Canada’s chief public health officer says the country’s health system is “not currently overwhelmed” but cautioned that the “seriousness of COVID-19 cannot be overstated.”
Dr. Theresa Tam spoke Thursday about the growing outbreak, which has health officials across the country scrambling to free up hospital beds and increase the supply of personal protective equipment.
Tam said on Twitter that to date in Canada, 6.1 per cent of COVID-19 cases require hospitalization, 2.6 per cent of cases fall critically ill and require ICU care, and one per cent of cases prove fatal.
The one-per-cent case fatality rate “means our health-care system is not currently overwhelmed,” Tam tweeted. “But we can further reduce fatalities by preventing COVID-19 in vulnerable populations like long-term care.”
She also noted that the old aren’t the only ones at risk, saying the young are not immune to the novel coronavirus.
WATCH | Dr. Theresa Tam talks about COVID-19 in young people:
The coronavirus is not just a threat to older people, says Dr. Theresa Tam. 0:45
South of the border, the U.S. now has the most recorded cases of any country in the world, surpassing China — where the outbreak began — and Italy, which has been the epicentre of the outbreak in Europe.
Across the United States, deaths from COVID-19 topped 1,200 on Thursday, and a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University put case numbers in the U.S. at over 85,000.
New York state has been particularly hard hit. On Tuesday, roughly 3,000 people were hospitalized with the virus. That number rose to 3,800 Wednesday and then leaped to 5,300 by Thursday morning.
Health-care workers treating the sick are worried they, too, will become infected. Many are feeling the emotional strain of caring for patients isolated from their families. Meanwhile, officials have scrambled to try and bring enough breathing machines to New York to care for growing legions of patients.
U.K. prime minister tests positive
On Friday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he, too, had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus,” Johnson said. “I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus.” The news comes after a spokesperson for Clarence House announced that Prince Charles had tested positive and was self-isolating.
Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus.<br><br>I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus.<br><br>Together we will beat this. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/StayHomeSaveLives?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#StayHomeSaveLives</a> <a href=”https://t.co/9Te6aFP0Ri”>pic.twitter.com/9Te6aFP0Ri</a>
The virus, which first emerged in China, causes an illness called COVID-19, for which there is no proven vaccine or treatment. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
Here’s what’s happening in Canada’s provinces and territories
As of 6:30 a.m. ET on Friday, Canada had a total of 4,043 confirmed and presumptive cases, with 39 deaths. To date, provinces have listed 228 cases as recovered or resolved. (Not all provinces are listing that information.) There has also been one reported COVID-19 related death of a Canadian abroad when a former passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship died in Japan.
Alberta Health Services is looking to free up additional hospital beds to help with the COVID-19 outbreak. Dr. Mark Joffe, vice-president and medical director for northern Alberta, said that AHS staff and doctors have been “working feverishly for a number of weeks now” to plan and are still working to find additional space in the system. Read more about what’s happening in Alberta.
Saskatchewan is releasing more information about COVID-19 cases in the province, including information on residents who have recovered after testing positive. The province, which has reported 95 cases, lists three cases as recovered. Read more about what’s happening in Saskatchewan, which announced a new appointment-only testing site in Regina.
Manitoba is expanding its COVID-19 testing to include symptomatic health workers, people who live in group care settings (including long-term care and remote work camps), inmates and more. Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin also said all people living on First Nations in the province who are experiencing respiratory symptoms will be tested. Read more about what’s happening in Manitoba, where a group of workers at the water treatment plant in Brandon are staying at the facility to ensure water keeps flowing.
An infectious disease specialist in Toronto is warning that “it’s almost inevitable” that hospitals in Ontario are going to see a surge in COVID-19 cases. Dr. Andrew Morris says it’s not yet clear exactly when it will happen but said the best estimates suggest clinicians will “start seeing a rise in the next week or so” and will see cases continue to increase for weeks, if not months. Read more about what’s happening in Ontario.
WATCH | WW II veteran dies from COVID-19, family unable to say goodbye:
The family of a Second World War veteran who died from COVID-19 was unable to visit him in the hospital to prevent further spread. 1:47
In Quebec, Premier François Legault is urging anyone who is in a position to help to volunteer at places like food banks, which are seeing an increase in demand. “We’re counting on you to create a wave of solidarity in Quebec,” Legault said — adding that people who need help shouldn’t hesitate to reach out. Read more about what’s happening in Quebec, including the story of a nurse working at one of Montreal’s testing sites.
