The coronavirus could go beyond lung damage

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: “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” Bill Gates wrote on Twitter after President Donald Trump said he was pulling U.S. funding out of the international institution. 

On Wednesday, the death toll passed the 1,000-person mark in Canada, while more than 28,000 have the virus. Worldwide, some 132,000 people have died of COVID-19 while more than two million have the virus. 

“We are expanding the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to include people making up to $1,000 a month, seasonal workers and people whose EI has run out,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today. “If you were expecting a seasonable job that isn’t coming because of COVID-19 you will now be able to apply.” 

In addition to lung damage, the coronavirus may also cause “heart inflammation, acute kidney disease, neurological malfunction, blood clots, intestinal damage and liver problems,” according to evidence some medical experts are seeing, reports the Washington Post.    

Alberta teen Matt Greenshields, 19, thought he had a case of mono. He ended up in an intensive care unit with COVID-19. Now recovering at home, he hopes he can be a cautionary tale for other young people: “Maybe I should scare them into staying at home,” he told Global News.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, has had a great deal of experience dealing with crises, this CBC story explains. But the coronavirus pandemic is the only one in which she made headlines for giving herself a haircut.

“That may have been the weirdest council meeting I’ve covered,” CBC Vancouver’s Justin McElroy wrote at the end of a Twitter thread about a virtual gathering that included Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart struggling to get his computer to work, a councillor being heard trying to pay bills over the phone and another flushing a toilet without muting their phone. Vancouver’s travails even top those of this fictional meeting of police in New Zealand. 

Some videos of home confinement tricks are elaborate and some are deliciously simple—if devilishly hard to pull off—such as this “bounce a ping pong ball off the bottom of four pots then into a cup” contest.

—Patricia Treble

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