Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 727 new cases; Emergency doctor says key parts of health triage have begun in Alberta
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Friday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
2:04 p.m. A federal minister says the Saskatchewan premier misunderstands his own health-care system.
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller made the comment on Twitter after Premier Scott Moe blamed the federal government for Saskatchewan's low COVID-19 vaccination rate in its far north, which has a predominately Indigenous population.
Miller says Moe's comments are alarming and unproductive.
He also says they are inaccurate and undermine the spirit of Indigenous self-determination.
The federal and provincial governments have worked together throughout the pandemic to provide vaccinations in Saskatchewan's far north, but health-care services are off reserves and are under provincial jurisdiction.
About half the population in Saskatchewan's far north is fully vaccinated, but some communities in the south are seeing vaccination rates as low as 12 per cent.
2 p.m. A senior health official in New Brunswick says the province got it wrong in late July when the decision was made to lift all health-protection measures aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Dr. Gordon Dow, infectious disease specialist with the Horizon Health Network, told a briefing today that the province will be implementing further health-protection measures, in addition to those introduced earlier this week.
Health officials confirmed today that the province is facing a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, which is putting extreme pressure on its hospitals.
New Brunswick has recorded 866 cases this month - nearly a quarter of the total reported since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
In late July, as the province was preparing to drop all of its COVID-19 restrictions, infectious disease experts warned that New Brunswick would face a surge in cases, mainly because of the decision to drop mask requirements in indoor public places.
Dow says that senior health officials in the province can all agree that it was a mistake to lift all restrictions when there was plenty of evidence at the time to suggest that the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant would envelop the province by the fall.
2 p.m. Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting 34 new COVID-19 infections today.
Thirty-two new cases are in the central region of the province, which includes Halifax.
Of the newly reported cases in the central area, 19 are under investigation.
There is also one new case in each of the northern and western zones.
Nova Scotia has 169 active reported cases of COVID-19.
Fourteen people are in hospital with the disease, including one in intensive care.
2 p.m. Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting 45 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18 new presumptive cases.
It's the highest daily number of new infections since Feb. 19, when the province was grappling with an outbreak in St. John's that delayed the provincial election.
The province's acting chief medical officer of health says 39 of the 45 cases announced today are in the central region of Newfoundland, where there are 70 confirmed cases and confirmed community spread.
Dr. Rosann Seviour says public health is imposing heightened restrictions in the Twillingate, N.L., and Summerford, N.L., areas, where 10 cases have been confirmed at a school.
Seviour says there are 109 active reported COVID-19 infections in the province and two people in hospital with the disease.
The government says nearly 80 per cent of eligible residents were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday and more than 87 per cent had received at least one dose.
1:45 p.m. Prince Edward Island is reporting six new cases of COVID-19 Friday.
Officials say three new infections involve people who recently travelled outside Atlantic Canada.
The other three involve Island residents who were diagnosed with the disease in other provinces.
None of the new cases are connected to the outbreak at West Royalty Elementary School in Charlottetown that was declared earlier this month.
Officials say about 86 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated and more than 93 per cent have received at least one dose.
Prince Edward Island has 39 active COVID-19 cases.
1:30 p.m. Canada's top doctor says safety data won't be the only factor public health officials and parents will have to consider when deciding whether or not to vaccinate young kids against COVID-19.
There are no COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in children under 12 in Canada right now, but Pfizer announced earlier this week positive results in its trial for kids aged five and up.
Dr. Teresa Tam says Health Canada will be looking at the data carefully to determine if the vaccine is safe for children, but that's not the only factor parents will have to weigh up.
Children's risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 are low compared to the rest of the population, but Tam warned rare incidents can become more common as the virus spreads.
She also points to the impacts of long COVID," which is still being studied, and the importance of limiting disruptions to school as things to consider.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the Public Health Agency of Canada will provide more official advice when they receive and analyze the safety and efficacy data from Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers.
1:15 p.m. The head of emergency medicine for the Alberta Medical Association says major components of triage have already begun in Alberta.
Dr. Paul Parks says that in recent days some critically ill COVID-19 patients who should be on ventilators are not getting them.
He says that's on top of previously announced mass cancellations of surgeries, along with patient transfers as doctors balance medical need with available space.
