The latest on the coronavirus outbreak for April 2

• Calls mount for Ottawa to release projections on COVID-19 spread as Canada surpasses 11,000 cases.
• Canadian passengers on virus-stricken cruise to finally begin journey home.
• Grocery store staff fed up with 'social' shoppers who flout pandemic rules.
• Your daily COVID-19 questions answered, including what to do with your mail.
• Read more: Here's the latest on what's happening in Canada and around the world.

Calls mount for Ottawa to release projections on COVID-19 spread

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the country may have to endure the COVID-19 pandemic for months to come, but his government has so far refused to release internal projections of just how deadly the virus could be and when the caseload might peak.

Other countries, including the U.S., have offered models stating how many people they predict will be hospitalized and how many will die from the pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 130 Canadians while infecting thousands more.

Trudeau said the federal government isn't ready to release that sort of data at this time, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised that his government will release modelling Friday of potential death rates. "It's going to be stark," Ford said, adding it will be a "sobering discussion."

When pressed on why his government won't release internal data on COVID-19's potential spread, Trudeau said there is still more work to be done to provide Canadians with an accurate picture. "I'll be speaking tonight with the premiers about this data, about the modelling and analysis that's going on and we look forward to being able to share more information soon," Trudeau said.

Read more about how COVID-19 is tracked in Canada

Canadian passengers on virus-stricken cruise to finally begin journey home

An ill-fated cruise that has experienced a COVID-19 outbreak and four deaths is coming to an end after politicians in Florida agreed to allow its passengers to disembark in Fort Lauderdale.

"I couldn't begin to tell you how happy we are," said passenger Chris Joiner, 59, of Orléans, Ont. He and his wife, Anna, are on board the MS Zaandam, a Holland America Line cruise ship that has been sailing off the coast of South America and in the Caribbean for more than two weeks, looking for a place to dock.

The Zaandam and its sister ship, the Rotterdam, are carrying 1,243 passengers, including 247 Canadians. The Rotterdam and its crew joined the Zaandam last week, taking on more than half of its passengers to provide some relief.

Holland America said it has secured approval from a local clinic that will treat the "estimated less than 10 people" on the Zaandam who require critical medical care. About 45 passengers suffering from "mild illness" will stay on board in isolation until they recover and are approved for travel, the company said.

Read more about the cruise

Grocery store staff fed up with 'social' shoppers who flout pandemic rules

Politicians and health officials across the country have been urging Canadians not to treat grocery shopping as a social activity, even if the essential service happens to be one of the few remaining places where social interaction is even possible.

Now, grocery store employees are adding their voices to the call, asking shoppers to be as efficient as possible: Don't stop to chat, shop alone and only shop once a week.

Many grocery stores have implemented safety measures such as sanitizing their carts. They have also installed Plexiglas as protective barriers in front of their cashiers and put markers on the floor to separate customers when they line up to pay.

CBC News spoke with a number of grocery store employees who said they have been verbally abused by angry, frustrated and impatient customers. The union representing grocery store employees in Canada said its members don't have to tolerate bad behaviour and encourages them to report it to their manager or union representative.

Read more about the situation at grocery stores

ANALYSIS

How to evaluate COVID-19 advice you spot online

There have been many misleading and false claims about COVID-19 remedies or ways to prevent infection that have been shared to millions of people since the coronavirus outbreak began. And no, drinking hot lemon water, breathing in steam and gargling with salt water will not protect you from getting COVID-19.

Here's some guidance on how to approach these claims:

• First, pause. Don't share anything, especially out of fear, before you have had a chance to evaluate the claim.
• Take a look at where the information is coming from. Texts from "friends of friends" or unnamed hospital workers are likely to contain false information.
• Google it. You can enter the topic plus the words "fact-check" into a search engine and see what you get for results. Often claims have already been debunked and you will be able to find those results quickly.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. There is, as yet, no approved drug therapy or vaccine for COVID-19. Also be skeptical of products and practices that claim to boost immune function or detoxify your body or organs.
• When in doubt, don't share information — you may be spreading misinformation and causing others to panic needlessly.

THE SCIENCE

More evidence emerges that coronavirus infections can be spread by people with no clear symptoms

A study by researchers in Singapore is the latest to estimate that somewhere around 10 per cent of new coronavirus infections may be sparked by people who carry the virus but have not yet suffered its flu-like symptoms.

In response to that study and others, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed how it defined the risk of infection for Americans. The agency's new guidance targeted people who have no symptoms but were exposed to others with known or suspected infections. It essentially says that anyone may be a carrier, whether that person has symptoms or not.

The findings complicate efforts to gain control of the pandemic and reinforce the importance of social distancing and other measures designed to stop the spread, experts said. "You have to really be proactive about reducing contacts between people who seem perfectly healthy," said Lauren Ancel Meyers, a University of Texas at Austin researcher who has studied coronavirus transmission in different countries.

CDC officials say they have been researching asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections, but the studies are not complete. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said such scientific evidence still needs to be unpacked. "We have of course had cases that are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic. What we didn't know before was how much does that play in the force of transmission?" Tam said.

AND FINALLY...

That's one way to make sure health advice sinks in...

Amid the undeniable seriousness of the ongoing pandemic, there have been a few moments of levity that can brighten people's days and serve as social media fodder — but using needlework to do it may be a first.

That's what happened after Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister John Haggie advised parents to stop letting their children lick shopping carts. This unintentionally comedic directive inspired Jaimie Feener to pick up her needle and thread and turn the quote into art.

"He's always telling us exactly how it is and how we need to be," said Feener, who sells crafts under the name Feener and Thread. "And when he said it, I burst out laughing, I think as the majority of Newfoundlanders did. It was just kind of comical that he had to say that."

Feener, who said she's been trying to calm her worries with artwork, said the responses she got from the Haggie piece gave her a much-needed lift. Oh, and Haggie now has a piece of artwork of his own as well — pretty meta, eh?

Read the full story about the needlework health directive

Send us your questions

Still looking for more information on the outbreak? Read more about COVID-19's impact on life in Canada, or reach out to us at covid@cbc.ca.

If you have symptoms of the illness caused by the coronavirus, here's what to do in your part of the country.

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