Pure Country Kingston

This is DAY 19 of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s what you need to know on Sunday, March 29th, 2020

Prime Minister Trudeau announced new funding to help seniors and children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. United Way Canada will receive $9 million to distribute to local organizations to support, while Kids Help Phone will receive $7.5 million to bring on additional counsellors.

Trudeau also says he will continue his self-isolation until he has no reason to believe he could have been exposed to COVID-19 for more than 14 days. Meanwhile, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau has been given a clean bill of health. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 12th.

Washington’s top-infectious disease expert is warning he coronavirus outbreak could kill as many as 200,000 Americans. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the dire prediction of fatalities on CNN's "State of the Union," suggesting that millions in the U.S. could become infected. By midday Sunday, the U.S. had about 125,000 infections and 2,200 deaths, according to the running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

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As we wade through the effects and COVID-19 on our health and our economy, there is no shortage of questions as the pandemic begins to affect the lives and livelihoods of Canadians. So we want to devote this episode to some of those questions and we ask them of our cast of medical, science, legal and financial experts.

We’re first joined by Dr. Mitch Shulman – an Emergency Medicine specialist in Montreal and Preet Banerjee – a wealth management consultant and founder of MoneyGaps.

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In this segment we’re joined by Dr. Marla Shapiro, CTV’s medical correspondent and Howard Levitt – an employment and labour lawyer..

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We will feature more of your FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS in coming episodes. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR A STORY ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE YOU WANT TO SHARE…send me an email. DAVE@DAVETRAFFORD.COM or connect with me on TWITTER @DaveTrafford.

DISCLAIMER:

THE VIEWPOINTS EXPRESSED IN THIS PODCAST REPRESENT THE OPINIONS OF THE HOST AND PARTICIPANTS AS OF THE DATE OF PUBLICATION AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL ADVICE AND BEST PRACTICES BY LEADING MEDICAL AUTHORITIES AS THE INFORMATION SURROUNDING THE CURRENT CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING.

March 28 - Welcome to this SPECIAL edition of the COVID-19 Podcast for Bell Media and iHeart Radio.

In this hour we will get into the big questions and issues that we confronted this week in the fight against COVID-19.

While the number of cases continues to rise around the world and across Canada, the health crisis is quickly becoming a financial crisis and this week was all about the money.

So we begin by talking about the bounces we saw on the markets in Canada and the US. Jon Erlichman is the host of The Open on BNN BLOOMBERG and he spoke to me from his home office in Toronto…and we started by addressing the relief package outlined and passed by Parliament on Wednesday morning.

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We are now well into WEEK 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada’s government has launched its relief package for Canadians and businesses affected by the outbreak.

But is it enough? Especially to help small and medium sized businesses…I asked Catherine Swift, former President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Indpendent Business and Tony Chapman for Tony Chapman Reactions and host of the podcast CHATTER THAT MATTERS.

Coming Up….we’ll touch base with our medical correspondent, Dr. Mitch Shulman..

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DISLAIMER

Dr. Mitch Schulman is a Montreal Emergency Physician and is just wrapping up 14 days of self isolation. Mitch had attended a conference in Africa just before the pandemic was declared and we require to isolate when he came home. He is encouraged  by the global response but is still concerned by what we’re seeing.

Many of us are experiencing our own fears and frustrations as we cope with this crisis…and Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s frustrations were on full display Thursday afternoon…when he called out a Toronto grocery store – accusing Pusateris of gouging its customers.

In a statement, Pusateris called the issue a “mistake” and promised to issue full refunds to customers who purchased the product at the higher price point. 

“Our stores are facing immense pressure on all levels of operation,” CEO Frank Luchetta said in a statement. “As a result of this mounting pressure, critical elements were overlooked including the incorrect pricing of this product.

“This was our mistake, our error, our oversight and we apologize to everyone impacted."

Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts – just search on OUTBREAK: The Covid-19 Daily Podcast.