This statistician won a coffee or doughnut almost every time

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: “We are on thin ice, the thinnest ice even.” — German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Recoveries now outnumber new infections and schools will start to reopen in Germany on May 4, but Merkel cautions that her nation is proceeding down a treacherous path.

Two milestones were reached in Canada: the number of cases passed the 40,000 mark while the death toll climbed past 2,000. Nearly 2.7 million people are infected worldwide, with nearly 190,000 reported deaths.

As Saskatchewan announced that it will start the process of re-opening next week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled $1.1 billion in funding—including nearly $750 in new spending—for new vaccines as well as the laborious yet crucial process of contract tracing.

Yesterday, after the head of the Centers for Disease Control worried that there could be dual outbreaks of both seasonal influenza as well as COVID-19 starting this autumn, his boss, President Donald Trump, said that COVID-19 may not return in the fall in the same virulent form, and then mused that "it's also possible it doesn’t come back at all.” That led to one of the government’s top infectious diseases scientists, Dr. Anthony Fauci, directly contradicting Trump, saying, “There will be coronavirus in the fall.”

On March 23, some 43 workers at the Braskem America factory in Pennsylvania went to work. They didn’t leave for 28 days, converting offices into bedrooms and a small kitchen into a mess hall. Working 12-hour shifts, the all-volunteer workforce made polypropylene, the non-woven material used in critically important medical supplies. By the end of their self-imposed isolation, they created enough polypropylene to “hypothetically make either 500 million N95 masks or 1.5 billion surgical masks,” the Washington Post explained. The workers left on Sunday, and were replaced by another live-in crew.  

In Brussels, the public transit system is delivering (virtual) hugs and kisses to those in self-isolation. A vehicle dubbed the “love bus” trundles from address to address, broadcasting audio messages of love and hope. So far, it’s received around 750 requests. “They are very happy that we thought of them,” driver Alex Vandecasteele told the Associated Press. “They are suddenly surprised, by people, their family or friends who have thought of them.”

In British Columbia, the Dutch Liberation Canadian Society found itself with 25,000 tulips after the ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian troops was cancelled. So, the society gave bouquets to residents, nurses and other workers at seniors’ homes in the Lower Mainland. They handed out a lot of tulips.

—Patricia Treble

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