Front Burner

As Ontario lays out its plans to reopen, Quebec Premier François Legault pushes "herd immunity" as part of the strategy to reopen his province. But that strategy was tried elsewhere and led to rapidly climbing death rates. Tonight on Front Burner, we look into how this could play out in Quebec. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch returns to help us out.

Nova Scotia is still coming to terms with the mass shooting that unfolded just over a week ago, taking the lives of 22 people. The RCMP has released a more detailed timeline, including information provided by a surviving witness — a woman who had been in a relationship with the gunman — speculation about how the gunman escaped a police perimeter, and more. But questions remain about the crimes and the RCMP’s response.

Life began returning to German streets this week as the country took small steps to slowly re-open the economy. New Zealand is set to follow suit by bringing back businesses and school for young children next week. Here in Canada, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has announced plans to reopen his province in five stages starting in May, and many other political leaders are starting to talk about how and when strict COVID-19 restrictions might be phased out. Today we’re asking about what benchmarks need to be hit for Canada to re-open, with help from Jeremy Konyndyk, Senior Policy Fellow at the Centre for Global Development, and Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease specialist and chief of staff at Humber River Hospital.

Since January, the staff at Markham Stouffville Hospital in Ontario have cared for hundreds of COVID-positive patients.Through a series of self-recordings and interviews, CBC's Wendy Mesley was able to access what life is like inside the hospital's intensive care unit. Today on Front Burner, she shares stories of the physical and emotional toll faced by front-line workers there, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, Front Burner learned that Ontario's Orchard Villa long term care home has one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls in the country — 31 residents have been killed by the virus. We spoke to family members who say the sick weren't segregated, and that they were left in the dark about what was happening inside.

Advocates say there are serious systemic problems in Canada's long term care facilities, and that this pandemic is exposing the deadly consequences of allowing those problems to fester for years.

COVID-19 lockdowns have taken a major swipe at the dominance of oil…as the worth of a barrel of U.S. oil tumbled to less than nothing. That's the first time in history that the price has turned negative. So, what does that mean exactly - and how did it happen?

To explain it all, we talk to CBC News national business correspondent, Peter Armstrong.

There are still so many unanswered questions about what happened in Nova Scotia this past weekend. What we do know is that a lone gunman went on a 12-hour shooting rampage across the province. He set fire to five structures, impersonated a police officer and left at least 18 victims dead. Today, CBC News reporter Brett Ruskin joins us from Portapique, N.S., to report on one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.

Scientists are still trying to determine the origin of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but a predominant theory is that it began in a "wet market" in Wuhan, China. This has put the spotlight on China's wet markets, with growing calls to shut them down entirely. But, what are these wet markets, what makes them so controversial — and why do some think a ban is the only answer?

Today on Front Burner, we take a deep dive into China's world of wet markets with Peter Li, China policy specialist for the Humane Society International.

Bryson seems like a perfectly healthy baby. But soon doctors confirm his parents’ worst fears: something is wrong with Bryson’s brain. Despite dozens of tests over nearly a decade, doctors come up empty in their efforts to find a diagnosis.Then one day, everything changes. Scientists working at the cutting edge of genetics believe they know what's causing Bryson's disease — and think it could be reversed. Here’s the first episode of the new CBC podcast, Unlocking Bryson’s Brain. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/unlocking

As scientists worldwide scramble for COVID-19 treatments and cures, some see promise in antibody-rich plasma of survivors. In Canada and beyond survivors are donating their blood for new, fast-tracked, clinical trials. Today, CBC senior correspondent Susan Ormiston joins us from Washington, D.C., to explain why antibody-rich plasma could be useful in the fight against COVID-19.