Today's coronavirus news: Ontario investigating 4 other possible Omicron cases in Ottawa and Hamilton; Ontario reports 788 new cases of COVID
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.
10:59 a.m. Ontario is following up on four more possible cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant of concern that's prompted reintroduced travel restrictions around the world.
The province's top doctor says the two of the cases under investigation for the variant are in the Hamilton, Ont., area and two are in Ottawa.
That's in addition to two confirmed cases in Ottawa announced Sunday - Canada's first known cases.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore says those people, who had recently been in Nigeria, were first tested for the virus in Montreal when they arrived in Canada.
He says public health units are also reaching out to 375 people who have returned from countries deemed by the federal government to be high risk for the variant and are offering them testing.
He says the province would also like to offer testing to all returning travellers, not just those from the seven designated countries in southern Africa.
10:20 a.m. Ontario is reporting 788 new cases of COVID-19. Individuals who are not fully vaccinated represent 23.6 per cent of Ontario's total population and amount to 439 of Ontario's 788 new reported cases, according to Health Minister Christine Elliott.
9:53 a.m. At a news briefing Monday morning, Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore discussed the two new cases of the Omicron variant that surfaced in Ottawa over the weekend.
I want to reassure Ontarians that we are prepared and ready to respond to this and any other new variant," Moore said. The province's top doctor said genomic sequencing is being conducted on all eligible COVID-19 positive samples in Ontario.
In order to rapidly identify, trace and isolate COVID-19 and its variants, Moore said the province has expanded eligibility for provincially-funded PCR testing at all testing centres for individuals who have returned from or travelled within: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho , Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe between Nov. 1 and Dec. 6. Asymptomatic family members and other household contacts are also eligible for testing. The list of countries may be updated based on new information.
Moore indicated that Ontarians can anticipate an accelerated booster strategy to be announced later this week, along with other options being studied in the wake of Omicron variant.
The province also said it is awaiting results from whole genome sequencing for four other suspected cases of the Omicron variant, including two individuals in Ottawa and two in Hamilton. Moore said local public health agencies are working on contact tracing. Moore said the 375 returning travellers from the seven different countries in Southern Africa are in mandated quarantine and have been tested.
8 a.m. Norway is extending isolation times for those testing positive to the coronavirus and where there's reason to believe that the infection is the Omicron variant, the Health and Care Services Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Other household members will be required to quarantine for 10 days and close contacts to those infected must undergo testing under the new measures, which will apply regardless of vaccination status. The requirements will be lifted as soon as it is confirmed the infection isn't a result of the new variant, which is so far not yet confirmed in the country.
7:35 a.m. Australian authorities announced on Monday that they would delay plans to relax border restrictions by at least two weeks, as the country reported its fifth case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
New South Wales state authorities reported on Sunday that two travelers from South Africa to Sydney had become Australia's first cases of the new variant. Both were fully vaccinated, showed no symptoms and were in quarantine in Sydney.
On Monday, another two Sydney cases were confirmed after arriving in Australia's most populous state on a flight from southern Africa on Sunday, the state government said.
A South African man in his 30s who flew from Johannesburg to the northern Australian city of Darwin last Thursday also tested positive for the Omicron variant, officials said.
Australia's government decided later Monday that plans to relax border restrictions from Wednesday would be postponed until Dec. 15.
The temporary pause will ensure Australia can gather the information we need to better understand the Omicron variant, including the efficacy of the vaccine, the range of illness, including if it may generate more mild symptoms, and the level of transmission," a government statement said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced last week plans to allow vaccinated students, skilled workers and travelers on working vacations to land at Sydney and Melbourne airports without quarantining.
6:55 a.m. Nations around the world sought Monday to keep the new Omicron variant at bay with travel bans and further restrictions, even as it remains unclear what it means for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan announced it would suspend entry of all foreign visitors, while new cases of the variant identified days ago by researchers in South Africa appeared as far apart as Hong Kong, Australia and Portugal. Portuguese authorities were investigating whether some of the infections there could be among the first reported cases of local transmission of the variant outside of southern Africa.
