Health

Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world on Sunday

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The latest:

Four provinces reported new highs for daily COVID-19 infections this weekend as Canada’s chief public health officer warned that more and larger outbreaks are occurring in long-term care homes and hospitals and spreading in Indigenous communities. 

“These developments are deeply concerning as they put countless Canadians at risk of life-threatening illness, cause serious disruptions to health services and present significant challenges for areas not adequately equipped to manage complex medical emergencies,” Dr. Theresa Tam said.

WATCH | Canadian hospitals near capacity amid COVID-19 2nd wave:

Hospitals are filling up with COVID-19 patients fast. How much time Canada has left before there are simply no beds left ranges from region to region. But with cases rising relentlessly, doctors dread what December will bring. 4:19

She said federal modelling that shows the country could have 20,000 new daily cases by the end of December means “a stronger response is needed immediately, to interrupt transmission and slow the spread of COVID-19 across the country.”

Health officials in New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta on Saturday reported new single-day peaks in diagnoses — recording 23, 1,588, 439 and 1,336 new cases respectively.

Ontario reported its record daily high on Saturday, along with 21 new deaths. Another 1,534 cases were added on Sunday, as well as 14 deaths.

Locally, there were 490 new cases in Peel Region, 460 in Toronto and 130 in York Region, provincial Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.

Premier Doug Ford announced on Friday that Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region are going back into lockdown as of Monday, and several other regions are moving to higher restriction levels.

Quebec reported 1,154 new cases and 23 more deaths on Sunday, with the daily total down from 1,189 new cases the previous day.

The latest major outbreak in the province is at a Quebec City convent, where 39 nuns and 43 workers at the Soeurs de la Charité in suburban Beauport have tested positive for COVID-19.

One of Saskatchewan’s northernmost communities is dealing with a major outbreak of COVID-19. Health officials say Fond du Lac First Nation had identified 63 cases as of Saturday and listed more than 300 people as close contacts in the community of about 1,000.

WATCH | First Nations chief responds to federal cash injection to help fight COVID-19:

CBC News Network’s Carole MacNeil speaks to Chief Ouray Crowfoot of the Siksika Nation about the extra $120.3 million from the federal government to support Indigenous communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan in their fight against COVID-19. 10:50

A Saskatchewan doctor says record-high COVID-19 cases should be a signal that it’s time for tighter restrictions. 

Saskatchewan recorded 439 new cases on Saturday, a record single-day high, with Saskatoon reporting 170 new cases.

The province’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, said everyone needs to reduce activities by more than half. For example, he suggests that if you shop for groceries twice a week, cut it down to once a week.

Alberta set a new single-day record for new infections for a third straight day with 1,336 cases detected on Saturday. Officials have said the high caseload has strained the health-care system and overwhelmed contact-tracing efforts, as public health workers don’t know where most of the 11,274 active infections in the province were contracted.

New Brunswick officials announced 23 cases of COVID-19 in the province on Saturday, setting a single-day high since the start of the pandemic.

WATCH | N.B bubble is about to burst, says premier:

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is pleading with residents to repeat the efforts made earlier this year to flatten the COVID-19 case curve. On Saturday, the province reached a single-day record. 6:03

The new cases bring the total of active infections in the province to 71, and one person is in hospital due to the virus.


What’s happening across Canada

As of 11:20 a.m. ET Sunday, Canada’s COVID-19 case count stood at 328,399, with 52,624 of those considered active cases. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 11,443.

Manitoba reported 387 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 additional deaths on Saturday.

The province has for weeks recorded the highest per-capita rate of new infections in Canada. Premier Brian Pallister was put on the defensive on Saturday as he addressed Progressive Conservative party members at a convention, saying “every province west of Nova Scotia has its highest numbers in the last few days, including Manitoba.”

WATCH | 40% positivity rate in Steinbach, Man., region sparks concern:

Manitoba is reporting 387 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday. Ten more people have died from the virus. And as CBC’s Austin Grabish shows us, COVID is now spreading outside the province’s capital at alarming numbers. 2:13

“Trying to make the political argument that Manitoba’s government missed the boat when everybody in the Western world is under attack right now is not a fruitful thing — even if it was right, and it isn’t,” he said.

