COVID-19: Here's the situation in the Sault today

Billions of dollars in aid will be available to companies across Canada affected by pandemic

Parliament passed the federal government's $73 billion wage subsidy legislation Saturday evening, the bill receiving royal assent from Governor General Julie Payette after 9:30 p.m.

The legislation involves the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), which aims to help companies forced to layoff employees during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The CEWS is designed to encourage businesses to rehire workers through offering a 75 per cent wage subsidy over the next three months, geared toward companies that have lost 30 per cent of their revenue due to the pandemic.

Companies must reapply for the program each month while the crisis lasts.

The government stated the funding will be sent to businesses in the near future via an online portal run by the Canada Revenue Agency.

In Canada, there have been 23,719 cases of COVID-19 out of more than 1.7 million cases worldwide.

There have been 709 deaths in Canada due to the virus, and more than 110,000 deaths worldwide.

There are 7,049 COVID-19 cases in Ontario, resulting in 274 virus-related deaths in the province.

86 cases of the illness in Ontario have been reported in long-term care homes.

In local news, here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Algoma District from Algoma Public Health (updated April 12, 2020, 10 a.m.):