WATCH | Advice from a nurse working at a Quebec COVID-19 testing site:
Nurse asks Montrealers to stay home, says she’s confident we’ll get through this. 1:21
New Brunswick’s premier says between 25,000 and 30,000 people in the province have already lost their jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are facing a situation unlike we have ever experienced before,” Blaine Higgs said Thursday. Read more about what’s happening in New Brunswick.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the health minister says the province’s public health emergency could last months. “I am pretty sure that it’s going to be some time in June,” John Haggie said. “Whether or not we make a Canada Day celebration, time will tell.” Read more about what’s happening in N.L.
From The Associated Press and Reuters, updated at 8:30 a.m. ET
U.S. President Donald Trump declared that “I’ll be the oversight” as lawmakers were in the final days of drafting what became a $2.2-trillion rescue plan for American businesses. In the end, Congress ensured that won’t be the case.
The legislation, designed in part to help businesses and corporations hammered by closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, creates multiple layers of accountability for the billions of dollars in loans, grants and direct cash that will soon flow from the federal government.
The new oversight system will test the relationship between the White House and Congress, which frayed after Democrats won the House and deteriorated severely during Trump’s impeachment as officials flouted requests for witnesses and documents.
The House is expected to begin a two-hour debate on the sweeping bill Friday morning despite doubts over whether it can quickly pass on a voice vote or will be delayed into the weekend.
While most of the House’s 430 members are in their home districts because of the coronavirus outbreak, several are expected to travel to Washington for a vote sometime after 11 a.m. ET, according to an advisory issued on Thursday. The leaders of the Democratic-majority House want to pass the bill on Friday, or at the very latest on Saturday, hoping to provide quick relief to Americans.
The number of U.S. cases passed 82,000, and the death toll reached almost 1,200 on Thursday.
WATCH | COVID-19 overwhelms New York City, New Orleans could be next:
COVID-19 cases are already overwhelming hospitals and morgues in New York with no end in sight while New Orleans is expecting a similar situation in the coming days. 2:19
New York state, the epicentre of the U.S. outbreak., reported 100 more deaths in one day, accounting for almost 30 per cent of the 1,300 fatalities nationwide. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the number of deaths will increase soon as critically ill patients who have been on ventilators for days succumb.
“That is a situation where people just deteriorate over time,” Cuomo said.
Here’s what’s happening in Europe
From Reuters and The Associated Press, updated at 7:15 a.m. ET
Italy, the epicentre of Europe’s pandemic, has by far the most virus deaths of any nation in the world, a grim tally of 8,165. On Friday, Italy is on track to surpass China in its infection count and have the most cases of any nation behind the U.S. “It is something devastating,” said the Rev. Mario Carminati, who has turned over a church in the tiny Lombardy town of Seriate to host coffins before they are taken by military convoy to be cremated. This week, dozens were lined up in two neat rows down the central aisle, and were immediately replaced by new ones when they were taken away.
Despite the toll, officials have also expressed cautious optimism that the exponential spread of the virus is starting to slow in the hard-hit north, thanks to two weeks of military-enforced stay-at-home orders. For several days this week, new infections and deaths showed signs of slowing down, and emergency rooms weren’t seeing the tsunami of sick that characterized the first weeks of the pandemic following Italy’s first positive test Feb. 20.
An Italian army officer runs past a military vehicle parked in the Monumental Cemetery on Thursday in Bergamo, near Milan, Italy. The army has been brought in to ferry coffins out of Bergamo as its morgue and its crematorium struggle to cope with the surging coronavirus death toll. (Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)
Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose overnight by 769 cases to 4,858, the health ministry said on Friday, a new record in the number of fatalities recorded in 24 hours. The total number of those infected rose to 64,059 from 56,188 on Thursday.
Germany has proposed using big data and location tracking to isolate people with coronavirus once social distancing measures now in force have slowed its spread, media reported on Friday.
Hospitals in and around Paris will be swamped within 48 hours, the head of the French Hospital Federation said on Friday, with the peak not expected until April. A 16-year-old French schoolgirl from the Essonne region has become the youngest person in the country to die from COVID-19. Even though the death rate from the virus among young people is low, France’s public health body has said that 35 per cent of intensive-care patients are under 60.
WATCH | London erupts in applause for health-care workers:
Londoners take part in the “Clap for Carers” tribute. People around the U.K. took to their doorsteps and windows at 8 p.m. local time to salute the front-line workers in the National Health Service who are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. 0:39
Switzerland’s infections topped 11,800 as the government pumped money into the economy and army medical units helped hospitals. Swiss authorities are lighting up one of their most famed landmarks, the Matterhorn, to show solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus.
