,642 presumptive and confirmed coronavirus cases. The provinces and territories that provide data on recoveries listed 10,332 cases as recovered or resolved. 

This has resulted in Ontario having a total of 20,354 acute care beds with a potential for an additional 4,205 more acute care beds by April 30, 2020.

Of Ontario's 3,504 critical care beds, 2,811 are now equipped with ventilators, up from 1,319 when the outbreak first started.

The hospitals' bed capacity has been done keeping in mind pandemic staffing plans to ensure each hospital has the physicians and staff needed, including in case of a major surge of cases.

Measures included were: Redeploying surgical nursing staff to work with medicine units; Sharing highly trained emergency and intensive care nursing staffs across units; Sharing physician resources across hospitals in a given region; Recruiting family doctors to complete shifts within the hospital; and Recruiting retirees, including nursing and support services.

Additional opportunities and resources have been explored by the hospitals to add new beds, including through the use of field hospitals, conference centres, school locations and more. Sites are ready to open based on the needs of the community.

Included in the Ontario’s hospitals' pandemic plans  were postponing some elective surgeries and reorganizing and transfering alternate level of care patient to appropriate locations.

Several other measures adopted included the launch of Ontario’s online self-assessment tool, opening assessment centres, increasing Telehealth capacity and the ability to virtually consult with emergency department doctors.

Recently an order was placed by Ontario with O-Two Medical Technologies to produce 10,000 ventilator units, along with the support of Ontario's world-class manufacturing sector.

#Canada; #LongTermCareHomes; #vulnerable
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​Ottawa, Apr 14 (Canadian-Media): Canada's politicians are baffled by the increase in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths within Canada's long-term care facilities and had left health care experts puzzled why action for these missed opportunities was taken earlier, media reports said.

​​More than 150,000 elderly and frail people live in dedicated care centres across Canada, according to the Canadian Association for Long-Term Care with 40,000 residents in its 440 accredited homes in Quebec, while Ontario has 628 such facilities.

Data collected by the federal government of Canada revealed that close to half of all COVID-19 deaths of the total at 832 as of Monday have occurred in nursing homes.