Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 2,453 new COVID-19 cases; trials of Novavax start in India
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Saturday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
10:20 a.m.: Ontario is reporting 2,453 new cases of COVID-19 today and 10 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 814 new cases in Toronto.
She says there are also 411 new cases in Peel Region, 263 in York Region, 156 in Hamilton, 139 in Durham Region and 115 in Ottawa.
More than 61,000 tests were completed since Friday's update.
There are 985 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario.
Ontario reports that 77,740 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered since the last daily update. A total of 1,916,332 vaccines have been given in the province so far.
In Toronto, residents aged 70 and older can start booking COVID-19 vaccinations at city clinics today.
Mayor John Tory announced Friday the city was expanding the eligibility to the age group, urging people to get the vaccine. He said the number of elderly residents signing up for the shot has been dropping since bookings opened to those aged 75 and older earlier this week.
8:55 a.m.: According to the official data, daily COVID-19 vaccination numbers in both Ontario and Toronto significantly fell last weekend, particularly on Sunday.
The city's numbers show just 7,303 doses were given Sunday, down from 17,200 last Friday. Provincially, Sunday saw just 31,000 shots, the lowest total in the last two weeks, and about half what was reported two days prior.
It's a pattern that's persisted since late December, when dose counts started being reported, and to any observer, it may not seem to make sense: if Ontario is in a race to vaccinate as many people as possible, why not work just as hard on the weekends?
Read the full story from the Star's Ben Cohen
8:30 a.m.: COVID-19 variants of concern (VOCs) are growing as a proportion of tests coming back positive for the virus.
Despite Ontario's push to vaccinate as many residents as possible before June 20, the first day of summer, experts say the pace with which the vaccination program is unfolding isn't fast enough to prevent VOCs from driving cases ever higher.
Here, the Toronto Star is tracking the weekly per cent positivity for cases tested for VOCs or mutations over Public Health Ontario's most recent rolling 7-day period.
8:00 a.m.: Dr. Paul Caulford, a veteran family doctor in Scarborough, is operating a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic for undocumented workers at the Canadian Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Health Care, which he co-founded more than 20 years ago to provide free health care and dental services to uninsured immigrants, including those who are undocumented.
Read the full story from the Star's Brendan Kennedy here
7:30 a.m.: Trials of Novavax Inc.'s Covid-19 vaccine have started in India, with the aim of launching it by September, according to Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer at local partner Serum Institute of India Pvt.
The vaccine has been tested against African and U.K. variants of the virus and has shown an overall efficacy of 89%, Poonawalla said on Twitter.
The news comes amid rising pressure on the government to inoculate millions of its citizens to protect them from a surge in infections. Arresting the so-called second wave will be crucial for the economy to recover from the world's strictest lockdown last year.
7:19 a.m.: Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar has tested positive for the coronavirus and is quarantining at home.
The 47-year-old Tendulkar, test cricket's all time leading run-scorer, reported Saturday that he tested positive following mild symptoms."
I've quarantined myself at home and am following all the necessary protocols as advised by my doctors," he said on Twitter.
7:01 a.m.: Many international students have postponed or cancelled their plans to study in Canada since Ottawa decided last month to limit entry options to the country to just four airports and require international travellers to pay for a mandatory hotel quarantine.
Denise Amyot, the chief executive officer of Colleges and Institutes Canada, said a $2,000 hotel bill is the cost of half of a semester for many students.
(They) don't have that kind of means," she said.
If a group of international students are heading to New Brunswick, for example, Amyot said they might arrive in Toronto, where they would go to a hotel for three days as part of a 14-day quarantine.
Then, because they will be moving to another province with its own rules, they will have to quarantine again for 14 days when they arrive in New Brunswick.
This is nonsense. It just doesn't make sense," she said. It means that for the spring and summer, we have a large number of deferrals."
Amyot said the number of international students at Canadian colleges has declined by 20 to 30 per cent in the 2020-21 academic year compared to 2019-20.
It has varied across the country, and we had larger declines in smaller cities and rural and remote areas."
She said many international students are deferring their plans to study in Canada since the federal government funnelled all international flights to Toronto, Montreal, Calgary or Vancouver and began requiring travellers to quarantine at government-approved hotels.
Those two measures that the government has put in place are jeopardizing the number of students arriving," she said.
Amyot called on the government to exempt international students from the three-day stopover requirement.
The office of Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement that any decision to ease or modify border measures in Canada will be based on scientific evidence.
Entry prohibitions, coupled with mandatory isolation and quarantine, continue to be the most effective means of limiting the introduction of new cases of COVID-19 into Canada at this time," the statement said.
Even before the new entry restrictions were imposed, the total number of all international students in Canada had already declined by about 17 per cent last year, to 531,000 students at the end of 2020 from 639,000 in 2019, according to an analysis of Statistics Canada data.
Paul Davidson, the chief executive officer of Universities Canada, said the overall enrolment of international students at Canadian universities has declined by 2.1 per cent this year compared to last.
It's against a backdrop where typically the number of international students at universities has grown at over 10 per cent in each of the last five years, so it is quite a setback," he said.
We have 96 universities at Universities Canada, and 51 of those institutions saw a decline in the international students ... Overall, 26 institutions saw a loss of over 10 per cent of their international students."
