British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will set out plans for the final step of easing COVID-19 lockdown in England on Monday, including guidance on physical distancing, face coverings and working from home.
After imposing the most onerous restrictions in Britain’s peacetime history to battle the novel coronavirus, Johnson is preparing to lift most restrictions in England on July 19, with a final decision due on July 12.
Data suggests that cases will continue to rise as restrictions are eased, the government said, but the link to hospitalizations and deaths has been weakened by the vaccination program.
“Thanks to the successful rollout of our vaccination program, we are progressing cautiously through our roadmap,” Johnson said in a statement released by his office. “But I must stress that the pandemic is not over and that cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks.
“As we begin to learn to live with this virus, we must all continue to carefully manage the risks from COVID and exercise judgment when going about our lives.”
The uptake of vaccines in Britain has been strong — however, cases of COVID-19 have risen in recent weeks, driven by the now-dominant delta variant, and the final step of lockdown easing was delayed by four weeks to enable more people to be vaccinated.
Data from Public Health England shows that vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe illness and hospitalization from this variant, the government said.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Sunday face masks would no longer be mandatory after the final step in lockdown easing.
“We’re going to be shifting much more to an approach which is where there is guidance, but you take personal responsibility, you make a common sense judgment, about what is the right thing to do to protect yourself and others,” junior health minister Helen Whately told Sky News.
-From Reuters, last updated at 8:10 a.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Quarantine measures relaxed for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers:
Starting Monday, Canada will relax its post-travel quarantine rules for fully vaccinated Canadians, but it doesn’t mean more people are eligible to enter the country — and the new rules have plenty of fine print. 2:03
As of early Monday morning, Canada had reported 1,416,969 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 6,159 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 26,360. More than 38.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far across the country.
In Atlantic Canada on Sunday, health officials in Nova Scotia reported three new cases of COVID-19. New Brunswick, meanwhile, reported one new case and one additional death. There were no updates from health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
In Quebec, health officials are expected to provide updated figures covering the weekend later Monday.
Ontario on Sunday reported nine additional deaths and 213 new cases of COVID-19. The province is opening up eligibility to all 12- to 17-year-olds for an accelerated second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as of 8 a.m ET on Monday.
In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba reported two additional deaths and 64 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.
Health officials in Alberta and British Columbia are expected to provide updated figures covering the weekend later Monday.
Across the North, there were no updates from territorial or health officials on Sunday.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 6:30 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
Workers unload tanks at an emergency oxygen station set up near the National Monument in Jakarta on Monday to supply anyone who needs it during home isolation as COVID-19 infections soar. (Mariana/AFP/Getty Images)
As of early Monday morning, more than 183.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus database, which collects information from around the world. The reported global death toll stood at more than 3.9 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia has ordered oxygen makers to prioritize medical needs amid growing demand from COVID-19 patients, the government said on Sunday, following more than 60 deaths in a hospital where supply was almost exhausted.
Australia’s New South Wales said on Monday the next two days would be “absolutely critical” in deciding whether a two-week anti-coronavirus lockdown in Sydney, set to end on July 9, will have to be extended amid rising delta variant cases.
A woman wearing a protective mask walks past city centre restaurant tables closed to seating in accordance with public health regulations during a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Sydney, Australia, on Monday. (Loren Elliott/Reuters)
In Europe, Russia on Sunday reported more than 25,000 new cases of coronavirus infection, the largest number since January, as the country faces a sharp surge over the past month.
Health Minister Olivier Veran on Sunday urged as many French people as possible to get a COVID-19 vaccine, warning that France could be heading for a fourth wave of the pandemic by the end of the month due to the highly transmissible delta variant.
In Africa, South Africa’s resurgence of COVID-19 is setting record numbers of new daily cases, centred in Johannesburg and driven by the delta variant that was first found in India. According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, more than 26,000 new cases were reported on Saturday, up from 24,000 the previous day, surpassing the highest number of new cases in previous waves. South Africa’s official death toll has gone above 63,000,
In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates has approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the fifth vaccine to receive such approval by the Gulf Arab state, the health ministry said in a statement to state news agency WAM on Sunday.
People fill the National Mall to watch the fireworks display during Independence Day celebrations in Washington, D.C. While pandemic restrictions have been lifted for much of the country, the delta variant of COVID-19 is hospitalizing thousands of Americans. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
In the Americas, U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated the nation’s 245th birthday on Sunday by opening the gates of the White House and calling on Americans to do their part to end the COVID-19 pandemic once and for all.
“This year, the Fourth of July is a day of special celebration for we are emerging from the darkness of … a year of pandemic and isolation, a year of pain, fear and heartbreaking loss,” Biden told a White House party opened to around 1,000 people, including military families and workers involved in the COVID-19 response. “We never again want to be where we were a year ago today.”
-From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 7 a.m. ET
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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