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

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam gave the following update on the national COVID-19 outlook Wednesday:

62,458 confirmed cases
4,111 deaths
More than 27,000 recoveries, accounting for 43 per cent of all confirmed cases
More than 970,000 tested
About six per cent of those tested have tested positive for COVID-19

In provincial news, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the next stage of re-opening the economy Wednesday, which will see garden centres, nurseries, hardware stores and safety supply stores open this week for in-store service, but under the same public health guidelines as grocery stores and pharmacies.

Re-opening dates include:

Friday, May 8 - Garden centres and nurseries (in-store and curbside pick-up)

Saturday, May 9 - Hardware and safety supply stores (in-store and curbside pick-up)

Monday, May 11 - Retail stores with entrances facing the street can offer curbside pick-up

Multi-unit residential construction projects and demolition on essential construction projects were also re-opened by the province as part of Wednesday's announcement.

The province has also extended lowered hyrdo rates and emergency orders for another two weeks.

Ontario reported 412 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, along with 443 recoveries and 68 deaths.

In local news, all known cases of COVID-19 in the Algoma District have now been resolved, bringing the total number of those known to be infected with the virus in Northern Ontario down to 48.

International Bridge crossings are down 90 per cent from last year due to the ongoing ban on non-essential travel.

In the latest edition of Following Up, SooToday looks at small businesses and startups in the Sault that are facing new challenges because of COVID-19.

And if there's something related to COVID-19 that you'd like to ask Mayor Christian Provenzano this week, here's your chance.

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from Algoma Public Health: