Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario is reporting 1,534 new cases; outbreak of 26 cases close a school in Windsor; UK leader to end England’s coronavirus lockdown
The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
1:43 p.m.: There are 26 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 from the Frank W. Begley Elementary school in Windsor.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit declared an outbreak at the school on Nov. 17 and it has since been closed until further notice.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases at the school date back to Nov. 12.
As of Nov. 21, the Essex County District School Board has confirmed a total of 40 cases.
11:22 a.m.: Members of religious minority groups in Quebec are decrying the provincial government's plan to allow Christmas-time gatherings in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling the move a sign of a double standard.
The condemnations came days after Premier Francois Legault offered Quebecers what he dubbed a moral contract" through an offer to raise gathering limits over a four-day period starting on Christmas Eve.
It's disappointing," said Yusuf Faqiri, a representative of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. The Muslim community, the Jewish community, the Sikh community, when we had our respective holidays, we were not able to gather."
Legault announced the terms of the Christmas repreive on Thursday, saying groups of up to 10 could gather between Dec. 24 and Dec. 27. The short-term move marks a sharp reversal from rules currently in place in much of the province, where all indoor gatherings are banned in regions classified as red zones under the province's pandemic response plan.
11:11 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 11:10 a.m. EST on Nov. 22, 2020:
There are 328,399 confirmed cases in Canada.
_ Quebec: 132,042 confirmed (including 6,829 deaths, 114,085 resolved)
_ Ontario: 103,912 confirmed (including 3,486 deaths, 87,508 resolved)
_ Alberta: 45,288 confirmed (including 471 deaths, 33,543 resolved)
_ British Columbia: 25,474 confirmed (including 331 deaths, 17,477 resolved)
_ Manitoba: 13,304 confirmed (including 217 deaths, 5,075 resolved)
_ Saskatchewan: 6,237 confirmed (including 33 deaths, 3,667 resolved)
_ Nova Scotia: 1,168 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,070 resolved)
_ New Brunswick: 424 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 347 resolved)
_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 316 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 294 resolved)
_ Nunavut: 109 confirmed (including 2 resolved)
_ Prince Edward Island: 68 confirmed (including 64 resolved)
_ Yukon: 29 confirmed (including 1 death, 22 resolved)
_ Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed (including 10 resolved)
_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
_ Total: 328,399 (0 presumptive, 328,399 confirmed including 11,443 deaths, 263,177 resolved)
11:10 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 1,154 new cases of COVID-19 today and 23 additional deaths linked to the virus. The province says eight of those deaths took place in the last 24 hours, 11 occurred between Nov. 15 and 20, three came before Nov. 15 and one is from an unspecified date. Quebec has now reported 132,042 cases of COVID-19 and 6,829 total deaths since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations went down by four today for a total of 642.
Of those, the number of people in intensive care increased by four to 103.
10:45 a.m.: Ontario is reporting 1,534 new cases of COVID-19 today, along with 14 new deaths linked to the virus.
The numbers are down slightly from a new single-day high case count of 1,588 reached yesterday.
The latest figures come a day before new lockdown measures are set to take effect in the longstanding hot spots of Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region.
Both enter the grey classification of the province's pandemic response framework tomorrow, meaning most non-essential businesses will be closed or limited to providing curbside or delivery service.
10:30 a.m.: A small town in western Newfoundland is asking residents to stay home and businesses to close amid COVID-19 concerns. In a release Saturday night, the town of Deer Lake said the town office and arena were closing until December 7, and asked non-essential businesses to follow suit. The town says residents should stay home as much as possible, especially those with high risks for complications. There are five cases of COVID-19 currently active in western Newfoundland, with the source of one of those infections still unknown.
10:17 a.m.: The head of the U.S. effort to produce a coronavirus vaccine says the first immunizations could happen on Dec. 12.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is set to meet Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer Inc.'s request for an emergency use authorization for its developing COVID-19 vaccine.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech recently announced that the vaccine appears 95% effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of the Operation Warp Speed, the coronavirus vaccine program, says plans are to ship vaccines to states within 24 hours of expected FDA approval.
9:21 a.m.: A video went viral Sunday in Germany of a confrontation at a coronavirus protest, where a young woman compared herself to a famous Nazi resistance fighter only to be confronted by a security guard who accused her of trivalizing" the Holocaust.
Several people protesting coronavirus restrictions in Germany that seek to tamp down new infections have tried to depict themselves as victims of government persecution. Some have even put on Stars of David, symbols that the Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Third Reich before they killed them.
The woman spoke on stage Saturday evening in the northern city of Hannover, telling fellow protesters I feel like Sophie Scholl, since I've been active in the resistance, giving speeches, going to protests, distributing flyers."
