Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday called the need to stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19 a “duty” for Canadians — but with case numbers on the rise, health systems are trying to free up space ahead of an expected surge of coronavirus patients.
The prime minister outlined some of the public health and financial measures the government is taking to try and clamp down on the virus and support people struggling with the financial fallout of the pandemic. But he said the government alone can’t win the fight.
“We must fulfil our collective responsibility to each other. Listening to public health rules is your duty.”
Global numbers of recorded coronavirus cases are approaching one million, according to a database maintained by a U.S. university, with almost 10,000 of those reported cases in Canada.
Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University has been tracking the recorded cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by a novel coronavirus that first emerged in China. The database, which shows a worldwide total of more than 940,000 cases, draws data from a range of sources including the World Health Organization, national and regional health agencies and media reports, but experts say the real spread of the virus is likely wider than suggested by recorded cases.
The real figures are believed to be much higher because of testing shortages, differences in counting the dead and large numbers of mild cases that have gone unreported. Critics say some governments have been deliberately under-reporting cases in order to avoid public criticism.
In Canada, provinces and territories are implementing ever-tighter public health measures and restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the disease, as well as planning ahead for an expected surge in hospitalizations.
WATCH | Health minister says Canada ‘likely did not have enough’ protective gear:
Health Minister Patty Hajdu says that successive federal governments have for decades underfunded public health preparedness, resulting in an insufficient amount of personal protective equipment in the federal pandemic stockpile. 1:58
In Alberta, health officials have delayed surgeries, expanded ERs and made moves to allow Alberta Health Services to free up beds for an expected increase in COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Neil Collins, who has been handling the coronavirus response for emergency departments in the Calgary health zone, told CBC Calgary that “we are preparing for an increase that will certainly test our capacity.”
Premier Jason Kenney said this week that things “will get worse before they get better,” but also said the province’s health system has the equipment and staff needed to cope with the peak of the outbreak, which the province says could come in May. Kenney has said his province plans to present a “fairly detailed briefing” on its modelling for the pandemic in Alberta.
Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ont., is installing a temporary 93-bed structure on its grounds to help prepare for an uptick in cases. The hospital’s chief of staff, Dr. Ian Preyra, says the pandemic response unit will allow the hospital to keep its critical-care and high-acuity beds for the sickest patients.
Construction workers help assemble a makeshift hospital outside the Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington, Ont., on Wednesday. The hospital is gearing up for patients to be treated for COVID-19. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
In Sudbury Ont., Health Sciences North recently admitted its first COVID-19 patient. The hospital had already cancelled elective surgeries and is making moves to free up beds.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says COVID-19 presents a “serious” health risk in Canada, noting that though risk varies in different communities, the risk to Canadians is “high.” The federal public health agency, which has been monitoring the situation and evolving research around the novel coronavirus, said in its public page on risk: “If we do not flatten the epidemic curve now, the increase of COVID-19 cases could impact health-care resources available to Canadians.”
Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said Wednesday that on the public health side, officials are working to try and flatten the curve and slow the spread of infection through measures like physical distancing and urging proper hygiene. At the same time, she said, the health-care system is working to quickly ramp up capacity ahead of an expected surge of COVID-19 patients.
Here’s what’s happening in the provinces and territories
As of 6 a.m. ET Thursday, provinces and territories had reported 9,731 confirmed and presumptive cases, with 129 deaths. The provinces and territories that provide data on the cases considered resolved listed 1,739 cases as recovered.
“We still have a long way to go.” That’s the word from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who said it’s too early to tell when the province will hit its COVID-19 peak. Read more about what’s happening in Saskatchewan.
Quebec’s premier reminded people to stay away from seniors’ homes during the pandemic,saying it’s a matter of “life or death” for the vulnerable population. François Legault, who had warned of a looming shortage in critical gear, said Wednesday that the province had received shipments that were expected to last through the week. Read more about what’s happening in Quebec.
