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The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Thursday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
1:50 p.m. There has been a nearly 13 per cent increase in deaths in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with a significant proportion of those excess deaths due to causes other than the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to cremation data obtained and analyzed by Ontario’s Science Advisory Table.
Nearly 81,000 people were cremated in 2020 compared to a yearly average of 71,625 from 2017 to 2019.
The pandemic “has influenced so many aspects of our (lives),” that it’s difficult to pinpoint one factor causing the excess deaths, said Gemma Postill, the study’s lead author.
Ontario began categorizing cremation records electronically in 2017, allowing Postill to search the database for any deaths mentioning COVID-19.
When researchers removed deaths caused by the virus, they found that the overall number of weekly deaths from January to December of 2020 had increased by 12.8 per cent among those who were cremated.
Read the full story here from the Star’s Patty Winsa and Jenna Moon.
1:46 p.m. Nova Scotia is reporting two more COVID-19-related deaths and 84 new virus cases today.
Health officials say two men in their 70s have died in hospital in the Halifax area.
They have identified 66 new cases in the Halifax area, 11 in the province's eastern zone, six in the northern zone and one in the western region.
The province has 1,028 active cases of COVID-19, with 84 people in hospital, including 21 in intensive care.
1:45 p.m. Nunavut's top doctor says it's safe to ease COVID-19 restrictions in Baffin region communities, except for Iqaluit and Kinngait where there are active cases.
The territory reported 45 active cases Friday, with 44 in Iqaluit and one in Kinngait.
The capital city is still under a strict lockdown heading into the long weekend.
Starting Monday, all other communities can reopen schools and gather indoors with up to 15 people.
1:45 p.m. Manitoba is asking the federal government for dozens of health care workers to help fight COVID-19.
Premier Brian Pallister says he has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for up to 50 critical care nurses and 20 respiratory therapists.
He is also seeking up to 50 contact tracers from Statistics Canada.
Manitoba is seeing record numbers of COVID-19 cases and people in intensive care during the third wave of the pandemic.
1:42 p.m. Ontario's government is facing criticism from doctors and teachers alike for failing to say if and when classrooms will reopen this school year.
The Canadian Paediatric Society says the province must prioritize reopening schools for the sake of children's mental health.
The national organization of pediatricians says even a few weeks in the classroom will be beneficial for children who have been starved of socialization.
The province's three-stage reopening plan, unveiled on Thursday, will see some non-essential retailers open their doors around mid-June, but offers no plan for sending kids back to class.
The union that represents the province's high school teachers wants Premier Doug Ford's government to be a little more transparent.
Read the full story here on the Star.
1:28 p.m. Get your ice cream and a jab this weekend. A drop-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic will be held on Sunday May 23 in Toronto at Nathan Phillips Square for anyone aged 12 and older living in hotspot postal codes.
The clinic is for first-dose only for eligible residents across the city, non-insured and migrant workers are also able to be vaccinated.
1:20 p.m. New Brunswick is reporting a second death related to a rare blood-clotting event from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says a person in their 50s received a first dose on April 11 and developed blood clot symptoms 17 days later before recently dying.
Health officials are reporting 15 new cases of COVID-19 today.
New Brunswick has 127 active reported COVID-19 cases and seven people in hospital with the disease, including three in intensive care.
1 p.m. On Friday, Ontario announced it is “expediting the ability for family members and friends to visit their loved ones who live in long-term care homes.”
The province says homes will need to rapidly reintroduce plans to support outdoor visits.
This comes a day after the province released its three-step plan for reopening. Changes include reopening outdoor recreational amenities, permitting organized public events and social gatherings outdoors with a maximum of five people, including people from different households.
These changes come into effect on Saturday May 22 2021.
12 p.m. Canada's deputy chief medical officer says the country's COVID-19 vaccination efforts have doubled in five weeks.
Nearly 20 million doses have been administered to date.
Dr. Howard Njoo says daily COVID-19 cases have declined by 25 per cent over the last week.
Hospitalizations, deaths and critical-care admissions are also dropping.