Scholl fought the Nazis with her brother and other members of the resistance group White Rose. After distributing flyers at a Munich university, she was convicted of high treason and was executed at age 22 by the Nazis in 1943.
9:01 a.m.: Black clergy leaders are joining forces with the United Way of New York City for a new initiative designed to combat the coronavirus' outsized toll on African Americans through ramped-up testing, contact tracing and treatment management.
Details of the new effort, shared with The Associated Press in advance of its Monday launch, rest on harnessing the on-the-ground influence of church leaders to circulate resources that can better equip Black Americans in safeguarding against and treating the virus. Its rollout will begin in five major cities with initial seven-figure funding, focusing on expanded testing and public health education, with a goal of further expansion and ultimately reaching several hundred thousand underinsured or uninsured Black Americans.
The Rev. Calvin Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, said participating churches were stepping forward to serve as a first line of defence" for the Black community against the virus.
I'm delighted to say we are strongly together across denominational lines and, even when there may be political differences, we still stand shoulder to shoulder in meeting this crisis," Butts said.
The coronavirus has killed more than 250,000 Americans, with hospitalizations reaching an all-time high this week as U.S. deaths from the virus reached their highest levels since the pandemic surged in the spring. The Black community has been hit hard, with an August study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finding that African Americans had a virus hospitalization rate 4.7 times higher and a death rate 2.1 times higher than the white population.
8:20 a.m.: Thousands of people on Sunday attended the funeral of Serbian Patriarch Irinej who died after contracting the coronavirus, many ignoring preventive measures against the pandemic.
Many mourners and most priests holding the funeral service in the massive St. Sava Temple in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, didn't wear masks or adhere to social distancing inside the church, kissing the glass shield covering Irinej's remains and even using a single spoon during Holy Communion.
Irinej, 90, died on Friday, three weeks after attending the funeral of another cleric in neighbouring Montenegro in which mourners kissed his remains lying in an open casket although he also died from COVID-19 complications.
8:05 a.m.: The bodies of hundreds of people who died in New York City during the Covid-19 surge in the spring are still in storage in freezer trucks on the Brooklyn waterfront.
Many of the bodies are of people whose families can't be located or can't afford a proper burial, according to the city's Office of Chief Medical Examiner. About 650 bodies are being stored in the trucks at a disaster morgue that was set up in April on the 39th Street Pier in Sunset Park.
Before the pandemic, most if not all of the deceased would have been buried within a few weeks in a gravesite for the indigent on Hart Island, which is located in the Long Island Sound near the Bronx.
7:07 a.m.: Madrid's ancient and emblematic Rastro flea market reopened Sunday after a contentious eight-month closure because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has walloped the Spanish capital.
With many major European flea markets still shut down, the Rastro's return seems to be another example of Madrid's bid to show that heavy coronavirus restrictions may not be necessary even among the latest surge of the virus and some sort of normality can resume with precautions.
7:02 a.m.: Hong Kong will give a one-time $645(U.S.) payment to anyone in the city who tests positive for Covid-19 to encourage people to take tests for the virus, Health Secretary Sophia Chan said.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau will announce details of the handout plan later, Radio Television Hong Kong cited Chan as saying in a radio interview. She said the government is setting up another five community testing centers, adding to the four already in operation, according to the report.
Hong Kong will impose new social restrictions as local coronavirus cases spike, prompting an announcement Saturday that a planned travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore would be postponed for two weeks.
On Sunday, the city reported 68 new cases, the most in three months. All but seven cases were considered to be locally transmitted while the number of cases not having an immediately identifiable source was about a dozen, a Centre for Health Protection spokeswoman said at a briefing.
6:58 a.m.: South Korea is imposing stricter social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area to fight a coronavirus resurgence, as the country registered more than 300 new cases for the fifth straight day.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said Sunday that authorities have found 62 virus clusters in the past two weeks. He said the toughened distancing guidelines in the Seoul area will be enforced for two weeks starting Tuesday.
Under the rules, nightclubs and other high-risk entertainment facilities must shut down and late-night dining at restaurants will be banned. Customers won't be allowed to drink or eat inside coffee shops, internet cafes or fitness centres, while audiences at sports events will be limited to 10% of the stadium's capacity.
6:28 a.m.: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to end an England-wide lockdown as scheduled on Dec. 2 and will announce a return to regional restrictions as statistics show that coronavirus infections have stabilized.
Johnson's office also confirmed plans to begin a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program next month, assuming regulators approve a vaccine against the virus. The government also will increase mass testing in an effort to suppress the virus until vaccines can be rolled out.
Johnson's office said late Saturday that the government plans to return to using a three-tiered system of localized restrictions in England, with areas facing different lockdown measures based on the severity of their outbreaks. More communities are expected to be placed in the two highest virus alert categories, it said.
The government put England under a four-week lockdown that started Nov. 5. The Cabinet is to discuss the plans Sunday, and the prime minister aims to give Parliament the details on Monday, according to the statement.
6:05 a.m.: The daily tally of confirmed coronavirus cases in Japan hit a record for the fourth straight day at 2,508, the Health Ministry said Sunday.
Japan has had fewer than 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths so far, avoiding the toll of harder hit nations. But fears are growing about another surge. A flurry of criticism from opposition legislators and the public has slammed the government for being too slow in halting its GoTo" tourism campaign, which encouraged travel and dining out with discounts.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday scrapped the campaign, but only after many people had already made travel reservations for a three-day Thanksgiving weekend in Japan.
Airports and restaurants have been packed. Some say the government should have offered to pay for cancellations, or stepped up PCR testing instead, if the goal is to keep the economy going amid a pandemic. Tutorials are circulating online on the proper way to eat and drink at restaurants while wearing masks.
6:05 a.m.: U.S. health officials Saturday agreed to allow emergency use of a second antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19, an experimental medicine that President Donald Trump was given when he was sickened last month.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug to try to prevent hospitalization and worsening disease from developing in patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.
The drug is given as a one-time treatment through an IV. The FDA allowed its use in adults and children 12 and over who weigh at least 88 pounds (40 kilograms) and who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 because of age or certain other medical conditions.
4 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. EST on Nov. 22, 2020:
There are 325,711 confirmed cases in Canada.
_ Quebec: 130,888 confirmed (including 6,806 deaths, 112,734 resolved)
_ Ontario: 102,378 confirmed (including 3,472 deaths, 86,079 resolved)
_ Alberta: 45,288 confirmed (including 471 deaths, 33,543 resolved)
_ British Columbia: 25,474 confirmed (including 331 deaths, 17,477 resolved)
_ Manitoba: 13,304 confirmed (including 217 deaths, 5,075 resolved)
_ Saskatchewan: 6,237 confirmed (including 33 deaths, 3,667 resolved)
_ Nova Scotia: 1,168 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,070 resolved)
_ New Brunswick: 424 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 347 resolved)
_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 316 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 294 resolved)
_ Nunavut: 109 confirmed (including 2 resolved)
_ Prince Edward Island: 68 confirmed (including 64 resolved)
_ Yukon: 29 confirmed (including 1 death, 22 resolved)
_ Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed (including 10 resolved)
_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
_ Total: 325,711 (0 presumptive, 325,711 confirmed including 11,406 deaths, 260,397 resolved)
2:56 a.m.: Russia's health care system, vast yet underfunded, has been under significant strains in recent weeks, as the pandemic surges again and daily infections and virus death regularly break records.
Across the country, 81% of hospital beds that have been set aside for coronavirus patients were full as of Wednesday. Three times last week, the Russian government reported a record number of daily deaths, and the number of daily new infections per 100,000 people has more than doubled since Oct. 1, from 6 to over 15. Overall, Russia has recorded over 2 million cases and over 35,000 deaths, but experts say all numbers worldwide understate the true toll of the pandemic.
Reports in Russian media have painted a bleak picture in recent weeks. Hospital corridors are filled with patients on gurneys and even the floor. Bodies in black plastic bags were seen piling up on the floors of a morgue. Long lines of ambulances wait at hospitals while pharmacies put up signs listing the drugs they no longer have in stock.
Russian authorities have acknowledged problems in the health system. President Vladimir Putin even urged regional officials not to paper over the situation, saying that feigning the impression that everything is perfectly normal is absolutely unacceptable."
1:38 a.m.: Authorities are conducting mass testing and shutting down schools after China reported three new domestically transmitted cases in the past 24 hours - two in northern Inner Mongolia province and one in Shanghai.
The city of Manzhouli, in Inner Mongolia, will start testing all its residents for COVID-19 on Sunday, a day after the two cases were discovered. The city has suspended classes and shut public venues, telling residents to not gather for dinner banquets.
Local authorities in Shanghai found one more case Saturday after testing 15,416 people following recent locally transmitted cases. The city is not shutting down its schools, but has locked down specific facilities such as a hospital. It is also testing all residents in the Pudong New Area district.
China is already conducting mass testing for up to 3 million residents in the northern city of Tianjin after five cases were found there earlier in the week. The total number of confirmed cases in China is 86,431.
Read about Thursday's developments here.