Nova Scotia reported eight new cases on Saturday, after seeing five new cases the previous day.

Newfoundland and Labrador announced five new cases on Saturday, the largest single-day increase in cases in the province since April 16.

Nunavut is recording a surge in new infections, reporting 25 new cases on Saturday, including 22 in hard-hit Arviat and three in Whale Cove.

There are 107 active infections in the territory, which just confirmed its first case a little more than two weeks ago.

People arriving in the Northwest Territories and Yukon are once again required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Yukon reported three new cases, according to a Saturday news release by Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley. The territory also expanded a public exposure notice for a Whitehorse fitness centre.

In British Columbia, a province-wide public health order has barred social gatherings of any size in private homes except between members of the same “core bubble.” The order went into effect on Thursday and will remain in place until midnight, Dec. 7.


What’s happening around the world

As of Sunday, there were more than 58.2 million reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with more than 37.2 million of those cases listed as recovered, according to a COVID-19 tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.3 million.

In the United States, the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden in January will be a scaled-down version of the usual traditions that will not endanger Americans’ health amid the coronavirus pandemic, a top aide said on Sunday.

“I think it’s going to definitely have to be changed,” incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said. “Obviously, this is not going to be the same kind of inauguration we had in the past.”

Klain said Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris would continue stressing safe practices when they take office on Jan. 20, but he would not elaborate on details.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, more than 12 million people in the U.S. have been confirmed as having contracted the novel coronavirus and about 255,900 deaths have been attributed to the infection.

South Korea will tighten physical-distancing rules for the capital Seoul and nearby areas now that the country has reported more than 300 new COVID-19 cases for a fifth straight day, Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said Sunday.

He said for two weeks starting Tuesday, nightclubs and other high-risk entertainment facilities must shut down, and
late-night dining at restaurants will be banned. Customers aren’t allowed to drink or eat inside coffee shops, internet cafés and fitness centres, while audiences at sports events will be limited to 10 per cent of the stadium’s capacity.

In Japan, the daily tally of confirmed coronavirus cases hit a record for the fourth straight day at 2,508, the country’s Health Ministry said Sunday.

People wearing face masks as a preventive measure against COVID-19 visit the restaurant area of Omoide Yokocho alleyway in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district on Nov. 19. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday scrapped the “GoTo” tourism campaign, which encouraged travel and dining out with discounts, but only after many people had already made travel reservations for a three-day Thanksgiving weekend in Japan.

Russia on Sunday reported a daily increase of 24,581 new coronavirus infections, taking the national tally to 2,089,329.

Authorities also reported 401 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 36,179.

WATCH | Inside a Moscow COVID-19 ward:

A well-equipped, high-tech COVID-19 ward set up inside a Moscow convention centre is a stark contrast to the overwhelmed hospitals elsewhere in Russia. CBC News got a first-hand look at the facility and found out what’s creating the disparity in health care. 6:34

India registered 45,209 new cases on Sunday amid a festival season surge in the capital and many other parts of the country. At least three states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — have imposed night curfews in many cities.

In Australia, Victoria and South Australia states eased COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday. Victoria, which was hardest hit, has gone 23 days without a new infection.

Mask-wearing outdoors, which until now has been mandatory, is no longer required where physical distancing is possible.

New South Wales police stop vehicles at the Hume Highway checkpoint at the Victorian border on Sunday in Albury, Australia. New South Wales will reopen its border to Victoria at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, with people able to freely travel into New South Wales for the first time since COVID-19 border restrictions were put in place in July. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Masks will still have to be worn indoors and carried at all times. Home gatherings of up to 15 people will be allowed, and up to 50 people can gather outdoors. Up to 150 people will be allowed at weddings, funerals or indoor religious services.

Residents of South Australia emerged from a state-wide lockdown at midnight Saturday and are now able to visit bars and restaurants in groups of up to 10 and host gatherings up of to 50 people with physical distancing.

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