Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reporting 552 cases; Unvaccinated federal employees not granted exemptions to be put on unpaid leave
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Monday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
11:40 a.m. The coroner leading an inquest into COVID-19 deaths in Quebec's long-term-care homes says she's concerned the facilities weren't prepared for the first wave of the pandemic.
Gehane Kamel made the comments today as Quebec public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda testified for a second day before the inquiry.
Kamel says past testimony at the inquest indicated authorities were aware of the risks to long-term care residents but took fewer precautions to protect those facilities compared to what they did to prepare hospitals. Nearly 4,000 people died in long-term care homes in the early months of the pandemic.
11:20 a.m. A Quebec Superior Court judge has ruled in favour of the province's vaccine mandate for health-care workers, nearly two weeks after the government suspended the health order.
Justice Michel Yergeau's decision released today denies the request for an injunction brought by unvaccinated health network employees.
The Quebec government announced on Nov. 3 it was abandoning its Nov. 15 deadline for health-care staff to be vaccinated, because it worried the order would significantly reduce services in the overburdened system. Instead, it required unvaccinated staff to be tested three times a week and for new hires to be fully vaccinated.
11:05 a.m. Toronto Mayor John Tory says the city had hoped federal and provincial approvals would be in place to launch the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 next week, but now understands that is unlikely and he is hopeful that clinics for kids can start end of month or the beginning of December.
11 a.m. Cyprus said on Monday it will offer COVID-19 vaccination booster shots to all adults 18 and over.
The decision comes less than two weeks after the east Mediterranean island nation expanded its booster shot drive to include everyone over 50.
The only prerequisite to receive a booster shot is that six months needs to have elapsed since a person was fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna or Johnson&Johnson vaccines.
Like in many parts of Europe, Cyprus has seen a rise in coronavirus infections in the last couple of weeks. Health experts say the increase is largely caused by those who haven't been vaccinated.
10:30 a.m. Mayor John Tory is pleading with Torontonians to shop local this holiday season to help pandemic-battered small businesses.
Buying gift cards from locally owned stores is one way Torontonians can help small businesses and artists, Tory says.
Buy local message will be emphasized with #ShowLoveTO advertising over the holiday season. Also there will be new #StrollTO walks that will take people to new places with new shops.
10:20 a.m. Employees in Canada's federal public sector who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be put on unpaid leave Monday, unless they were already granted an accommodation.
The policy could potentially leave more than one thousand workers without pay and unable to access employment insurance benefits.
As of Nov. 3, the vast majority of federal public servants were reported to be fully vaccinated.
Of the roughly 267,000 employees who declared their status, a little over 3,000 have requested some kind of accommodation so they can work without a full slate of vaccines.
Several federal public sector unions have said they plan to file grievances if they feel an employee's human rights were not respected.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the outset of the policy that exemptions and accommodations would be difficult to obtain.
10:13 a.m. (updated) Ontario is reporting another 552 COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, according to its latest report released Monday morning.
Ontario has administered 7,251 vaccine doses since its last daily update, with 22,720,151 vaccines given in total as of 8 p.m. the previous night.
According to the Star's vaccine tracker, 11,568,029 people in Ontario have received at least one shot. That works out to approximately 88.7 per cent of the eligible population 12 years and older, and the equivalent of 77.8 per cent of the total population, including those not yet eligible for the vaccine.
Read the full story from the Star's Urbi Khan
9:45 a.m. The Indian government announced Monday that it would allow vaccinated foreign visitors into the country for the first time in more than 20 months, delivering a boost to a battered tourism industry as coronavirus cases ease and vaccinations pick up across Asia.
As India emerges from a devastating second wave of the virus in the spring - with new cases averaging about 20,000 daily, down from a peak of more than 400,000 - it has begun to allow quarantine-free entry to fully inoculated tourists from 99 reciprocating countries.
In 2020, the country drew just 2.74 million foreign tourists, down from 10.93 million the previous year, according to government data.
9:15 a.m. Austria took what its leader called the dramatic" step Monday of implementing a nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated people who haven't recently had COVID-19, perhaps the most drastic of a string of measures being taken by European governments to get a massive regional resurgence of the coronavirus under control.
