Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reporting 2,421 cases; Ontario science table to release new modelling
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Thursday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
11 a.m. Canada has recorded its 30,000th COVID-19 death since the pandemic began in early 2020, surpassing a grim milestone just as the country braces for the potential fallout of surging infections driven by the Omicron variant.
Ontario reported nine more COVID-19 deaths Thursday morning, pushing Canada's total just over 30,000 as Ottawa and some provinces tightened public health measures to stave threats posed by a more transmissible virus.
It took Canada nine months to reach 10,000 COVID-19 deaths last November, but the toll doubled to 20,000 just two months later in January 2021 - a leap that occurred before enough vaccines had been administered to have an impact. The country surpassed 25,000 COVID-19 deaths in May.
10:30 a.m. People should limit their interactions to the most essential ones and brace for COVID-19 rates to continue to surge, according to England's top medical officer.
There will probably be an incredibly fast" upswing before new coronavirus cases start to plateau and recede, Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said at a parliamentary committee hearing Thursday.
Those comments follow his warning a day earlier that the phenomenal pace" at which the new omicron variant is spreading across the U.K. will trigger a surge in hospital admissions over the holiday period. The stark assessment came as the U.K. reported a record number of new cases.
10:02 a.m. (updated) Ontario is reporting 2,421 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday and nine more deaths.
That's the highest tally of daily new cases since mid-May.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says 165 people are in intensive care units due to COVID-19 - 11 more than the previous day.
Elliott says that of the 2,421 new cases, 758 are in people who are not fully vaccinated, while 133 are in people with an unknown vaccination status.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore has said the Omicron variant is quickly becoming the dominant strain in Ontario, and it's thought to be four to eight times more contagious than the Delta variant of COVID-19.
Ontario's panel of COVID-19 expert advisers is expected to release new modelling this morning on the state of the pandemic in the province.
9:40 a.m. Nearly 98 per cent of the active duty Army in the U.S. had gotten at least one dose of the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine as of this week's deadline for the shots, but more than 3,800 soldiers flatly refused and could start being removed from the military next month, officials said Thursday.
The U.S. military's largest service, however, reported the lowest number of service members seeking a religious exemption - a bit more than 1,700 soldiers - compared with the other three smaller services. In comparison, there are more than 4,700 in the Air Force, 3,000 in the Marine Corps and 2,700 in the Navy who are requesting religious exemptions, according to data released by the services in the past week. None has yet been approved.
The Pentagon announced earlier this year that the vaccine was mandatory for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said repeatedly that getting the vaccine is critical to maintaining a heathy, ready force that can be prepared to defend the nation. The Pentagon is also weighing making the COVID-19 vaccine booster shots mandatory for service members.
9:25 a.m. Poland's health ministry on Thursday confirmed the country's first case of the Omicron coronavirus variant, detected in a visitor from Lesotho.
The ministry said in a tweet that the 30-year woman feels well but has been put in isolation. She visited Poland to take part in the U.N. Digital Summit in the southern city of Katowice last week, and tested positive as she was preparing to leave. Laboratory testing revealed that she had the Omicron variant.
The ministry said national health authorities have taken necessary steps. That usually means contacting, testing and quarantining contacts of the infected person.
Poland had not registered any cases of the omicron variant until now, although a Polish teenager who traveled to China this month tested positive for it on arrival there.
8:06 a.m. Ontario's panel of COVID-19 expert advisers is expected to release new modelling Thursday morning on the state of the pandemic in the province.
The new projections come a day after the provincial government announced a series of new measures in response to the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Among them is an accelerated rollout of COVID-19 booster shots, which will be available starting Monday to residents over 18 whose second dose was at least three months ago.
The province also said it will cut capacity to 50 per cent at certain large venues, including sporting arenas and cinemas, starting Saturday.
Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday it appears Omicron may already have overtaken the Delta variant as the dominant strain in Ontario.
The province's top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, has said Omicron is infecting between four and eight times more people than Delta.
7:50 a.m. Toronto Public Health has declared COVID-19 outbreaks at three schools after identifying two or more confirmed COVID-19 cases at each site.
In a tweet issued on Thursday morning, TPH said they have identified multiple COVID-19 cases at Winchester Junior and Senior Public School, Cedarbrook Public School and Lord Roberts Junior Public School. All three schools are in the Toronto District School Board.
TPH said it is investigating the cases, and working with the school communities to notify close contacts and ask them to isolate.
