Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 581 new COVID cases on Monday and 564 new cases on Tuesday; Ontario students head back to school amid fourth wave concerns
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Tuesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
10:47 a.m. Premier John Horgan is set to release details of British Columbia's incoming COVID-19 vaccine card system, which is to roll out next week.
Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry are expected to provide the details at a news conference later today.
The province had confirmed that a vaccine card system would begin Sept. 13, requiring proof of at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter restaurants, movies, ticketed sporting events and many other non-essential venues.
As of Oct. 24, those aged 12 and up will need to be fully vaccinated to access those same services and venues.
The president of the Canadian Police Association says his group will be paying close attention to the province's plans for enforcement.
Tom Stamatakis has said Horgan is unrealistic to suggest police could respond every time a patron refuses to provide vaccination status because that would stretch police resources and potentially affect responses to other calls.
The latest data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows the province has 671 new cases of COVID-19 and 5,872 active cases of the virus.
10:19 a.m. (updated) Ontario reports 581 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 564 new cases on Tuesday. Of the 581 cases reported on Monday, 457 were in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Of the 564 cases on Tuesday, 434 were in those not fully vaccinated or with an unknown status.
Ontario administered 14,391 vaccine doses on holiday Monday, fewest on any day since Feb. 21, 2021.
7:15 a.m.: The Ontario government has told the Star it will take a different approach than other provinces in developing its mobile app for COVID-19 vaccine certification, opting to build the program in house instead of contracting it out to a tech company.
It's an approach that one tech expert characterized as messy" - suggesting the provincial government planned the process hastily, and that it might be cheaper and faster to contract the app out to a private company or go with a web-based QR code system instead.
The development of the made in Ontario" app is being led by the government's Ontario Digital Service in consultation with the private sector, and the government has said it will be ready for release by Oct. 22. It is not clear how far along the development of the Ontario app is, but the CEO of Akinox, the company that developed the VaxiCode system in Quebec, said development of his company's app took about four months.
Read more from the Star's Omar Mosleh.
5:30 a.m.: It's the first day back to school after the summer break for many Ontario students.
Classes resume today in boards including the Bluewater District School Board, the District School Board of Niagara and the Halton District School Board.
Some other boards - including the largest, the Toronto District School Board - start classes on Thursday.
This will be the third school year in which classes are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontario's Ministry of Education has sent guidelines to schools in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, which include requirements that staff and students self-screen for COVID-19 each day and wear masks indoors.
The ministry has also required that all boards offer an remote learning option for students who don't feel comfortable in the classroom due to the pandemic.
5:25 a.m.: The last year of the pandemic robbed Ontarians across the province of countless special moments. When schools moved online, students and teachers at all levels were forced to adjust to a new way of life. Their expectations for pivotal events were altered: university students missed out on the traditional campus experience; the very first day of school for Grade 1's saw no tearful drop-offs; coaches didn't run their extracurriculars.
As the province collectively heads into back-to-school activities, parents, children, teenagers, university students and teachers share their hopes for the coming academic year - and their lingering fears as a fourth wave rolls in.
4:25 a.m.: The southern Indian state of Kerala is quickly ramping up efforts to stop a potential outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus, even as the state continues to battle the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.
Kerala is on high alert after a 12-year-old boy died of the rare virus on Sunday, spurring health officials to start contact-tracing and isolating hundreds of people who came into contact with the boy, who died at a hospital in the coastal city of Kozhikode.
On Tuesday, the state health minister told reporters that the samples of eight primary contacts have come back negative.
Nipah, which was first identified during a late 1990s outbreak in Malaysia, can be spread by fruit bats, pigs and through human-to-human contact. There is no vaccine for the virus, which can cause raging fevers, convulsions and vomiting. The only treatment is supportive care to control complications and keep patients comfortable.
The virus has an estimated fatality rate of between 40 per cent and 75 per cent, according to the WHO, making it far more deadly than the coronavirus.
4:05 a.m.: The federal government has added fully vaccinated foreign nationals to the ranks of travellers who are once again welcome on Canadian soil.
As of midnight Monday night, quarantine requirements were eased for non-essential international travellers who have had a full course of a Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine.
To be eligible, travellers must have allowed at least 14 days to pass since their last vaccine shot and show proof of a negative molecular test for COVID-19 that's no more than 72 hours old.
They are also required to use the ArriveCAN app or online web portal to upload their vaccination details.
Canada has approved four COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, also known as Covishield, and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson option.