11:33 a.m. Ontario is reporting another 1,890 COVID-19 cases and 27 more deaths, according to its latest report released Friday morning.
The seven-day average is at 2,064 cases daily, or 99 weekly per 100,000. Ontario’s seven-day average for deaths is at 21.1 daily.
The province says 37,126 tests were completed the previous day, and report a 5.4 per cent positivity rate.
There are 1,265 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, including 715 patients in intensive care. There are 510 people on ventilators.
Ontario has administered 158,524 vaccine doses since its last daily update, with 7,735,148 vaccines given in total as of 8 p.m. the previous night. The province says 495,757 people have completed their vaccinations, which means they’ve had both doses.
Read the full daily update from the Star’s Breanna Xavier-Carter: Ontario reports another 1,890 COVID-19 cases and 27 more deaths
11:30 a.m. Ontario is giving a shot in the arm to its COVID-19 vaccination efforts by approving the limited use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for second doses.
As first disclosed by the Star on Wednesday, the province is lifting a pause on use of the vaccine over rare blood-clot issues for a brief time for those aged 60-64 who received their first shots in a pilot in Toronto, Windsor-Essex and Kingston.
Starting Monday, people who received an initial AstraZeneca shot at a pharmacy in those areas — as well as at doctors’ offices in Hamilton and a smattering of other places — between March 10 and 19 can get their second doses.
Ontario has 55,000 doses of the vaccine that expire on May 31, so those will be the first boosters to be dispensed, and only to those who got their first shot at least 10 weeks ago.
That’s to ensure maximum efficacy of the vaccine.
Once those vaccines have been dispensed, the government will look at accessing additional doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and getting them into the arms of the hundreds of thousands of people who received a first dose.
Read the full story from the Star’s Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie: Ontario approves AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for second doses
11 a.m. Quebec is reporting 752 new COVID-19 cases today and nine more deaths from the virus, but none in the past 24 hours.
Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by 23 to 437 people, and 106 people were in intensive care.
The province says 107,261 COVID-19 vaccines doses were administered in the past 24 hours, for a total of more than 4.7 million.
11 a.m. Transport Canada is extending the ban on incoming flights from India and Pakistan for another month.
The flight ban that began April 22 was set to expire on Saturday.
A notice posted on the Nav Canada website says the extension is ordered by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra.
It says the ministry believes barring flights from those two countries for another month is necessary to protect the public.
10:54 a.m. All Indigenous people in Manitoba can book a second COVID-19 vaccine shot on May 24.
The public health lead for First Nations says First Nations people have made up 40 to 60 per cent of intensive care admissions during the second and third waves of the pandemic.
Dr. Marcia Anderson says more work must be done to get more Indigenous people booked for their first doses, too.
She says 67 per cent of people on reserves have received at least one dose, but only 30 per cent of those living off reserve have received shots.
10:32 a.m. Toronto is back to pleading with residents to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments at city-run clinics, with roughly 12,000 spots available over the Victoria Day weekend.
In Friday morning broadcast interviews Mayor John Tory urged anyone who has not yet received their first dose to book an appointment immediately and to encourage anyone who might be vaccine hesitant to join them.
Tory noted that a little over 60 per cent of Toronto adults have received at least their first dose of vaccine at a city clinic or others operated by hospitals and community organizations.
That means “if you have 10 friends, four of them have not been vaccinated and that conversation has to happen,” Tory said on CP24.
Read more from the Star’s David Rider: Toronto urges people to fill 12,000 open vaccination appointments at city-run clinics over the Victoria Day weekend
(Updated) 10:20 a.m. Ontario is resuming use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 but only as a second dose, saying health risks posed by the shot are low.
Dr. David Williams, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said Friday that those who received the first dose of AstraZeneca between March 10 and March 19 would be first in line to receive their second dose.
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Starting next week, those people could opt to receive the second dose at an earlier 10-week interval in order to use up the 55,000 doses currently in refrigerators in pharmacies and family doctors’ offices — some of which will expire at the end of May.
The province said it is encouraging people who are eligible to reach out to the pharmacy or primary care provider where they received the first dose to book an appointment for the second shot.
