The latest:
More than 20 heads of government and global agencies in a commentary published Tuesday called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID-19.
But the commentary included few details to explain how such an agreement might actually compel countries to act more co-operatively.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, Premier Mario Draghi of Italy and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda proposed "a renewed collective commitment" to reinforce preparedness and response systems by leveraging the UN health agency's constitution.
"We are convinced that it is our responsibility, as leaders of nations and international institutions, to ensure that the world learns the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic," the authors wrote. Although the document calls for "solidarity," and greater "societal commitment," there was no indication any country would soon change its own approach to responding to the pandemic.
Speaking at a briefing Tuesday, Tedros said the time to act is now. "The world cannot afford to wait until the pandemic is over to start planning for the next one."
President of the European Council Charles Michel, who also spoke on Tuesday, said that it's not a question of if the world will see another pandemic, but when.
"COVID-19 has been a harsh reminder — no one is safe until everyone is safe," Michel said, noting that leaders need to take responsibility to ensure that pandemic preparedness and global health systems are fit for the 21st century.
International regulations governing health and implemented by WHO already exist — and can be disregarded by countries with few consequences.
Despite an obligation for nations to share critical epidemic data and materials quickly with WHO, for example, China declined to do so when the coronavirus first broke out. And with no enforcement powers, WHO officials had little means of compelling them to share details, an AP investigation last year found.
Steven Solomon, WHO's principal legal officer, said the proposed pandemic treaty would be shaped in future talks and needs to be ratified by lawmakers in the participating countries. The engagement of governments in the work of negotiating and approving a treaty is a way of promoting implementation, Solomon said.
"Specifics about enforcement will be up to member states to decide on," the WHO legal officer said.
Canada, U.S., Russia, China not listed
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not listed among the signatories to the letter, nor are the leaders of China, Russia or the United States.
When asked about China, Russia and the U.S., Tedros said signatories to the letter mainly joined through an opt-in process in which countries signalled their wish to join, though he noted that in some instances the WHO invited regional representation.
"The comment from member states, including U.S. and China, was actually positive," Tedros said. "And we hope the future engagements will bring all countries."
Last week, Tedros pleaded with rich countries to immediately donate 10 million COVID-19 vaccines so that immunization campaigns could start in all countries within the first 100 days of the year.
Not a single country has yet publicly offered to share its vaccines immediately, but Tedros said Tuesday that the WHO is in discussions with some countries.
Later Tuesday, the WHO and scientists offered some details on the findings of an international team that had been studying the origins of COVID-19. The briefing came a day after The Associated Press published a report based on a leaked draft copy of the document.
Press briefing by the international team studying the origins of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> virus <a href="https://t.co/aH27YG8kGD">https://t.co/aH27YG8kGD</a>
—@WHO-From The Associated Press, CBC News and Reuters, last updated at 10:35 a.m. ET
What's happening in Canada
WATCH LIVE | Trudeau, cabinet ministers and public health officials give COVID-19 update:
![](https://liveimages.cbc.ca/z0OhwHI6I9fDZcHrMvTM/thumbnail.jpeg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
As of 11:15 a.m. ET Tuesday, Canada had reported 974,929 cases of COVID-19, with 46,189 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 22,921.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a briefing on Tuesday that vaccination efforts will continue to ramp up in the weeks ahead. The prime minister said throughout April and May "a million doses a week are scheduled to arrive from Pfizer alone, plus Moderna, plus AstraZeneca." Trudeau added Pfizer has confirmed it will move up to June five million doses that were scheduled for later in the summer.
Health officials in Ontario on Tuesday reported 2,336 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths. According to data about COVID-19 released by the province, hospitalizations stood at 1,090, with 387 people in intensive care units.
Critical Care Services Ontario, an agency which tracks hospitalizations across the province, put the provincial ICU figure at 410. The data provided by the province on the public dashboard is lower than the CCSO data because health officials stop including hospitalized patients in the public count after they have stopped testing positive for COVID-19.
In Quebec, health officials reported 864 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths on Tuesday. A provincial dashboard put the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations at 487, with 126 people in intensive care.
Both Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier François Legault are expected to provide updates on COVID-19 at 1 p.m. ET.
In Atlantic Canada, both Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Health officials in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador had not yet provided an update for the day, but on Monday New Brunswick reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 — all in the Edmundston region in the province's northwest.
In the Prairie provinces, there were no new COVID-19-related deaths reported on Monday.
Manitoba reported 53 new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths. Health officials in Saskatchewan reported 202 new cases and no additional deaths. In Alberta, meanwhile, health officials reported 545 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths.
British Columbia has taken a step backward in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the province to impose circuit-breaker measures for the next three weeks to slow the rapid spread of the virus, the provincial health officer said Monday.
Dr. Bonnie Henry said starting Tuesday until April 19, indoor dining at restaurants, bars and pubs, and adult group activity at fitness centres are paused, while the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort will be closed as COVID-19 cases spread in the community. She said the province will also amend its mask-wearing mandate in all schools for children from grades 4 to 12.
WATCH | Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. needs a 'circuit-breaker to stop this virus now':
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/186/627/Dr._Bonnie_Henry.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
Only last week, Henry announced the easing of restrictions on indoor religious services, but that has also been reversed.