Parks says it's not at the point where doctors must make on-the-spot, life-and-death decisions.
But he says that's not far away and, when it comes, the second stage of triage will follow quickly, including making those same decisions about children.
Parks says Alberta Health Services is doing everything it can, but he says the government has failed to lead by imposing lax health restrictions and by allowing mass gatherings, including in schools and at sports events.
Alberta is seeing well over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases a day.
1:05 p.m. Mask-wearing will be mandatory in common areas of private seniors residences in several parts of Quebec starting next week, the Health Department said Friday, amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in those facilities.
The new mask order will affect residences in regions such as Montreal and its northern suburb Laval, Estrie and Outaouais.
Health officials said there were 67 active cases of COVID-19 at seniors residences across Quebec. Nearly half those cases were linked to an outbreak at Manoir Gouin in Montreal, where 32 residents have active cases of COVID-19 and three have died.
There have been no other deaths linked to active COVID-19 outbreaks at seniors residences in the province, the Health Department added.
Health officials said there were 41 cases of COVID-19 linked to long-term care facilities and two deaths connected with active outbreaks in those centres.
Meanwhile, the Health Department confirmed Thursday it had asked hospital managers in five regions, including Montreal, Laval and the Outaouais, to increase the number of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients.
1 p.m. London, Ont. is warning post-secondary students to avoid a large street party that's typically held this weekend.
Western University is holding its 72nd homecoming event this weekend, which is usually marked by a large unsanctioned street party.
The City of London says with COVID-19 and a recent slew of sexual assault allegations at Western, students should avoid the party that's typically held on Broughdale Avenue on the Saturday of homecoming weekend.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit says it has issued orders this week that limit social gatherings to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
London police say they will have a strong visible presence and will enforce regulations that have been put in place.
During Western's orientation week in early September, four female students came forward with sexual assault allegations and police began investigating allegations made on social media of mass drugging and sexual assaults at a residence.
An 18-year-old Western student also died following an off-campus assault.
12:06 p.m. Ontario police forces and other enforcement bodies are reporting few incidents in the early days of the province's proof of COVID-19 vaccination policy, as some businesses have publicly pledged to ignore the rules.
Most of the incidents reported to police since Wednesday, when the new vaccine certificate system went into effect, involved people who refused to show proof of vaccination.
Peel Regional Police said Thursday it had received seven calls about customers not showing proof of vaccination - five incidents at gyms and two at food establishments.
The police force provided minimal details on what happened in the interactions but noted the customers who entered without showing proof of vaccination left before police arrived in two reported cases. In the other five, they left without incident" after officers arrived on site.
Guelph Police said officers responded to one report involving a man at a restaurant who was refusing to show proof of vaccination and refusing to leave."
The police force said the man had left by the time officers arrived, but noted that in future, people who don't comply with the rules can be removed under the Trespass to Property Act.
Toronto police said it received several" calls related to the policy, which it directed to 311, with no significant issues to report."
Other police forces surveyed by The Canadian Press said they weren't aware of any tickets issued in the first day of the vaccine certificate policy.
Police forces have largely said they will respond to situations where public safety is threatened but won't be checking for individual compliance.
11:10 a.m.: The Ontario government increased annual spending by record levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but last year's budget deficit was much lower than expected.
According to the province's public accounts released Friday, $19.1 billion was spent tackling a health crisis that has killed almost 9,700 Ontarians since March 2020.
Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government spent a record $169 billion in 2020-21 on programs - a $16.7 billion increase from the previous year, and the largest year-over-year hike in program spending in Ontario history.
Read the full story here from Robert Benzie.
11 a.m.: President Joe Biden is urging those now eligible for COVID-19 booster shots to get the added protection. His plea comes a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the doses for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late Thursday. Biden praised the decision and aimed to set aside any unease about the vaccination by saying that he would get his own booster soon.
The advisers say boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot.
10:30 a.m.: Russia reported a record 828 Covid-19 deaths in the latest day, as officials warned of a new wave of the pandemic.
The real number of deaths linked to the coronavirus is likely much higher, as the initial reports by the government's Covid-19 task force are generally revised upward.
