Coronavirus: Everything you need to know in Montreal today

May 8 2020, 8:43 pm

Every day in Canada, a lot of news regarding COVID-19 comes out nationally and locally.

And for now, we will be putting together Montreal and Canada’s top headlines daily to help digest the news in one place.

Throughout the day, you can see all the headlines in real-time here.

Top coronavirus stories for May 8, as of 5 pm ET:

Quebec confirms 94 more coronavirus deaths as cases pass 36,000

The Quebec government revealed that the province’s COVID-19-related death toll has reached 2,725 after announcing 94 more deaths since Thursday afternoon.

According to Santé Quebec, the province has 36,150 known cases and 1,827 hospitalizations.

Currently, a reported 234,769 cases have turned up negative throughout Quebec.

Federal government extending Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy beyond June

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government is extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy beyond June to “help kick-start” the economy reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The prime minister said more details will be announced next week.

The Subsidy gave eligible employers 75% of employee wages for up to 12 weeks, retroactive from March 15, 2020, with an original end date of June 6, 2020. The maximum benefit is $847 per employee each week.

STM reveals reopening plans for Montreal’s transit network

The STM (Société de transport de Montréal) has unveiled the network’s reopening plans throughout the island’s public transit system.

Philippe Schnobb, president of the STM, and Luc Tremblay, the executive director, announced that when the network reopens, some changes will be put into place.

“We are no longer taking the bus and metro in the same way. But what hasn’t changed is that public transit is always the sustainable choice for our planet’s future,” Schnobb said in French.

JetBlue is giving away 100,000 free round-trip flights to healthcare workers

JetBlue, an American low-cost airline, is helping an impressive amount of healthcare workers take some well-deserved time off.

The airline is giving away 100,000 pairs of round-trip flights to healthcare workers across the United States.

“They’ve earned our love, our gratitude, and some serious R&R,” the airline said. Nominations are currently open on the JetBlue website. While you can’t nominate yourself, the contest’s rules say you can nominate as many other people as you want.

Nearly 2 million Canadians lost their jobs in April due to coronavirus pandemic

Canada’s job market continues to take a significant hit, losing more nearly two million jobs in April amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Statistic Canada, after employment fell by 1,011,000 or 5.3% in March, it dropped by nearly two million in April, “bringing the total employment decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 economic shutdown to over three million.”

Additionally, those who were employed but worked less than half of their usual hours for reasons related to the coronavirus increased by 2.5 million from February to April.

DH Montreal StaffDH Montreal Staff

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