Read the full story from the Star's Joshua Chong
7:30 a.m. The U.K. dangled the prospect of more assistance for hospitality businesses hit by a record surge in coronavirus.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak - currently in California on a long-planned business trip - will meet virtually later on Thursday with representatives of the hospitality industry, which has been clamoring for further measures to alleviate the wave of cancellations they're suffering as a new Covid wave takes hold.
We are in a very difficult and rapidly changing set of circumstances and it's important that ministers act," Treasury Minister John Glen told the House of Commons on Thursday. He said he and Sunak will meet the industry to see what more needs to be done."
7 a.m. Humber River Hospital is offering first, second and third doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to all eligible Toronto residents from Wednesday until Sunday. The pop-up clinic at 2625 Weston Rd. is drop-in only and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Everyone born in 2016 or earlier is eligible to receive their first or second vaccine dose. Individuals born in 1971 or earlier are eligible for their third dose if they received their second shot at least 168 days ago.
In a tweet on Wednesday night, the hospital said to expect long lines in the morning. Individuals with mobility issues will be prioritized.
6:30 a.m. The Israeli government says it is donating 1 million coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX program.
The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the AstraZeneca vaccines would be transferred to African countries in the coming weeks. It says the decision is part of Israel's strengthening ties with African countries.
COVAX is a global initiative that aims to provide coronavirus vaccines to poorer nations. Wealthier countries have acquired the most of the world's vaccine supplies, causing vast inequality in access to jabs. Israel was one of the first countries to vaccinate its population. Early this year, it came under criticism for not sharing enough of its supplies with the Palestinians.
6:20 a.m. With case counts of COVID-19 infections on the rise, employers are pushing back return-to-office plans.
Experts are not only applauding these decisions, but are calling on everyone to exercise caution as the holidays approach.
Patrick Saunders-Hastings, an epidemiologist and director of life sciences at Gevity Consulting Inc., is not surprised companies are delaying their plans. Between the new Omicron variant and upcoming holiday gatherings, he predicts cases will continue to rise into the new year and expects companies will further delay back-to-office plans.
There's still a lot of unknowns with regards to Omicron," said Saunders-Hastings.
Read more from the Star's Rosa Saba.
6:16 a.m. U.S. sports leagues are seeing rapidly increasing COVID-19 outbreaks with dozens of players in health and safety protocols, amid an ongoing surge by the Delta variant of the coronavirus and rising cases of the highly transmissible Omicron mutation.
Both the NBA and NHL have postponed games over the last month with so many players sidelined, and the men's basketball teams at Tulane and the University of Washington have had cancellations.
But don't expect the leagues to return to bubble" play or shut down until things subside. Experts say managing outbreaks is easier with highly vaccinated rosters, and there's too much at stake to cut back seasons.
6:10 a.m. A summit of European Union leaders is trying to coordinate action to tackle the surge of coronavirus infections across the continent and the emergence of the new Omicron variant while keeping borders open.
The bloc's leaders want to avoid a confusing mixture of rules with the festive season looming. And they want to ensure all 27 member states are on the same page and that the COVID-19 certificates continues to guarantee unrestricted travel.
But alarming rises in infections have prompted many European governments to implement public health measures and new restrictions in recent weeks.
6:05 a.m. British restaurants and pubs demanded government help as the Omicron variant threatened businesses with closure at the height of the crucial and lucrative Christmas season.
U.K. hospitality appealed to the government for business rates relief and value-added tax discounts, warning that fears about the new variant have already had an impact on the sector, with sales already having plunged by a third in the last 10 days - reflecting 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) in lost trade.
Jonathan Neame, the chief executive of pub and brewery Shepherd Neame, said the government comments and concerns will throw his business back to the start of the pandemic.
6 a.m. Portugal's prime minister says he intends to keep tighter COVID-19 border controls in place beyond their planned end on Jan. 9 because of the threat from the highly infectious new Omicron variant.
He says Portugal is also likely to provide another booster shot next year for already vaccinated vulnerable people who are receiving a booster after having the COVID-19 jab earlier this year.
Portugal requires a negative test for all passengers on arriving flights.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa told reporters Thursday that border controls will continue beyond Jan. 9 and could even be tightened. He didn't elaborate.
The government had previously announced a contention week" from Jan. 2-9, when working from home is mandatory and schools will be closed.
5:35 a.m. Swedish authorities said Thursday that citizens from fellow Nordic countries will have to show a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate when entering Sweden starting next week.