The stream of new cases showed the near impossibility of keeping the genie in the bottle in a globalized world of travel and open borders.
Yet, many tried to do just that, even against the urging of the World Health Organization, which noted that border closures often have limited effect but can wreak havoc on lives and livelihoods. Some argued that such restrictions still could provide valuable time to analyze the new variant. Little is known about it, including whether it is more contagious, more likely to cause serious illness or more able to evade the protection of vaccines.
Read more from The Associated Press.
6:30 a.m. On Sunday, Dec. 12, 2,000 children between the ages of five and 11 will have a chance to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at Scotiabank Arena as part of Toronto Kids Vaccine Day," Mayor John Tory announced.
The superhero-themed event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to a statement. Appointments are needed and can be made as of 8 a.m. this morning by calling the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900 or through the Province of Ontario's How to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment webpage.
Read here for the full story from the Star's David Rider.
6 a.m. The World Health Organization is urging countries not to impose flight bans on southern African nations due to concerns over the new Omicron variant.
WHO's regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, called on countries to follow science and international health regulations in order to avoid using travel restrictions.
WHO praised South Africa for following international health regulations and informing WHO as soon as its national laboratory identified the Omicron variant.
Cases of the Omicron variant popped up in countries on opposite sides of the world Sunday and many governments rushed to close their borders.
Many countries, including Canada, have announced plans to ban travel from South Africa and seven other southern African countries.
5:55 a.m. For the past four months, Soji Adesokun's children have been eagerly asking when they too would get vaccinated against COVID-19.
On Thursday, that wait came to an end, when Ruth, 10, and Philip, 6, were among the first children in Toronto to get the jab at a school-based clinic.
They know what COVID is, they know it's dangerous and they know the vaccine is supposed to help," said Adesokun, as he picked up his children after school at St. Francis de Sales, near Jane and Finch, a neighbourhood that has been a hot spot of COVID-19 infection rates.
That school was among three that launched vaccination clinics for those aged five to 11. In the coming weeks, more will be up and running, with a total of 230 school-based clinics servicing 390 schools in 34 priority neighbourhoods.
Read more from the Star's Isabel Teotonia: School-based vaccination clinics for kids begin rollout in Toronto, but not all parents on board
5:45 a.m. Ontario's chief medical officer of health is set to speak to the media this morning, after Canada's first two cases of a new COVID-19 variant of concern were detected in the province.
Dr. Kieran Moore is expected to speak about the cases of the Omicron variant, which were found in patients in Ottawa who had recently been in Nigeria.
The World Health Organization has cautioned that the variant could be more contagious than others. It was first detected in South Africa, and has been linked to a spike in cases there.
The federal government on Friday barred visitors from seven southern African countries in an effort to prevent the variant from crossing into Canada, but Nigeria was not among them.
The province has called on Ottawa to implement point-of-arrival COVID-19 testing for everyone entering Canada regardless of where they came from, instead of just requiring them to get tested before leaving for Canada.
5:40 a.m. Children in British Columbia between five and 11 years old can start getting shots of a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine today.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said last week that about 350,000 children are eligible to receive the modified dose of the Health Canada-approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Health Canada approved the pediatric shot for use in Canada after an independent scientific review confirmed the first vaccine formulated for younger children is safe and effective.
5:35 a.m. Nova Scotia has established what is believed to be Canada's first 24-hour helpline exclusively for men in response to an urgent need that arose as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
Soon after the province was locked down in March 2020, officials noticed an increasing number of men were calling the province's 211 service, which offers information about government and community services.
"The service providers were saying, 'Something is happening here,'" says Nancy MacDonald, executive director of the Family Service of Eastern Nova Scotia.
It soon became clear that more men were actively seeking help as they struggled with job losses, relationship breakdowns, loneliness, anger and the added stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic.