"It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce this," she said Monday. "I cannot in all conscience, with the increased numbers of cases that we are having and the risk that we see from indoor services, allow these types of activities to happen right now."
Henry said recent data continues to show that indoor settings are where COVID-19 transmissions are occurring and the case trajectory continues upward.
Across the North, there were no new cases of COVID-19 reported in Yukon or Nunavut. In the Northwest Territories, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer reported one new case at the Diavik Diamond Mine.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 11:45 a.m. ET
What's happening around the world
As of early Tuesday morning, more than 127.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.7 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Australia's Queensland state warned that more cases were expected to emerge as authorities scrambled to contain an outbreak linked to the virulent B117 variant, throwing Easter travel plans into disarray.
India reported the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases in five months, with the second wave of the disease driven by surging infections in the country's richest state Maharastra.
In the Americas, U.S. President Joe Biden urged states to pause reopening efforts and a top health official warned of "impending doom," amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that threaten efforts to quash the coronavirus pandemic.
Honduras said it would temporarily restrict arrivals from South America, citing fears about the variant first discovered in travellers from Brazil entering its territory.
In Africa, Ethiopian health authorities on Tuesday received 300,000 doses of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. The shots arrived a day after the East African country introduced stricter lockdown measures to stem a spike in infections.
Earlier in March, Ethiopia received nearly 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX initiative that ensures vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries.
Johnson & Johnson said it's agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer. The drugmaker said under its agreement with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, the company will provide up to 220 million vaccine doses for the African Union's 55 member countries, with delivery beginning in the July-to-September quarter. The trust will be able to order 180 million additional doses from J&J, for a total of up to 400 million shots through 2022.
The company's vaccine still must receive authorization from regulators in the African countries, but the World Health Organization approved it for emergency use on March 12. In late-stage testing, J&J's vaccine prevented about 67 per cent of symptomatic infections with the coronavirus and was 85 per cent effective at preventing severe disease, beginning 28 days after vaccination.
In Europe, Italy has imposed a five-day quarantine on people entering from other EU countries in a bid to deter Easter getaways and limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Health Minister Roberto Speranza says he signed the new ordinance Tuesday. It requires a virus test before arriving in Italy, five days of quarantine once here and another virus test to get out of quarantine for anyone entering Italy from the EU.
In Germany, authorities in Berlin and Munich are again suspending the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine for residents under age 60 due to new reports of unusual blood clots in people who recently received the shots, officials said Tuesday. The action was taken as a precaution ahead of a meeting later Tuesday of representatives from Germany's 16 states and further recommendations were expected from national medical regulators, said Berlin's top health official, Dilek Kalayci.
The decision came after the country's medical regulator announced it had received 31 reports of rare blood clots in recent recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Nine of the people died and all but two of the cases involved women aged 20 to 63, the Paul Ehrlich Institute said.
Reports of an unusual form of blood clot in the head — known as sinus-vein thrombosis — prompted several European countries to temporarily halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month. After a review by medical experts, the European Medicines Agency concluded the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks.
At the same time, the agency recommended that warnings about possible rare side effects should be provided to patients and doctors. Most European Union countries, including Germany, resumed use of the vaccine.
Earlier Tuesday, two state-owned hospitals in Berlin announced that they had stopped giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to female staff members under 55. And the heads of five university hospitals in western Germany called for a temporary halt to the vaccine for all younger women, citing the blood clot risk.
Kalayci, the Berlin state health minister, said suspending AstraZeneca vaccines for younger people was a precaution.
"We have not had a case of serious side effects in Berlin yet," she said, adding all of those who had received the AstraZeneca shot already could rest assured that it provides good protection against the coronavirus.
"Still, we need to treat it carefully and wait for the talks taking place at the federal level," said Kalayci.
The decision could affect appointments for tens of thousands of teachers and people with pre-existing conditions who received invitations to get vaccinated in Germany's capital in recent days.
German news agency dpa quoted a spokesperson for Munich, the country's third-largest city, saying that the suspension of AstraZeneca vaccinations for people younger than 60 would last "until issue of possible vaccine complications for this group of persons has been resolved."
Some 2.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in Germany so far.
Germany is also extending virus-related border controls along its border with the Czech Republic by a further 14 days but ending entry requirements for people coming from the Austrian region of Tyrol.
WATCH | Why the Czech Republic is being hit hard by the 3rd wave:
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Britain will focus on vaccinating the whole of its adult population before it can provide any surplus shots to other countries such as Ireland, British business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Tuesday. More than 30 million Britons have received their first shots in the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, with the aim of offering shots to all adults by the end of July.
However, Britain has found itself involved in a public spat with the European Union, where the vaccination program has been much slower, over the supply of doses.
In the Middle East, Israel has reopened its border crossing with neighbouring Egypt for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Israeli authorities on Tuesday started allowing 300 citizens per day to enter and exit for the purpose of tourism in the Sinai Peninsula, provided they pass coronavirus tests before each crossing and are vaccinated against COVID-19 or recovered from it.
-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 10:30 a.m. ET
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNiYy5jYS9uZXdzL3dvcmxkL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWNvdmlkMTktY2FuYWRhLXdvcmxkLW1hcmNoMzAtMjAyMS0xLjU5NjgxMTbSASBodHRwczovL3d3dy5jYmMuY2EvYW1wLzEuNTk2ODExNg?oc=5
2021-03-30 15:50:47Z
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