Fewer international students in Canadian post-secondary schools means less revenue for these institutions, which will affect domestic students, said Amyot.
It means that there will be less programs that can be offered," she said.
It's not only a matter of dollars ... There are some programs that are very popular with international students, but not so much for domestic students, and that's especially in more technical areas linked to engineering or mining ... Now (these programs) won't be offered, because there's not enough students."
Amyot said the decrease in international student numbers will eventually create a gap in the labour force in Canada.
(International students) also come with skills," she said. It means that there will be a gap because we won't be able to count on those students, and who will suffer? The industry, because there will be a labor shortage."
She said Canadian colleges and universities have used innovation to allow international students to complete their studies online.
Robert Falconer, a researcher at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, said international students studying online at Canadian schools from their home countries might lose interest in immigrating to Canada.
They might decide, after getting their Canadian degree, that they're not going to really bother coming to Canada because they've never been, they don't have prospects here and no social network or job opportunities."
Amyot said education institutions had quarantine plans in the fall for their international students, letting them go to their quarantine locations safely. Local public health authorities and the provincial and federal governments approved.
It was working very well for the fall intake, but now with this new measure that was taken in place, everything is in the air," she said.
Davidson said all international students, from kindergartners to PhDs, contribute about $22 billion a year to Canada's economy.
6:41 a.m.: Thousands of vaccine-seekers from countries neighbouring Serbia flocked to Belgrade on Saturday after Serbian authorities offered free coronavirus jabs for foreigners if they show up over the weekend.
Long lines of Bosnians, Montenegrins and North Macedonians - often entire families - formed in front of the main vaccination centre in the Serbian capital, with police keeping watch.
Unlike Serbia which boasts of having an ample supply of vaccines, most of its Balkan neighbours have been struggling with shortages and have barely started any mass inoculation.
Serbia has already donated smaller quantities of vaccines to North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia.
4:01 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 27, 2021.
There are 956,655 confirmed cases in Canada.
- Canada: 956,655 confirmed cases (40,360 active, 893,469 resolved, 22,826 deaths). The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers.
There were 5,095 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 106.2 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 29,593 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 4,228.
There were 36 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 209 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 30. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 60.06 per 100,000 people.
There have been 27,110,125 tests completed.
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 1,015 confirmed cases (five active, 1,004 resolved, six deaths).
There were zero new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 0.96 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of one new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 1.15 per 100,000 people.
There have been 217,536 tests completed.
- Prince Edward Island: 156 confirmed cases (12 active, 144 resolved, zero deaths).
There were three new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 7.52 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of eight new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.
There have been 122,470 tests completed.
- Nova Scotia: 1,704 confirmed cases (27 active, 1,611 resolved, 66 deaths).
There were five new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 2.76 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 24 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is three.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 6.74 per 100,000 people.
There have been 410,128 tests completed.
- New Brunswick: 1,559 confirmed cases (100 active, 1,429 resolved, 30 deaths).
There were 13 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 12.8 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 73 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 10.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 3.84 per 100,000 people.
There have been 257,880 tests completed.
- Quebec: 306,385 confirmed cases (7,364 active, 288,384 resolved, 10,637 deaths).
There were 950 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 85.88 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 5,469 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 781.
There were seven new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 50 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is seven. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 124.05 per 100,000 people.
There have been 6,969,770 tests completed.
- Ontario: 338,239 confirmed cases (16,563 active, 314,384 resolved, 7,292 deaths).
There were 2,169 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 112.41 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 12,985 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,855.
There were 12 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 80 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 11. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 49.49 per 100,000 people.
There have been 12,111,978 tests completed.
- Manitoba: 33,810 confirmed cases (1,169 active, 31,709 resolved, 932 deaths).
There were 116 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 84.76 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 636 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 91.
There were three new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 13 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is two. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.13 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 67.57 per 100,000 people.
There have been 579,838 tests completed.
- Saskatchewan: 32,559 confirmed cases (1,680 active, 30,449 resolved, 430 deaths).
There were 213 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 142.53 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,300 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 186.
There were eight new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 16 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is two. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.19 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 36.48 per 100,000 people.
There have been 642,714 tests completed.
- Alberta: 145,028 confirmed cases (7,077 active, 135,972 resolved, 1,979 deaths).
There were 717 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 160.05 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 4,205 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 601.
There were three new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 22 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is three. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.07 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 44.75 per 100,000 people.
There have been 3,629,653 tests completed.
- British Columbia: 95,677 confirmed cases (6,362 active, 87,866 resolved, 1,449 deaths).
There were 908 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 123.59 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 4,891 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 699.
There were three new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 28 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is four. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 28.15 per 100,000 people.
There have been 2,134,099 tests completed.
- Yukon: 73 confirmed cases (one active, 71 resolved, one death).
There was one new case Friday. The rate of active cases is 2.38 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there has been one new case. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.38 per 100,000 people.
There have been 8,473 tests completed.
- Northwest Territories: 42 confirmed cases (zero active, 42 resolved, zero deaths).
There were zero new cases Friday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people.
There have been 15,784 tests completed.
- Nunavut: 395 confirmed cases (zero active, 391 resolved, four deaths).
There were zero new cases Friday. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of zero new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is zero.
There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 10.16 per 100,000 people.
There have been 9,726 tests completed.