The top doctor in Nova Scotia is reminding people to stick close to home. Dr. Robert Strang said people shouldn’t be focused on how to get back to their regular activities, but should instead look to “minimize our interaction with others to protect each other.” Read more about what’s happening in N.S, including the story of YMCA workers checking in on local seniors.
WATCH | N.S. couple talks about self-isolating after travel:
Duncan Crowdis says the timing of the couple’s own experience with COVID-19 makes him supportive of the ‘obvious’ answer to curbing the virus. 5:57
WATCH | Canadians prepare for an extended period of isolation:
After Toronto announces that lockdown measures will be in place for at least another 12 weeks and B.C. says its will be there until the end of May, many Canadians are settling in for a longer period of isolation than expected. 2:09
Here’s a look at what’s happening in the U.S.
From The Associated Press, updated at 8:50 a.m. ET
More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The stunning report Thursday from the United States Labor Department showed that job cuts are mounting against the backdrop of economies in the U.S. and abroad having almost certainly sunk into a severe recession as businesses close across the world. The figure for last week is much higher than the previous record of 3.3 million reported for the previous week.
From New York to Los Angeles, U.S. officials are warning that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is ahead.
People walk by the Lumiere Music Hall theatre, displaying messages of solidarity, in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Wednesday. All 40 million residents of California were Thursday ordered to stay at home indefinitely in a bid to battle the coronavirus pandemic in the nation’s most populous state. (Valeria Macon/AFP/Getty Images)
New York state’s coronavirus death toll doubled in 72 hours to more than 1,900. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has already complained that U.S. states are competing against each other for protective gear and breathing machines, or being outbid by the federal government.
President Donald Trump acknowledged that the federal stockpile of personal protective equipment used by doctors and nurses is nearly depleted.
“We’re going to have a couple of weeks, starting pretty much now, but especially a few days from now, that are going to be horrific,” he said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said even a “tucked-in bandana” could slow the spread of the virus and reminded people to keep their distance.
“I know it will look surreal,” he said, donning a mask. “We’re going to have to get used to seeing each other like this.”
As hot spots flared in New Orleans and Southern California, the nation’s biggest city, New York, was the hardest hit of them all, with bodies loaded onto refrigerated morgue trucks by forklifts outside overwhelmed hospitals.
“It’s like a battlefield behind your home,” said 33-year-old Emma Sorza, who could hear the sirens from the swamped Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.
Cuomo said projections suggest the crisis in New York will peak at the end of April, with a high death rate continuing through July.
Here’s a look at what’s happening in hard-hit Italy, Spain and parts of Europe
From The Associated Press, updated at 6:30 a.m. ET
The head of the World Health Organization’s office in Europe says figures show that more than 95 per cent of people who have died of coronavirus on the continent have been aged over 60. But Dr. Hans Kluge said age is not the only risk factor for severe disease, noting: “The very notion that COVID-19 only affects older people is factually wrong.”
In an online news conference Thursday in Copenhagen, Kluge said “young people are not invincible” — echoing similar recent comments from WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The UN health agency says 10 per cent to 15 per cent of people under 50 with the disease have moderate or severe infection.
“Severe cases of the disease have been seen in people in their teens or 20s with many requiring intensive care and some unfortunately passing away,” Kluge said.
WATCH | How young people may be fuelling the spread of COVID-19:
Despite older people and those with pre-existing conditions being more vulnerable, 12 per cent of those hospitalized in Canada with COVID-19 are under 40. 1:44
He said recent statistics showed 30,098 people have been reported to have died in Europe, mostly in Italy, France and Spain.
“We know that over 95 per cent of these deaths occurred in those older than 60 years,” he said, with more than half aged over 80. Kluge said more than four in five of those people had at least one other chronic underlying condition, like cardiovascular disease, hypertension or diabetes.
“On a positive note, there are reports of people over the age of 100 who were admitted to hospital for COVID-19 and have now — since — made a complete recovery,” he said.
Spain hit a new record Thursday in virus-related fatalities with 950 deaths in 24 hours, which came as the country is seeing the growth of contagion waning, health ministry data showed. The total number of deaths by Thursday was 10,003.