Those same pharmacies and primary care providers could also be reaching out to eligible people, the province said.
Nearly one million people in Ontario aged 40 and older have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Williams said the province will provide further information on how individuals who received their first dose of the shot after March 19 can book a second dose appointment in the “near future.”
(Updated) 10:15 a.m. Ontario is reporting 1,890 cases of COVID-19, Health Minister Christine Elliott reported on Twitter. Locally there are 469 new cases in Toronto, 468 in Peel, 165 in York Region, 111 in Hamilton and 107 in Durham; 37,100 tests were completed.
(Updated) 9:50 a.m. On Thursday Ontario hit a new daily record of 158,524 vaccinations, Premier Doug Ford tweeted Friday morning. “Thank you to all the incredible health care workers and community volunteers who are working around the clock to get shots in arms and to Ontarians for doing your part and getting your Covid Vaccine,” Ford said. Ontario says it’s recorded a record-high number of COVID-19 vaccine doses given out in a single day. More than 7.7 million doses have been administered in Ontario overall.
9:15 a.m. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada supports the Rome Declaration to fight COVID-19 globally.
Trudeau made the remarks this morning at the Global Health Summit, co-hosted by the European Union and Italy.
The declaration is a series of commitments to ensure access to vaccines, expand drug-manufacturing capacity and invest in health systems.
Trudeau noted that Canada has already contributed $1.3 billion to the World Health Organization’s access to COVID-19 tools accelerator.
8:34 a.m. York Region has announced anyone 12+ can now book a COVID-19 vaccine. Appointments available to anyone living, working or going to school in York Region at york.ca/covid19vaccine.
8:30 a.m. Ontario’s top doctor will provide an update on the status of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine today.
Several provinces have stopped giving the shot because of concerns about rare, fatal blood clots.
Ontario has paused use of the vaccine but still has tens of thousands of doses in storage.
Health authorities are trying to decide whether to resume using the AstraZeneca shot or if a different vaccine should be substituted for second doses.
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, will be joined at today’s update by Dr. Dirk Huyer, the co-ordinator of the provincial outbreak response.
More than 7.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ontario, with formulations from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
7:58 a.m. Dr. Anthony Fauci says vaccinated Americans would “not necessarily” need to get booster shots this fall for further protection from COVID-19.
Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, told CBS “This Morning” on Friday that scientists would be tracking data on the virus and possible variants. He says it was still “possible” an additional shot would be needed later this year to ward off possible infection.
Fauci also urged Americans to continue to follow CDC guidelines. He stressed those who haven’t been fully vaccinated still need to wear masks even if they are largely spending time with people who have been inoculated.
7 a..m. Dozens of children flocked to the playground of Gordon A. Brown Middle School on Wednesday afternoon, to eagerly await their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Most were accompanied by parents, or older siblings, as the East York school announced Wednesday morning it would launch a pop-up clinic that afternoon.
Many parents had already been vaccinated — they were there to provide support. What they weren’t there for was to give permission. In Toronto, those 12-15 don’t need a parent or guardian to allow them to take the vaccine.
However, that’s not the same policy in other public health units.
Read the full story from the Star’s Olivia Bowden: Do Ontario children 12-15 need parental consent to get COVID-19 vaccines? It depends where you live
6:18 a.m. The vaccines alliance Gavi has signed an agreement to buy 200 million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in a boost to the U.N.-backed initiative to distribute vaccines to poor countries.
In a statement Friday, Gavi said the deal was made “with the goal” of the 200 million vaccines being made available this year. Earlier this week, the U.N. initiative known as COVAX suffered a major setback when its biggest supplier, the Serum Institute of India, announced it would not be exporting any more vaccines until the end of the year, in order to deal with the explosive situation on the subcontinent.
Gavi said the 200 million J&J doses would be available to both poor countries relying on vaccines, in addition to rich countries who joined COVAX as a way to guarantee themselves extra vaccine shots. Earlier this month, Canada received more then 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca from COVAX.