Here’s a look at what’s happening in some other parts of the world
South Korea said it will block any passenger with even a mild fever from entering the country starting next week to counter a rise in coronavirus cases linked to arrivals from abroad. Health Ministry official Koh Deuk-young on Friday said all airlines flying to South Korea from Monday will be required to screen passengers for fevers and deny boarding to anyone with a temperature higher than 37.5 C. Koh said airlines will refund tickets for those who are denied flights.
South Korea in past weeks has been scrambling to strengthen border controls, including enforcing two-week quarantines on South Korean nationals and foreigners with long-term stay visas arriving from the United States and Europe amid broadening outbreaks in the West.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has told U.S. President Donald Trump that China “understands the United States’s current predicament over the COVID-19 outbreak and stands ready to provide support within its capacity.” The official Xinhua News Agency said Xi delivered the message in a call to Trump on Friday, in which he also urged the U.S. to “take substantive action in improving bilateral relations.”
In the phone call, Xi “suggested that the two sides work together to boost co-operation in epidemic control and other fields, and develop a relationship of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win co-operation,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The virus outbreak was first reported in China in December and now appears to have peaked in the country, even while the government remains on guard against imported cases.
Iran has confirmed another 144 deaths from the coronavirus and says thousands more are in critical condition as the military completed work on a 2,000-bed field hospital in an exhibition centre in the capital. Iran has reported nearly 2,400 deaths among more than 32,000 cases.
Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted they have the outbreak under control, despite concerns it could overwhelm the country’s health facilities. Authorities have urged people to stay home but have not imposed the sweeping lockdowns seen elsewhere in the region.
Israel has meanwhile seen a surge in infections in recent days. It now has 3,035 confirmed cases and 10 fatalities.
South Africa has announced its first two deaths from the coronavirus as the country’s cases rose above 1,000. The health minister said in a statement that the deaths occurred in Western Cape province. South Africa has the most cases in Africa and as of midnight entered a three-week lockdown. The military is in the streets helping to enforce measures that include bans on alcohol sales. Concerns are high about water supply in crowded, low-income townships.
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government says it is taking steps to ensure tree fruit growers are compensated for past harvests after the closure of a co-operative that had served farmers for almost 90 years.
It says the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC is “redirecting” about $4 million in provincial funding that will be used to ensure co-op members receive money they are owed.
The province says the foundation will pay growers in the coming weeks and then recoup the funds at the end of the court process involving the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative that filed for creditor protection last month.
In July, the co-op, which processed, stored, packaged and sold fruit for 230 member farms, announced it was shutting down after 88 years of operation.
It says it has more than $58 million in liabilities.
The agriculture ministry says it is has also provided $100,000 to the BC Fruit Growers Association that will go toward food-safety certification that was previously done by the co-op.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Jesse Marsch issued Canada’s men’s soccer squad a challenge — get physical.
The edict came after the Canadians surprised many at this summer’s Copa America tournament, making it through to the semifinals. As his players departed for their professional clubs, the head coach wanted them thinking about continued growth.
“I challenged them to be more physically present in the matches that they played in,” Marsch said. “I’ve tried to encourage all the players to sprint more, to win more duels, to win more balls, to be more dynamic in matches.”
When Canada reconvened for a pair of friendlies last week, the coach saw some players had already heeded his call, including Vancouver Whitecaps product Ali Ahmed.
The 23-year-old midfielder started in both Canada’s 2-1 victory over the United States on Saturday and Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Mexico.
“I’m really happy for him,” Marsch said. “I think he’s still young and still has a lot of room and potential to continue to grow.”
Playing under Marsch — who took over as head coach in May — has been a boon for the young athlete, currently in his second full season with Major League Soccer’s Whitecaps.
“Jesse has a very clear way of playing,” Ahmed said. “And I think the way we’ve been training and the way we’ve been growing as a group, it’s been helpful for me.”
The reward of getting minutes for a national team can spur a player’s growth, including Ahmed, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“Of course that fuels him inside to say ‘Hey, I want to be a better player. I want to get to that stage,'” said Sartini.
Vancouver had six players — including Ahmed — away on international duty during its 0-0 draw against Dallas FC on Saturday. The absences are a good problem to have, Sartini said.
“Because we have players that are close to the national team, we have a lot of players that development is faster, better, bigger than it would have been if they hadn’t been called,” he said.
