Saultites may now enjoy more freedom to shop at more places, as the Ontario government, as announced earlier, has relaxed some of its COVID-19 restrictions, allowing greenhouses/nurseries to open as of Friday, hardware stores Saturday.

Retail stores with curbside pickup may open as well, beginning Monday.

As reported earlier, there have now been 20,238 cases reported by the province’s public health agency, and of those, 14,772 are recorded as recovered (73 per cent) and 1,634 people have died (8.1 per cent).

Of special concern is the health and well being of those in the province’s long term care homes.

The Ministry of Long-Term Care is reporting 172 outbreaks with 2,727 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in residents, and 1,693 cases in staff. The ministry also stated there have been 1,235 resident deaths as a result of COVID-19 outbreaks. However, only 788 of those are included in the province’s total number of deaths in Ontario. 

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

• 5,111 tested
• 16 positive
• 4,136 negative
• 959 pending 
• 0 deceased
• 13 resolved

APH states “these numbers now include testing that was completed at long-term care homes (LTCH) in the Algoma district as part of the province’s one-time surveillance testing initiative. Staff and residents of all Algoma LTCHs have completed one-time surveillance testing.” 

“These data sets are preliminary and subject to change, pending further review. Confirmed positives will be reported as soon as publicly available,” APH says.

Click here for a SooToday list of what’s still open in the Sault.