Why catching COVID-19 on purpose is a 'very bad idea'

Welcome to the Maclean's daily newsletter. As the coronavirus disrupts life in Canada, and Canadians get used to the notion of "social distancing" and "flattening the curve," Maclean's has expanded this newsletter to include everything you need to know about the global pandemic. You'll still find our best stories of the day at the bottom of the newsletter, but we'll also catch you up on news and notes from around the world.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I hope not too many people will die” — Dr. Horatio Arruda, Quebec’s director of public health, as the province prepares to start reopening on May 4.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Canada passed 51,000 while more than 3,000 people have died. Worldwide, 3.2 million people have been infected while 225,000 people have died.

Experts are noticing that some children, who later test positive for the virus, present with rashes and what look like frostbitten toes, the Washington Post reports. On Tuesday, New Brunswick expanded its list of symptoms to help determine whether a test for COVID-19 is required to include, among others, “in children, purple markings on the fingers or toes.”

North America’s meat supply could be in trouble. “Nearly all the beef sold in Canadian grocery stores and exported from the country comes from just three meatpacking plants," Bloomberg explains. And now COVID-19 is in two major plants in Alberta. Though President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep meat-processing plants open in the U.S., it’s unclear how that will work as the number of infected workers continues to grow. At least 20 American plants have closed in recent weeks.

Outbreaks at two poultry plants in the greater Vancouver area are responsible for more than half of the new cases reported in British Columbia on Tuesday, the Vancouver Sun reports. Workers had been transferring between the plants, which are owned by the Pollon family, spreading the disease along the way.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, acknowledged the Tokyo Summer Olympics, postponed until next year, won’t take place until the pandemic has been contained. The news comes as the nation struggles to control its own outbreak, which has strained its hospital system, Reuters reports.

A happy update: Earlier this month, when Captain Tom Moore finished walking 100 laps of his garden to raise money for the U.K.’s National Health Service, he’d raised around $25 million. Now that tally is more than $50 million. No wonder people have sent him 125,000 thank you cards. The most important will arrive tomorrow, when Captain Moore gets his congratulatory 100th birthday message from Queen Elizabeth II.

For everyone needing some peace, calm and beauty, a drone has captured the glory of Rome’s Pantheon, surrounded by empty plazas and streets, while in England, deer and ducks do their own thing in the early morning quiet of Bushy Park in greater London. 

—Patricia Treble

As of the latest update, this is the number of confirmed cases in Canada. We're updating this chart every day.