Moscow's Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said this week that the capital was reopening coronavirus hospital wards as cases spiked, according to Ria Novosti.
10:15 a.m.: Ontario reporting 727 new COVID-19 cases. Of those cases, 557 are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 170 are in fully vaccinated individuals. There are currently 308 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province.
9:33 a.m. The handwritten tributes are addressed, variously, to Mom, Mama, Mommy, Grandma, Nana, Great Grandma. To Dad, Papa, Pawpaw. To beloved brother, dear sister, Auntie Linda, Uncle Rod, Reverend.
My Hero."
My Perfect Love Ray."
To the love of my life."
To the best kid ever."
There are so many of them, some scrawled almost illegibly and some carefully printed in neat block lettering. Some with little drawings of hearts or crosses, a Ferris wheel, a happy face. A few with photos stapled to them. So many, each a tear of specific, individual loss cried into an ocean of grief.
9:15 a.m. The city has partnered with Toronto Public Health, University Health Network, Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. and Oxford Properties Group to hold a number of mobile clinics in malls across Toronto this weekend.
The following clinics will be held Saturday and Sunday, between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. and will offer first and second COVID-19 vaccines doses:
- CF Fairview Mall - 1800 Sheppard Ave E.
- CF Sherway Gardens - 25 The West Mall
- CF Shops at Don Mills - 1090 Don Mills Rd.
- CF Toronto Eaton Centre - 220 Yonge St.
- Yorkdale Shopping Centre - 3401 Dufferin St.
The clinics were selected as part of the Team Toronto Mobile Strategy data to bring vaccines to residents in areas and settings that have low vaccination coverage, or who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, or both.
9:10 a.m. Ontario administered 46,550 COVID-19 vaccines - the highest daily dose count in over a month, according to a tweet from Premier Doug Ford.
9:05 a.m. Two tea houses in one southern Alberta community have become an example of the uncertainty caused by the government allowing businesses to make up their own minds about what is essentially a vaccine passport.
Restaurants, bars and pubs have been debating whether they will require a vaccination record before patrons are allowed to enter or if they will limit them to patios and takeout.
Last week, Premier Jason Kenney brought in a restrictions exemption program" that allows owners to operate with almost no COVID-19 rules as long as they ask for proof of vaccination. Those that choose not to must abide by stricter public health rules.
The United Conservative government has been criticized for downloading the decision. Critics say it causes confusion and forces compliant businesses to face the wrath of anti-vaccination customers.
8:47 a.m. Many Americans struggling to feed their families over the past pandemic year say they have had difficulty figuring out how to get help and had trouble finding healthy foods they can afford.
A poll from Impact Genome and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 23 per cent of Americans say they have not been able to get enough to eat or the kinds of foods they want. Most of those facing food challenges enrolled in a government or nonprofit food assistance program in the past year, but 58 per cent still had difficulty accessing at least one service.
And 21 per cent of adults facing challenges meeting their food needs were unable to access any assistance at all. The most common challenge to those in need was a basic lack of awareness of eligibility for both government and nonprofit services.
8:30 a.m. Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore will be making an announcement on sports venue capacities on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
8 a.m. Hamilton public health has declared three COVID-19 outbreaks at elementary schools in three days.
An outbreak was declared at Lawfield Elementary School on the east Mountain on Wednesday after two students tested positive for the virus.
An outbreak was also declared at South Meadow Elementary School in Stoney Creek, where there are three student cases.
8 a.m.: Scientists are developing what could be the world's next chance to thwart COVID-19: a short-term regimen of daily pills that can fight the virus early after diagnosis and conceivably prevent symptoms from developing after exposure.
Oral antivirals have the potential to not only curtail the duration of one's COVID-19 syndrome, but also have the potential to limit transmission to people in your household if you are sick," said Timothy Sheahan, a virologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill who has helped pioneer these therapies.
Antivirals are already essential treatments for other viral infections, including hepatitis C and HIV. One of the best known is Tamiflu, the widely prescribed pill that can shorten the duration of influenza and reduce the risk of hospitalization if given quickly.
At least three promising antivirals for COVID-19 are being tested in clinical trials, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter, said Carl Dieffenbach, director of the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is overseeing antiviral development.
