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gardens Ontario declares community gardens essential source of fresh food The province amended its emergency order to re-open community gardens. The province of Ontario has re-opened community gardens and declared them an "essential source of fresh food" for people, including those who are facing food insecurity, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A media release issued Saturday morning said gardens will have to follow recommendations and instructions laid out by local medical officers of health, which includes physical distancing and regular disinfecting of commonly used equipment and surfaces. It's an amendment to an emergency order issued on March 30th, which lumped community gardens in with other "recreational amenities" that were being closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Moe Garahan, the co-chair of Sustain Ontario's Community Growing Network and the executive director of Just Food said she's pleased with the decision. passports Coronavirus: Immunity passports 'could increase virus spread' Governments should not issue so-called "immunity passports" or "risk-free certificates" as a way of easing lockdowns, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. It said there was "no evidence" that people who had developed antibodies after recovering from the virus were protected against a second infection. Such a move could actually increase virus transmission, it warned. People who assumed they were immune might stop taking precautions, it said. Some governments have considered permitting people who have recovered to travel or return to work.

canada Canada's top doctor warns against relying on herd immunity to reopen economy Canada's top doctor says there isn't enough evidence to back herd immunity as a way to reopen society, as Quebec's premier is considering the approach to restart his province's economy. "The idea of ... generating natural immunity is actually not something that should be undertaken," Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said Saturday, urging people to be "extremely cautious" about the concept. Herd immunity is conferred when enough people in a given population have been infected with a virus, marking them immune to reinfection and slowing down the rate at which the virus spreads on its own. The World Health Organization (WHO) published a brief Friday stating that there is "currently no evidence" that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies would be protected from a second infection, but clarified Saturday that most people infected would end up with "some level of protection."