Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 213 more cases, including nine deaths; Canada-U.S. border restrictions to begin easing for fully vaccinated travellers
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
12:15 p.m.: Ontario topped a significant milestone this weekend, with more than 10 million residents receiving at least one shot.
According to the Star's vaccine tracker, 10,006,434 people in Ontario have received at least one shot. That works out to approximately 67.9 per cent of the total population and the equivalent of 76.8 per cent of the eligible population.
The tracker says 5,554,637 people have completed their vaccinations, which means they've had both doses. That works out to approximately 37.7 per cent of the total population and the equivalent of 42.6 per cent of the eligible population.
The Star's Erin LeBlanc has the story.
12:05 p.m.: South Africa's resurgence of COVID-19 is setting record numbers of new daily cases, centered in Johannesburg and driven by the delta variant, health officials said Sunday.
More than 26,000 new cases were reported on Saturday, up from 24,000 the previous day, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, surpassing the highest number of new cases in previous waves and quickly bringing many hospitals to capacity. More than 13,800 COVID-19 patients are currently in South African hospitals where some facilities are cancelling elective surgeries to free up beds and health care workers.
South Africa's official death toll has risen above 63,000, although statistics on excess deaths suggest the country's actual number of virus fatalities may be more than 170,000.
South Africa's two million cases account for more than 30 per cent of the cases reported by Africa's 54 countries, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After a slow start, South Africa's vaccination drive is picking up pace but is still far behind developed nations. To date, more than 3.3 million of South Africa's 60 million people have received at least one jab of the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The inoculation campaign started with health care workers, those aged 60 and over and schoolteachers. On Monday police can get a jab and soon those 50 and over can too.
11:22 a.m.: Health officials in New Brunswick say almost 40 per cent of residents over 12 years old are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Officials reported today that 39.6 per cent of New Bruswickers have received two shots of a COVID vaccine, while more than 78 per cent have received their first dose.
The total number of COVID-related deaths in the province rose to 46 as officials confirmed one new death related to the disease involving a person over the age of 90.
Officials also reported one new case of the disease today.
The case involves an individual under 19 in the Fredericton region and is travel-related.
New Brunswick now has 21 active infections with four people in hospital due to the disease.
10:17 a.m.: Ontario is also reporting that almost 200,000 vaccine doses were administered Saturday.
As of 8 p.m., 15,561,071 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, including 196,068 doses administered Saturday.
10:15 a.m. (updated to include number of deaths): Ontario is reporting 213 COVID-19 more cases in its latest daily update, including nine deaths.
Locally, there are 49 new cases in Waterloo Region, 42 in Toronto, 25 in Grey Bruce, 17 in Peel Region and 12 in Halton Region.
Nearly 19,000 tests were completed on Saturday, Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted.
8:01 a.m.: After nearly 16 months of rigid travel restrictions, Canada is finally starting to loosen the rules - but only for a specific few.
Effective Monday, fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents - those who have had a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada - will be able to skip the 14-day quarantine.
Eligible air travellers will also be exempt from the requirement that they spend their first three days in Canada in a government-approved hotel.
But the Canada Border Services Agency has a warning: would-be travellers will still be prohibited from entering the country if they were not eligible to travel to Canada before Monday.
Travellers must use the ArriveCAN app or web portal prior to departure to log their vaccination details, as well as the results of a negative COVID-19 test that's less than three days old.
Anyone who arrived before Monday will still be required to spend a full two weeks in quarantine upon arrival, the agency says.
If you were unable to come to Canada on July 4 of this year, you can't come in on July 5 - there's been no change to all of the restrictions and the provisions that have been issued on that front," said Denis Vinette, CBSA vice-president, travellers branch.
However, for those that can come to Canada, it's a very cautious, early first step in starting to delay or remove some requirements at the border."
7:05 a.m.: The fast-spreading Delta variant is clouding Americans' hopes for a carefree summer - and casting a shadow of doubt over plans to get back to business as usual in the fall.
The shift in sentiment marks a reversal from the spring, when it looked like the U.S. immunization campaign would turn the tide definitively against the coronavirus. But lingering vaccine hesitancy in some areas has converged with the arrival of the more contagious Delta strain and darkened the mood across much of the country.
The Delta variant recreates this anxiety that many of us had prior to being vaccinated," said Megan Ranney, an associate professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown University. Are we safe? Are our kids safe? Is it OK for me to go to a restaurant?' The things that we had started to accept were normal again."
While U.S. health officials say delta is on its way to becoming the country's dominant strain, an analysis by genomic testing company Helix suggests it's already there, accounting for about 40% of new infections. As hospitalizations rise in some states, the Biden administration is sending response teams to less-vaccinated areas to try to combat its spread.
First seen in India, the mutant is estimated to be 55% more transmissible than the alpha variant that surfaced in the U.K. While the severity of disease the newer strain causes isn't fully clear, some data suggest it leads to a higher risk of hospitalization than Alpha.
Vaccines from Moderna Inc., Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc give protection against Delta, research shows. Yet for millions of unvaccinated Americans, largely concentrated in the south and central regions of the country, the variant presents a serious threat, Ranney said.
Many unvaccinated people live in low-income areas and are at greater risk of developing severe disease because of underlying conditions, she said, so Delta's spread could lead to even greater disparities in health outcomes.
There's also the looming potential that if the virus continues to spread and evolve, it could to take on a form capable of evading vaccines. A related strain called Delta-plus has already emerged, but researchers have said there's no evidence yet to suggest it adds to the danger.
6 a.m.: Samantha Yammine felt a wave of anxiety last week before visiting the new coffee shop she'd been eyeing in the neighbourhood.
The once seemingly easy task of stepping into a cafe and ordering a drink had grown into a tense and unpleasant hurdle in the neuroscientist's mind. Hoping to ease her nerves with a distraction, she called her friend on the walk there and kept the call going while she ordered her beverage
As provinces lift more COVID-19 restrictions, some people are rushing to regain their pre-pandemic social lives. But others, including Yammine, are feeling more apprehensive about venturing out.
The science communicator, who goes by Science Sam on social media, said that's to be expected after 16 months of pandemic precautions.
Our brains have been on high alert for stress and fear, so neuroanatomically it makes sense why people may be feeling (anxious)," she said. But the good news is the brain is like a muscle that can relearn.
It's like if you keep crossing a field the same way, it slowly carves a path in the grass. But if you stop taking that path, the grass grows back."