Born in Toronto, Ahmed came up through the Whitecaps’ academy system and played for Vancouver’s MLS Next Pro side before cementing his spot on the first team in 2023. He put up two goals and two assists across 22 regular-season games, and added another goal and another helper in 19 appearances this year.
Taking the next step will require the five-foot-11, 154-pound Ahmed to push himself physically, Marsch said.
“Tactically, he’s technically gifted,” the coach said. “I’ve told him he’s got to get in the gym more.
“There’s a lot of these little things where too many guys, they still look like kids and we need to help them look like men and play like men. And that’s what the high standards of the game are about.”
Marsch has quickly adjusted to recalibrating standards in his short time with Team Canada. Since taking over the squad in May, the coach said he’s learned the players are smarter and more capable than he originally thought, which forces the coach to constantly recalibrate his standards.
“That’s my job right now, to keep raising the level of the demands,” he said.
The way 40th-ranked Canada is viewed on the international stage is evolving, too.
“I think we’re changing the perception on the way we’re playing now,” he said. “I think beating the U.S. — it would have been nice to beat Mexico as well — the way we did, the way that we performed at Copa, I think teams are starting to look at us differently.
“Right now, I think we’re focused on ourselves. We’re definitely trying to be the best in CONCACAF and we have higher goals as well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
An investigator gave the World Anti-Doping Agency a pass on its handling of the inflammatory case involving Chinese swimmers, but not without hammering away at the “curious” nature of WADA’s “silence” after examining Chinese actions that did not follow rules designed to safeguard global sports.
WADA on Thursday released the full decision from Eric Cottier, the Swiss investigator it appointed to analyze its handling of the case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers who remained eligible despite testing positive for performance enhancers in 2021.
In echoing wording from an interim report issued earlier this summer, Cottier said it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.
“Taking into consideration the particularities of the case, (WADA) appears … to have acted in accordance with the rules it has itself laid out for anti-doping organizations,” Cottier wrote.
But peppered throughout his granular, 56-page analysis of the case was evidence and reminders of how WADA disregarded some of China’s violations of anti-doping protocols. Cottier concluded this happened more for the sake of expediency than to show favoritism toward the Chinese.
“In retrospect at least, the Agency’s silence is curious, in the face of a procedure that does not respect the fundamental rules, and its lack of reaction is surprising,” Cottier wrote of WADA’s lack of fealty to the world anti-doping code.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s fiercest critics, latched onto this dynamic, saying Cottier’s information “clearly shows that China did not follow the rules, and that WADA management did nothing about it.”
One of the chief complaints over the handling of this case was that neither WADA nor the Chinese gave any public notice upon learning of the positive tests for the banned heart medication Temozolomide, known as TMZ.
The athletes also were largely kept in the dark and the burden to prove their innocence was taken up by Chinese authorities, not the athletes themselves, which runs counter to what the rulebook demands.
Despite the criticisms, WADA generally welcomed the report.
“Above all, (Cottier) reiterated that WADA showed no bias towards China and that its decision not to appeal the cases was reasonable based on the evidence,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said. “There are however certainly lessons to be learned by WADA and others from this situation.”
Tygart said “this report validates our concerns and only raises new questions that must be answered.”
Cottier expanded on doubts WADA’s own chief scientist, Olivier Rabin, had expressed over the Chinese contamination theory — snippets of which were introduced in the interim report. Rabin was wary of the idea that “a few micrograms” of TMZ found in the kitchen at the hotel where the swimmers stayed could be enough to cause the group contamination.
“Since he was not in a position to exclude the scenario of contamination with solid evidence, he saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities,” Cottier wrote.
Though recommendations for changes had been expected in the report, Cottier made none, instead referring to several comments he’d made earlier in the report.
Key among them were his misgivings that a case this big was largely handled in private — a breach of custom, if not the rules themselves — both while China was investigating and after the file had been forwarded to WADA. Not until the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on the positives were any details revealed.
“At the very least, the extraordinary nature of the case (23 swimmers, including top-class athletes, 28 positive tests out of 60 for a banned substance of therapeutic origin, etc.), could have led to coordinated and concerted reflection within the Agency, culminating in a formal and clearly expressed decision to take no action,” the report said.
WADA’s executive committee established a working group to address two more of Cottier’s criticisms — the first involving what he said was essentially WADA’s sloppy recordkeeping and lack of formal protocol, especially in cases this complex; and the second a need to better flesh out rules for complex cases involving group contamination.