I think that we will have answers as to what these pills are capable of within the next several months," Dieffenbach said.
7:40 a.m. Health officials are asking anyone who attended a Kingston, Ont., polling station on Monday night to monitor for signs of COVID-19 after a positive case was linked to the site.
The local public health unit issued a notice Thursday for those who went to the polling station at St. Luke's Anglican Church between 9 p.m. and midnight.
It says people should watch for symptoms for 10 days and get tested for the virus if any emerge.
The health unit also says it will do contact tracing to alert close contacts of the person infected.
7:30 a.m. Region of Peel council is going to be sending a letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford asking him to ban anti-mask and anti-vaccine protesters from gathering outside schools and hospitals.
Quite frankly, it's disgusting for people to go and protest outside of a hospital," said Coun. Pat Saito, who put forward the idea after seeing the policy tabled in Quebec.
She said the main concern is protesters blocking hospital doors, ambulance bays and parking lots, obstructing patients and staff.
7:15 a.m. Alaska's unprecedented COVID-19 crisis escalated Thursday with the state reporting seven new deaths, a record 1,330 new cases and a near-record 209 hospitalizations.
It's the third time in two weeks that the daily record has been broken: The previous highs were recorded Wednesday, with 1,251 cases, and Sept. 15, with 1,095 cases.
The recent surge has meant the state is still working through a backlog of cases, said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, state epidemiologist.
At this point, there's no indication that I've seen that we are leveling off," he said.
Over the last week, Alaska saw a 29% increase in cases, state data showed.
By Thursday there were 209 people hospitalized around the state with confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a state dashboard. That's a near record, and far above last winter's previous peak.
6 a.m.: Jackie Logie knew something wasn't right when her 14-year-old Labrador retriever Flinstone suddenly stopped walking last month.
She already had a yearly appointment with a veterinarian booked the following week - one that took her almost a month to land - but when she tried to move it up, she was unsuccessful. The clinic suggested she call around to other places but warned she'd face similar challenges.
Before COVID-19, she had never been faced with a wait even for small issues. But long waits for emergency and routine treatment have become standard as vets wrangle surging pet ownership and staff shortages. Both have been worsened by the pandemic. People are adopting pets more than ever. And staffing shortages, a growing problem for years, is now so bad retired vets are even being called back into service.
Read the full story from the Star's Simran Singh, Dorcas Marfo and Ivy Mak.
5:58 a.m.: The head of Alberta's health system says the COVID-19 hospital crisis has become so dire, a key reason the system hasn't collapsed is because patients are dying.
Each day we see a new high (total of critically ill patients)," Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO of Alberta Health Services, said Thursday.
Yiu said hospitals have admitted two dozen or more critically ill COVID-19 patients on average each day since Sunday.
It's tragic that we are only able to keep pace with these sort of numbers because in part some of our ICU patients have passed away," she said. This reality has a deep and lasting impact on our ICU teams."
There were 310 patients Thursday in intensive care, the vast majority of them with COVID, and the vast majority of the COVID patients are not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.
Alberta normally has 173 ICU beds, but has doubled that number to 350 by taking over extra spaces, such as operating rooms, and reassigning staff.
The result is non-urgent surgeries have been cancelled en masse across the province, including transplants, tumours, cancer operations and surgeries on children.
Physicians are being briefed in case resources get so short, they have to decide on the spot which patients get life-saving care and which don't.
Yiu said it's a fluid situation and they're still determining when and how doctors will be asked to make those life-and-death decisions.
5:57 a.m.: Using its own vaccines, Cuba expects to reach full immunization" against COVID-19 by the end of the year, the president of the island nation whose 11 million citizens have long been isolated by the American embargo, told the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez devoted much of his recorded address to fulminating against the United States for what he called its policies of economic coercion and deprivation, which he said were meant to erase the Cuban revolution from the political map to the world."
But he also extolled Cuba's medical and scientific communities for what he described as their heroic achievements in creating vaccines to combat the pandemic. More than one-third of the Cuban population has been fully vaccinated with them, he said.
5:56 a.m.: A Florida school district has received cash from President Joe Biden's administration to make up for state pay cuts imposed over a board's vote for a student anti-coronavirus mask mandate.
