Today’s coronavirus news: South Korea’s crematories, hospitals overwhelmed
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.
8:30 a.m. Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has tested positive for COVID-19 and gone into isolation, disrupting his team's preparations for friendly internationals against Denmark and Germany.
The Dutch soccer association said in a statement that the 70-year-old Van Gaal tested positive on Tuesday morning.
Van Gaal's assistants, Danny Blind, Henk Fraser and Frans Hoek, will stand in for the coach as the Netherlands squad prepares to play Denmark on Saturday and Germany on Tuesday. Both matches are at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.
8:15 a.m. Almost 1 million people in the United States have died of COVID-19 in the past two years, but the full impact of the pandemic's collateral damage is still being tallied. Now a new study reports that the number of Americans who died of alcohol-related causes increased precipitously during the first year of the pandemic, as routines were disrupted, support networks frayed and treatment was delayed.
The startling report comes amid a growing realization that COVID-19's toll extends beyond the number of lives claimed directly by the disease to the excess deaths caused by illnesses left untreated and a surge in drug overdoses, as well as to social costs such as educational setbacks and the loss of parents and caregivers.
Numerous reports have suggested that Americans drank more to cope with the stress of the pandemic. Binge drinking increased, as did emergency room visits for alcohol withdrawal. But the new report found that the number of alcohol-related deaths, including from liver disease and accidents, soared, rising to 99,017 in 2020 from 78,927 in 2019 - an increase of 25 per cent in the number of deaths in one year.
7:10 a.m. A busted elevator at Cedarbrook Community Centre has dealt a losing hand to bridge-playing seniors who can't climb the stairs.
After a two-year pause due to COVID-19, members of the Mid-Scarborough Bridge Club are excited at the prospect of shuffling up and dealing, with the lifting of restrictions and health advice that grounded its players.
The club began in 2018 and grew to 150 members - mostly seniors - with dozens showing up at a time for twice-weekly sessions in a large, second-floor room at Cedarbrook, on Eastpark Boulevard, until the pandemic.
Read the full story from Jack Lakey
6:30 a.m. Councillor Joe Cressy, the chair of Toronto's Board of Health, says the city has reached a new milestone with 89 per cent of residents 12 and older now double vaccinated.
Toronto is already a world leader in vaccination rates, and we're not slowing down. We're scaling up our equity-focused strategy to make vaccines accessible for all Torontonians," he wrote in a tweet.
6:20 a.m. As Suri Weinberg-Linsky wandered the aisles of her small, west-end book shop Monday, she was pleasantly surprised: Customers were still wearing masks.
I haven't had to remind a single person today that they need to wear a mask. Everyone's had one on when they come in, and I've been here since 10:30 (a.m.)," said Weinberg-Linsky, owner of Squibb's Books and Stationery, Toronto's oldest bookstore.
On the first day that Ontario's province-wide mask mandate was lifted, Weinberg-Linsky was one of several business owners insisting customers and staff still wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Elsewhere, business owners, staff and customers were trying to strike a balance, partly to avoid the heated arguments which took place when mask mandates were first introduced. Retailers, gyms, movie theatres, restaurants and bars are now allowed to have customers and staff mask-free. Many, including Walmart, Cineplex, IKEA and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, have made masking voluntary.
Read the full story from the Star's Josh Rubin
6:17 a.m. The Omicron subvariant BA.2 is continuing to gain ground in the U.S., according to COVID-19 tests sequenced over the last two weeks. Helix, a San Diego-based genomics firm, estimates that 50 per cent to 70 per cent of all COVID cases in the country are BA.2.
6:17 a.m. Japan's government lifted quasi-state of emergency measures in Tokyo and other regions across the country, bringing to an end steps introduced in early January as cases continue to tumble. Infections peaked in Tokyo in early February. Bars and restaurants, which were subject to requests to close early, will resume normal opening hours from today.
6:16 a.m. China should stick to its strict Covid Zero strategy, the country's top virus expert said, hours after Hong Kong set out a plan for easing its most stringent curbs. The comments from Liang Wannian, a seasoned epidemiologist who has overseen China's response since the beginning of the pandemic, came as Shanghai saw a record number of cases for a second straight day. China added 4,594 local cases overall on Monday.
6:15 a.m. Health officials in South Korea have instructed crematories to burn more bodies per day and funeral homes to add more refrigerators to store the dead as families struggle with funeral arrangements amid a rise in COVID-19 deaths.
The country has been dealing with a massive coronavirus outbreak driven by the fast-moving Omicron variant, which has compromised a once robust pandemic response and is driving up hospitalizations and fatalities.
Officials have already allowed the 60 crematories across country to burn for longer hours starting last week, which raised their combined capacity from around 1,000 to 1,400 cremations per day.
But that hasn't been enough to meaningfully ease the backlog of bodies waiting to be cremated in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to half of South Korea's 52 million people and the centre of its COVID-19 outbreak. The backlog has also trickled down to funeral homes at hospitals and other facilities, where families have struggled to make funeral arrangements because of the longer wait for cremations.