“As a one-dose vaccine, the J&J vaccine has particular relevance for places with difficult infrastructure,” said Gavi CEO Dr. Seth Berkley. Gavi said it is still in discussions with J&J to buy another 300 million vaccines for next year.
6:15 a.m. When the U.S. House of Representatives swiftly passed legislation amending a historical law that some say could have severe consequences for British Columbia’s port communities, it came as little surprise to Ian Robertson.
The CEO of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority said he tried to alert Canadian and B.C. politicians to the ramifications of the change that would temporarily allow international cruise ships to bypass B.C. ports.
“I must admit it’s been frustrating, we’ve been sounding the alarm for the past few months,” Robertson said.
The proposed legislation passed Thursday applies to cruise ships travelling between Washington state and Alaska and gives them the green light to sail past B.C. ports without stopping, a requirement introduced more than a century ago to protect U.S. shipbuilders and operators.
The amendment is a response to Canada’s ban on cruise ships through February 2022 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the legislation would only last as long.
However, given the estimated $2.7-billion economic impact of the cruise industry on the B.C. coast, Robertson said it feels like a dangerous precedent to set before exploring other options.
5:15 a.m. With provincial cases trending downward and vaccinations ramping up, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled the province’s latest strategy for reopening.
The new, three-step road map was released Thursday and outlines what activities are permitted as Ontario reaches specific COVID-19 vaccination targets and other key health indicators.
Here are the answers to your burning questions.
Question: Promises are neat and all, but when will Ontario actually reopen? Is there a set date?
Answer: Ontario estimates it will enter Step 1 the week of June 14, with an exact date to be announced later.
Read more from the Star’s Kevin Jiang: What’s allowed when Ontario reopens? Sports, patios and haircuts are on the horizon
5:05 a.m. When indoor dining is allowed again in Ontario, the customer experience likely won’t be that different than before the pandemic. The tables may be spaced out more and a QR code might replace the printed menu, but judging from what indoor dining looks like so far in other parts of the world, there isn’t a big change.
However, there is a focus on how it could look different for staff — who were deemed essential workers this past year. Restaurant jobs have historically been precarious and workers subject to mental and physical abuse from employers and customers. It’s been a year since these issues were raised to greater public consciousness, and the question remains: has anything changed?
Kaitlin Doucette, a Montreal-based sommelier who got laid off during the pandemic, is the co-founder of the Canadian Restaurant Workers Coalition, a collective of advocacy groups petitioning provincial governments to increase restaurant worker protections such paid sick leave and enforcement of overtime pay.
“We’re battling very entrenched systems and systemic barriers like sexism, transphobia, racism, homophobia, discrimination against those with non-resident status. I’m heartened to see fellow organizers and activists doing ground-level work to change public perception,” said Doucette, noting that an additional challenge is that many of the people doing the advocacy aren’t getting paid or are in precarious employment themselves.
Read the full story from the Star’s Karon Liu: Restaurants opening up for indoor dining is on the horizon. What has changed for workers?
4:01 a.m. The latest numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada as of 4:00 a.m. ET on Friday, May 21, 2021.
In Canada, the provinces are reporting 396,687 new vaccinations administered for a total of 19,840,991 doses given. Nationwide, 1,529,111 people or 4.0 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. The provinces have administered doses at a rate of 52,351.898 per 100,000.
There were 1,745,470 new vaccines delivered to the provinces and territories for a total of 22,932,424 doses delivered so far. The provinces and territories have used 86.52 per cent of their available vaccine supply.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXN0YXIuY29tL25ld3MvY2FuYWRhLzIwMjEvMDUvMjEvdG9kYXlzLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLW5ld3MtY292aWQtMTktdXBkYXRlcy10b3JvbnRvLW9udGFyaW8tbWF5LTIxLmh0bWzSAXdodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVzdGFyLmNvbS9hbXAvbmV3cy9jYW5hZGEvMjAyMS8wNS8yMS90b2RheXMtY29yb25hdmlydXMtbmV3cy1jb3ZpZC0xOS11cGRhdGVzLXRvcm9udG8tb250YXJpby1tYXktMjEuaHRtbA?oc=5
2021-05-21 16:54:52Z
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