New coronavirus infections rose by nearly eight per cent overnight to 110,238, placing Spain neck and neck with Italy, the country that has had the worst outbreak in Europe. Health authorities have been saying that the pace of contagion has dropped from a daily average of 20 per cent until March 25 to less than 12 per cent after that date, more than 10 days after Spaniards were ordered to stay at home. The government has acknowledged that the real number of infections could be much higher because Spain only has the capacity to do between 15,000 and 20,000 tests per day.
The Spanish Red Cross transfers a COVID-19 patient. Spain has been struggling with an expanding outbreak of the novel coronavirus. (Alvaro Calvo/Getty Images)
Italy will extend lockdown restrictions to April 13, as data from this week suggests a slowdown of growth in total cases, though its national health institute says the official death toll could be underestimated.
Confirmed cases in Germany have risen to 73,522, while 872 people have died of the disease. Cases rose by 6,156, compared with the previous day, and the death toll climbed by 140.
France became the fourth country to pass the threshold of 4,000 coronavirus deaths. Britain said it would ramp up the number of tests amid widespread criticism that it was doing far too few.
And in the Netherlands, measures to limit the outbreak appear to have halved the rate of infection but need to be continued to be really effective, a top health official said.
Here’s a look at what’s happening in hard-hit China, South Korea, Iran and some other areas of concern
From Reuters and The Associated Press, updated at 9:00 a.m. ET.
China logged fewer reported new infections on Thursday while at the same time measures restricting movement have been tightened in some parts of the country because of a fear of more imported cases. Meanwhile, an increased focus on asymptomatic carriers is stoking fears among the population, despite the fact that the number of such cases fell sharply on April 1 to 55, from 130 the day before. China has faced questions about how it records cases and reports case numbers.
South Korea will allow coronavirus patients to vote by mail as parliamentary elections begin this month. The country is still grappling with a steady rise in infections, reporting 89 new infections on Thursday, raising the total tally to 9,976, while the death toll rose by four to 169. Roughly 4,000 patients receiving treatment will be able to cast their ballots by mail while the National Election Commission is urging all voters to wear masks in polling stations, make use of sanitizers and gloves, and practice social distancing.
A police officer wearing protective clothing guides South Korean citizens repatriated from Italy to a bus at Incheon international airport, west of Seoul, on Wednesday. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts in Japan say the country is on the brink of a medical crisis. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is being derided on social media for offering cloth masks instead of declaring a coronavirus state of emergency. The prime minister returned to power in 2012 promising to revive growth with a policy mix dubbed Abenomics, and he has promised a huge fiscal package to counter the outbreak’s blow to the economy. “If you declare an emergency, it is definitely the end of Abenomics, the end of ‘economy first,'” said Jesper Koll, CEO of fund manager WisdomTree Japan.
With more than 47,500 reported cases, Iran has more than half of total coronavirus infections reported in the Middle East and over 3,600 deaths. In a rare acknowledgment of the severity of the outbreak by a senior Iranian official, President Hassan Rouhani said the new coronavirus may remain through the end of the Iranian year, which just began late last month, state TV reported Thursday.
“The corona issue is not an issue that we can say it will be ended [on a specific] day,” Rouhani said. “It is possible corona will be with us for the coming months. It is possible it will be with us by the end of the year. We always have to follow healthy protocols provided by the health ministry.”
Taiwan has announced it is planning to donate 10 million face masks, plus medicine, to medical staff in countries that are fighting coronavirus. The self-governed island claimed by Beijing has been seeking to showcase its own handling of the outbreak as it pushes back against China’s efforts to isolate it diplomatically.
Zambia has recorded its first death from coronavirus, and the number of confirmed cases has risen by three to 39, Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya said on Thursday. Meanwhile Rwanda, the first sub-Saharan country to impose a coronavirus lockdown, has now extended it by two weeks. Altogether, Africa has now registered almost 6,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 200 deaths. The continent is already suffering a huge economic impact from lockdowns aiming to contain the virus and a sharp fall in global demand for commodities.
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