As of Dec. 21, people from Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland no long will have an exemption to the certificate requirement and must also show their passes to enter Sweden.
Swedish Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren also encouraged all travelers to be tested for the coronavirus upon entry due to a deteriorating" public health situation.
Sweden has previously stood out among European nations for its comparatively hands-off response to the coronavirus.
5:30 a.m. Ontarians ages 18 and older can get their COVID-19 booster shots starting Monday, Dec. 20. Here's what you need to know.
Ontario premier Doug Ford announced the change in a Wednesday afternoon press conference in an effort to curb the growth of the rapidly expanding Omicron variant, he said. (Previously, boosters for those aged 18 to 49 weren't to start until Jan. 4.)
Ford also announced the waiting period between receiving one's second dose and getting the booster was being halved from 168 days to 84 days. Starting Wednesday, Dec. 15, people 50 and older can reschedule their booster appointment to reflect the new 84 day window, health minister Christine Elliott said.
Ford said the province is scaling up capacity to give 200,000 to 300,000 booster shots a day based on demand.
Read more from the Star's Kevin Jiang: What you need to know as boosters expand next week.
5:25 a.m. One by one, people came down the escalator of the waterfront office tower with light green boxes sticking out of their jacket pockets.
Most had heard from a friend that free COVID rapid antigen tests were available at 10 Bay St. And sure enough, at the back of the food court, in front of a boarded-up commercial unit where a Starbucks used to teem with people, two women stood at a table spreading the word like mild-mannered carnival barkers: Hello! Rapid COVID tests!"
A sign emblazoned with the Ontario government logo stood beside the table, but the women were employees of Switch Health, a private-sector COVID testing company that also offers paid tests at Pearson airport. The same company was also at Eglinton subway station Wednesday distributing the boxes, which include five tests.
Jordan Paquet, a vice-president of public affairs at Switch Health, said they were participating in the province's holiday testing blitz," where two million rapid tests would be provided by the province at pop-up settings like malls, holiday markets and transit hubs in the GTA and other cities. Details can be found at www.ontario.ca/page/pop-up-holiday-schedule-rapid-antigen-tests.
Read more from the Star's Katie Daubs.
5:05 a.m. Ontario is giving its COVID-19 booster program a shot in the arm, allowing everyone 18 and up to get a third vaccination as of Monday and slashing the time between doses.
These vaccines will work and boosters are the best way to prevent the worst," Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday at Queen's Park as he announced new measures to blunt the fast-moving Omicron variant - many of which experts have been pushing for weeks.
Roll up your sleeves one more time. We're not done. Not yet," he told a news conference on the same day the federal government advised Canadians to avoid non-essential international travel and Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city will expand its vaccination capacity.
Doses of vaccines will be shipped to large employers - including Bruce Power, Ontario's largest nuclear power facility - to give more injections quickly as the new strain of COVID-19 takes off just over a week before Christmas.
Read more from the Star's Rob Ferguson and Robert Benzie.
5 a.m. France is imposing tougher rules on people arriving from the U.K., including a requirement to self-isolate, to slow the spread of COVID-19's Omicron variant. The measures are introduced after new daily cases in the U.K. rose to a record.
The rise in infections is hitting economic activity across the euro area. Restrictions in the services sector halted recovery in Germany, the region's biggest economy.
New Zealand reported their first Omicron cases. Singapore eased some of its quarantine requirements to woo back travelers.
4:45 a.m. Sporting venues will soon be limited to half capacity, leaving fans wondering if they will be able to use their tickets to future Raptors and Leafs games.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Wednesday that any venue in the province with a capacity of 1,000 people or more will be capped at 50 per cent starting Saturday at 12:01 a.m. That includes facilities used for sports and recreational fitness activities, concert venues, theatres and cinemas, racing venues, meeting and event spaces and more.
With Omicron spreading so fast, at such an alarming rate, we need to target the largest crowds indoors, where people are often unmasked," Ford said.
Read more from the Star's Laura Armstrong.
4:20 a.m. Indonesia has detected its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in a cleaning worker at a hospital in Jakarta, the country's health minister said Thursday.
The patient has no symptoms and is being quarantined at the Athlete's Village emergency hospital, where the patient worked. The government created the facility in March 2020 to treat COVID-19 patients and as a quarantine venue for Indonesians returning from abroad.
Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the case was found on Wednesday, and he urged people to continue following recommended health protocols, including wearing masks and maintaining physical distance.