Quebec Premier Francois Legault says he has added someone new to the province’s list of essential services – the tooth fairy. Legault played a short video during his daily briefing in Quebec City of a girl named Raphaelle asking whether the tooth fairy is allowed out and about during the pandemic. He said the tooth fairy will continue working, and he assured parents the fairy has immunity against the novel coronavirus.

The Canadian Grand Prix has become the latest major sports event in the country to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Montreal-based Formula One race was scheduled to take place June 12-14 before Wednesday’s postponement. Formula One said it hopes to reschedule the event this year.

The Canadian Football League is postponing the start of its 2020 season until the beginning of July due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced the postponement in a release, noting that some CFL cities have indicated they won’t allow sporting events through the end of June.

Ambrosie said the league will try to play a full season, though significant changes will have to be made. The CFL season was scheduled to start June 11 and finish with the Grey Cup game in Regina on Nov. 22.

The largest and most popular park in Vancouver will become car-free by noon Wednesday as park officials move to ensure physical distancing. Vancouver Park Board general manager Malcolm Bromley says cars will be banned from most roads in Stanley Park, allowing cyclists to use the routes.

Cyclists will be moved off the park’s picturesque, 10-kilometre seawall, giving more room to walkers and joggers.The goal is to keep all Vancouver parks open while permitting physical distancing but if the Stanley Park experiment fails, Bromley says the whole park could be closed, although he doubts that will be required.

One of the most popular tourist destinations in the US has taken a massive hit. Orlando International Airport crowded beyond capacity a few months ago, is now pretty well empty.

The number of departing passengers on Monday at was 2,597, that’s down of 96.6 percent from the same day last year, according to figures provided by the airport and based on Transportation Security Administration screenings.

Orlando’s airport was ranked last year as the nation’s 10th-busiest with the highest economic impact of all Florida airports with $41 billion in 2017, ahead of Miami International Airport, with an impact of $33 billion. Earlier this year MCO was handling arriving and departing passengers at a rate of 50 million annually.

Orlando International said they have not cut hours or furloughed any of the nearly 800 workers at the airport. Throughout the main terminal, flights crews, police, TSA officers and construction workers far outnumbered passengers on Tuesday.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is “considering new options” amid criticism from local officials for his order that reversed beach closures and other restrictions imposed by cities and counties to battle the coronavirus.

Kemp’s executive order last week requiring Georgia residents to shelter at home, except under prescribed exceptions, drew an outcry from some city and county leaders for a provision that rolled back any tougher restrictions already imposed by local governments. Those nullified restrictions included local decisions to close public beaches on the 100-mile (160 kilometre) Georgia coast.

Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions over the weekend blasted Kemp’s action as a “reckless mandate” that encouraged tourism as infections and deaths keep rising in Georgia. In Glynn County, where the state had reopened the beach on St. Simons Island, elected county Chairman Michael Browning sent Kemp a letter Monday saying: “this is the time to be tightening restrictions that combat the spread of this disease, not loosening them.”

The Republican governor’s order expires April 14, though he could choose to extend it.

Since Kemp’s order took effect Friday, Georgia state troopers and officers from the state Department of Natural Resources have patrolled beaches to enforce social distancing requirements. In addition, people have been prohibited from bringing lounge chairs, umbrellas, and other gear to the beaches, which Kemp has said were opened for fresh air and exercise.

The US Coast Guard has told operators of four Galveston-based cruise ships that the vessels present an inherent, unacceptable risk of spreading COVID-19 and ordered them to form their own plans for caring for sick crew members. There are no passengers aboard the ships, but they each are still carrying thousands of crew members.

Coast Guard Capt. K.D. Oditt, of the Houston-Galveston sector, wrote identical letters sent Friday to Royal Caribbean Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line telling the cruise companies to prepare to treat sick crew members aboard the ships, and to arrange “commercial resources” to transport critically ill crew members from ships to medical facilities.

The Coast Guard also ordered companies to identify medical facilities that would accept evacuees from the ships.

Since March 13, two Carnival Cruise Line and two Royal Caribbean Cruises ships have rotated berths at the Port of Galveston while the companies wait out a return to business.

Royal Caribbean on March 30 confirmed two crew members aboard Liberty of the Seas had contracted coronavirus. One was evacuated from the ship, but the other was left aboard and isolated, officials said.

There have been no updates about the status of the crew members aboard the Liberty of the Seas, but Oditt’s letter makes clear the Coast Guard is concerned about a large outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the ship.

A similar order was sent to ships off the Florida coast 10 days ago. That letter suggests cruise ships with sick crew members aboard seek aid from the countries whose flags they fly under. Royal Caribbean ships are flagged and registered in the Bahamas. Carnival ships are flagged in Panama.

Tourists are told to stay away from visiting Colorado county popular with skiers and hikers during coronavirus pandemic or risk facing $5,000 fine or 18 months jail

A county in Colorado is attempting to seal itself off from the outside world and threatening jail time or a hefty fine for anybody who tries to come and visit during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gunnison County, about 200 miles southwest of Denver, and home to Paonia State Park, is asking tourists. It is popular spot offering a number of national recreation areas, national forests and national wilderness area and is a haven for skiers, mountain bikers, rock climbers and hikers.

In an attempt to dissuade any would-be tourists, officials are warning visitors they could face jail if they decide to come. Unwanted visitors could be fined up to $5,000 and spend 18 months in the county jail.

The order says, “The public health director also finds that non-residents, regardless of whether they own a residence in Gunnison County, are imposing unnecessary burdens on health care, public services, first responders, food supplies and other essential services.”

Those who wish to stay in the county need to request a waiver or leave as soon as possible.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has appealed to his nation to keep sticking to social distancing rules to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He also is warning it will take a long time for the country to return to normal.

Rutte says “it is much to soon to speculate” about a possible exit strategy from what the premier calls the “intelligent lockdown” in the Netherlands, where bars, restaurants, museums, schools and universities are closed until at least April 28.

Ahead of the Easter weekend, when the Netherlands usually draws large numbers of tourists from neighbouring Germany and Belgium, Rutte is urging people – in Dutch, German and French – to stay home.