The move, which took effect at midnight, prohibits people 12 years old and older who haven't been vaccinated or recently recovered from leaving their homes except for basic activities such as working, grocery shopping, going to school or university or for a walk - or getting vaccinated.
The lockdown is initially being imposed until Nov. 24 in the Alpine country of 8.9 million. It doesn't apply to children under 12 because they cannot yet officially get vaccinated - though the capital, Vienna, on Monday opened up vaccinations for under-12s as part of a pilot project, and reported high demand.
8:50 a.m. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Monday of a blizzard" of new coronavirus infections coming into the U.K. from continental Europe, as his government extended the vaccine booster program to younger people in an effort to keep a lid on the pandemic during the winter months.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, the independent body of scientists that makes vaccine recommendations to the British government, said people aged 40 to 49 will also be eligible for a vaccine booster shot six months after their initial shot. Up until now, people aged 50 and over, as well as those deemed to be vulnerable in younger age groups, had been eligible for Pfizer or Moderna vaccine boosters.
The committee said that second doses have also been approved for 16 and 17-year-olds 12 weeks after their first.
It said the the broadening of the booster campaign and the offer of a second jab to older teens will help extend our protection into 2022."
8:30 a.m. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on hunger in the city with more people relying on food banks to survive than ever before, according to a report by two local food charities.
More worrisome, the report indicates the worst may be yet to come as COVID-19 social assistance programs are phased out.
In the last year, Toronto food banks reported 1.45 million visits, a 45 per cent increase from 2020 and 1.5 times more than the previous record set in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. As well, new food bank clients increased 61 per cent compared to the year prior, and now outnumber existing clients for the first time, according to the report, Who's Hungry", from Daily Bread Food Bank and North York Harvest Food Bank.
Read the full story from the Star's Ben Cohen
7:41 a.m. It's not just you. Groceries are more expensive than usual.
Meat costs more than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic. Imported fruits and vegetables are rising in price due to supply chain snags. The cost of dairy products have surged.
Across Canada, food inflation has consumers feeling sticker shock when they reach the checkout aisles.
Why the higher prices? A combination of strong demand, supply chain problems, worker shortages and lousy weather, experts say.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem has warned that inflation, which grew to 4.4 per cent in September and could reach five per cent by year's end, will last longer than expected.
Read the full story from the Star's Jacob Lorinc
5:50 a.m.: Belgium's government is bringing forward a meeting to decide on tighter measures to control the spread of COVID-19 amid a rapid increase in infections and hospital admissions in the nation.
The meeting, which was originally set for Friday, was moved up to Wednesday so that any measure approved midweek could be operational by the weekend, the government said Monday.
Hospital admissions are shooting up 30% on a weekly basis, and the number of patients in intensive care have risen to more than 500, putting ever more strain on hospitals in the nation of 11 million.
Belgium has just gone through an extended holiday weekend and no precise figures were published Monday.
Authorities reimposed some pandemic restrictions three weeks ago after relaxing them just a few weeks earlier. They also expanded a nationwide use of the COVID-19 pass.
But infections have continued to rise, and the government is expected to look into further areas where facemask wearing should be made mandatory. It is also set to consider turning its advice on working from home into a mandatory order to prevent employees from mingling.
5:41 a.m.: Alberta residents will now need more than a paper record from a COVID-19 vaccine clinic if they want to sit down at a restaurant, work out at a gym or enter indoor venues like arenas or movie theatres.
Starting today, previous Alberta immunization records without a scannable QR code, including ones from vaccine providers and those saved from the province's MyHealth Records, will no longer be accepted as proof of vaccination under the Restrictions Exemption Program.
Patrons 12 and older entering businesses and venues taking part in the program will now be required to show an Alberta vaccine record with a QR code, a Canadian Armed Forces vaccine record or a First Nations immunization record.
Vaccine records issued by other provinces and territories will also be accepted, as well as the ArriveCan app for international travellers.
People without any of those will need a negative, privately paid COVID-19 test from within the previous 72 hours, or valid proof of a medical exemption.
5:41 a.m.: Ontario long-term-care staff must have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose to go to work Monday.
Staff who don't present proof of a first dose must instead show a medical exemption to be able to enter a long-term-care home for work.
Today had been set as the deadline for workers to be fully vaccinated against the virus but the Ministry of Long-Term Care has pushed that date to Dec. 13.