"We all heard the same thing: men are vulnerable, men are hurting, men are socially isolated, men are impacted dramatically by loss of employment and the closure of informal social networks," MacDonald says.
5:30 a.m. Dutch military police arrested a husband and wife Sunday who had left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane.
Local media reported that the couple were trying to fly home to Spain.
A spokeswoman for the local security authority that covers Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport said Monday that an investigation was underway into whether the couple had committed a crime and should be prosecuted.
Quarantine is not obligatory, but we assume people will act responsibly," spokeswoman Petra Faber said. But there was a couple that wanted to go home and they tried to fly home."
5:15 a.m. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says Canada supports the development of a new global convention on pandemic preparedness and response that will be debated at a special meeting of the World Health Assembly today.
It is only the second time in its history that the group has held an emergency summit of this kind.
If member countries agree, the assembly would go to work developing what would essentially serve as an international treaty on pandemic preparedness.
The idea is to prevent another global crisis like the one posed by COVID-19 and it's new, more transmissible variants.
Duclos, who would serve as the federal government's chief delegate, says the convention would help countries to collaborate and would allow Canada to more easily share its expertise on the world stage.
5 a.m. Portuguese health authorities said Monday they have identified 13 cases of Omicron, the new coronavirus variant believed to be more contagious, among team members of a professional soccer club.
The Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute said Monday that one of those who tested positive at the Lisbon-based Belenenses soccer club had recently traveled to South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first identified.
The others, however, had not travelled to South Africa, indicating that this may be one of the very first cases of local transmission of the virus outside of southern Africa.
Those who have been in contact with the positive cases have been ordered to isolate, regardless of their vaccination status or their exposure to possible contagion, and will be regularly tested for COVID-19, the institute said.
4:45 a.m. As cases of a new coronavirus variant are confirmed around the world, Japan announced Monday that it will suspend entry of all foreign visitors, joining an increasing number of countries that are tightening their borders as fear spreads of yet another extension of pandemic suffering.
Japan, which has yet to detect any cases of the recently identified Omicron variant, reimposed border controls that it eased earlier this month for short-term business visitors, foreign students and workers.
Despite the global worry, however, scientists cautioned that it's still unclear whether Omicron is more dangerous than other versions of a virus that has killed more than 5 million people. Some countries are continuing with previous plans to loosen restrictions, with signs of reopening in Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.
We are taking the step as an emergency precaution to prevent a worst-case scenario in Japan," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said of the measure that begins Tuesday. Japan has kept its border closed to foreign tourists from all nations.
4:30 a.m. The World Health Organization is opening a long-planned special session of member states to discuss ways to strengthen the global fight against pandemics like the coronavirus, just as the worrying new Omicron variant has sparked immediate concerns worldwide.
In the wake of diplomatic wrangling, a draft resolution at the special World Health Assembly stops short of calling for work toward specifically establishing a pandemic treaty" or legally binding instrument" sought by some, which could beef up the international response when - not if - a new pandemic erupts.
European Union member states and others had sought language calling for work toward a treaty, but the United States and a few other countries countered that the substance of any accord should be worked out first before any such document is given a name. A treaty" would suggest a legally binding agreement that would require ratification - and would likely incur domestic political haggling in some countries.
4:20 a.m. The Scottish government has announced the discovery of six new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, taking the U.K. total to nine.
It said Monday it has asked public health authorities to undertake enhanced contact tracing in all cases.
Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said authorities need to be cautious" until more is known about the variant.
Over the weekend, health authorities found three cases of the variant, which prompted the British government to tighten rules on mask-wearing and testing of arrivals in the country.
4:10 a.m. French authorities are waiting Monday for laboratory confirmation of eight suspected cases of the new variant of the coronavirus, involving people who traveled recently to southern Africa.
Testing already conducted determined that the travelers were positive for the virus but not for one of its previous variants. Follow-up genetic testing was being done to see if they were infected with the new Omicron variant.
The Health Ministry said Sunday night that results could take several days.
If confirmed, they would be France's first known cases of the Omicron variant.