Alachua County school Superintendent Carlee Simon said in a news release Thursday the district has received $148,000 through a U.S. Department of Education program.
Simon says Alachua, where Gainesville and the University of Florida are located, is the first district in the nation to receive such a grant.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state education officials have begun cutting salaries paid to school board members in Florida who voted to require masks for students. DeSantis favours allowing parents to decide whether their children wear face coverings and is in the midst of court battles over this broader issue.
About a dozen school boards in Florida, representing more than half the state's students, have voted to defy the state ban on mask mandates despite Gov. Ron DeSantis' decision to withhold some of their funding.
5:55 a.m.: South Korea has reported its biggest daily jump in coronavirus since the start of the pandemic as people returned from the country's biggest holiday of the year.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said more than 1,750 of the 2,434 new cases reported Friday were from the greater capital area, where officials have raised concern over an erosion in citizen vigilance despite the enforcement of the strongest social distancing rules short of a lockdown since July.
It was expected that transmissions would worsen beyond the capital region during the Chuseok holidays, the Korean version of Thanksgiving which began on the weekend and continued through Wednesday, a period when millions usually travel across the country to meet relatives.
It will be crucial to maintain the effectiveness of our anti-virus campaign throughout next week, when the effect of increased travel during the holidays will manifest more clearly," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a virus briefing.
The restrictions in the Seoul metropolitan area prevents gatherings of three or more people after 6 p.m. unless the participants are fully vaccinated. Officials have said people's exhaustion and frustration with social distancing are becoming an increasing challenge in the country's fight against COVID-19.
The country has now reported a daily increase of more than 1,000 for 80 straight days. It's previous one-day record was 2,221 reported on Aug. 11.
5:55 a.m.: Australia's two largest cities are moving closer to ending lockdowns as vaccination rates climb, but leaders are warning that people should remain cautious with their new-found freedoms and that coronavirus case numbers will inevitably rise.
In New South Wales state, where an outbreak continues to grow in Sydney, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has set a target of reopening on Oct. 11 once vaccination milestones are reached.
But she said Friday it would need to be done with a degree of caution and responsibility" because otherwise too many people would end up in hospitals. Meanwhile in Victoria State, where there is an outbreak in Melbourne,
Health Minister Martin Foley said there had been a tremendous" increase in vaccinations and there was no shortage of enthusiasm" among people wanting to get jabs.
Health officials in New South Wales reported 1,043 new cases and 11 deaths on Friday, while officials in Victoria reported 733 new cases and one death.
5:52 a.m.: Two tea houses in one southern Alberta community have become an example of the uncertainty caused by the government allowing businesses to make up their own minds about what is essentially a vaccine passport.
Restaurants, bars and pubs have been debating whether they will require a vaccination record before patrons are allowed to enter or if they will limit them to patios and takeout.
Last week, Premier Jason Kenney brought in a restrictions exemption program" that allows owners to operate with almost no COVID-19 rules as long as they ask for proof of vaccination. Those that choose not to must abide by stricter public health rules.
The United Conservative government has been criticized for downloading the decision. Critics say it causes confusion and forces compliant businesses to face the wrath of anti-vaccination customers.
Read the full story from the Canadian Press here.
5:52 a.m.: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against COVID-19.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late Thursday.
The advisers said boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot.
However, Walensky decided to make one recommendation that the panel had rejected.
The panel on Thursday voted against saying that people can get a booster if they are ages 18 to 64 years and are health-care workers or have another job that puts them at increased risk of being exposed to the virus.
But Walensky disagreed and put that recommendation back in, noting that such a move aligns with an FDA booster authorization decision earlier this week. The category she included covers people who live in institutional settings that increase their risk of exposure, such as prisons or homeless shelters, as well as health care workers.
The panel had offered the option of a booster for those ages 18 to 49 who have chronic health problems and want one. But the advisers refused to go further and open boosters to otherwise healthy front-line health care workers who aren't at risk of severe illness but want to avoid even a mild infection.
The panel voted 9 to 6 to reject that proposal. But Walensky decided to disregard the advisory committee's counsel on that issue. In a decision several hours after the panel adjourned, Walensky issued a statement saying she had restored the recommendation.