It says the change was made to accommodate new guidance on vaccine dose intervals from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Government data from Friday morning showed 98 per cent of long-term care workers had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips announced the sector-wide mandate last month, saying more action was needed to protect vulnerable residents from COVID-19.
5:40 a.m.: With no provincial health order mandating teachers and school district employees to be vaccinated the SD8 Board of Education is slated to make a decision on its own.
The trustees of School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) are tasked with the responsibility to establish the policy, but it must be voted on in a closed (in camera) meeting of the board, noted SD8 superintendent of schools, Trish Smillie.
She said that in the absence of a provincial health order, vaccine mandates remain an employer's decision, so SD8 is currently working through the process" to develop a policy. No timeline has been given when that policy will be delivered.
The SD8 board will be using a set of guiding principles developed by the British Columbia Public School Employer's Association (BCPSEA) to understand the scope of this issue in our district and determine how a vaccine mandate might impact in-person learning," she said.
Our board will be carefully considering the framework and the advice of our local health authority."
5:39 a.m.: Police conducted searches across Italy on Monday against 17 anti-vaccine activists who were allegedly affiliated with a Telegram chat that espoused violence against government, medical and media figures for their perceived support of COVID-19 restrictions.
Police in Turin said the Basta Dittatura" (Enough of the Dictatorship) chat had tens of thousands of members and was a prime forum for organizing protests against Italy's health pass.
Like many European countries, Italy requires people to show their so-called Green Pass to dine indoors, visit museums and cinemas and for long-distance public transport. The pass show proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or having been cured of COVID-19.
Protests have grown more acute after Italy last month became the first Western country to also require the pass to access workplaces.
In a statement Monday, police said they monitored the now-shuttered Telegram chat for weeks and identified 17 extremists who threatened Premier Mario Draghi, among others.
5:39 a.m.: Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria is cancelling a trip to the Netherlands because of the three-week partial lockdown there amid surging COVID-19 cases in the country, the Swedish royal household said Monday.
The lockdown began Saturday night and is the first to start in Western Europe since a new wave of infections began surging across parts of the continent.
The restrictions affect all parts of the trip by the heiress to the Swedish throne, the palace said in a statement to The Associated Press. It was scheduled for Nov. 18-19.
Against this background, The Crown Princess' trip to the Netherlands has been cancelled. We hope that we can resume planning of the visit at some point in the future," the statement read.
Victoria is the oldest child of Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia.
5:38 a.m.: China has confined nearly 1,500 university students to their dormitories and hotels following an outbreak of COVID-19 in the northwestern city of Dalian.
The order was issued Sunday after several dozen cases were reported at Zhuanghe University City and hundreds of students were transferred to hotels for observation.
Students were attending class remotely and having their meals delivered to their rooms.
The lockdown is the latest example of China's zero-tolerance approach to the outbreak, which has brought considerable disruption to people's lives and livelihoods.
Quarantines, obligatory testing and travel restrictions have become a way of life for much of the population. The country's vaccination rate is among the world's highest and authorities are beginning to administer booster shots as winter descends.
While those measures have met little open resistance, the recent killing of a quarantined person's pet dog by health workers brought a wave of complaints online. The incident in the central city of Shangrao prompted local authorities to issue a statement saying the pet owner and health workers had reached an understanding."
Monday 5:36 a.m.: International students are returning to U.S. colleges in stronger numbers this year, but the rebound has yet to make up for last year's historic declines as COVID-19 continues to disrupt academic exchange, according to a new survey.
Nationwide, American colleges and universities saw a 4% annual increase in international students this fall, according to survey results released Monday by the Institute of International Education. But that follows a decrease of 15% last year - the steepest decline since the institute began publishing data in 1948.
The upturn is better than many colleges were forecasting over the summer as the Delta variant surged. But it also reflects continued obstacles as visa backlogs persist and as some students show reluctance to study abroad during the pandemic.
Universities and U.S. officials hope this year's uptick is the start of a long-term rebound. As international travel ramps up, there's optimism that colleges will see growth past their pre-pandemic levels.
We expect a surge following the pandemic," Matthew Lussenhop, an acting U.S. assistant secretary of state, told reporters. This year's increase indicates that international students continue to value a U.S. education and remain committed to pursuing studies in the United States," he added.