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Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Friday – CBC.ca

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Surges in coronavirus cases in several U.S. states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages, are exacting a mounting toll on hospitals and their workers even as the number of new admissions nationwide ebbs, leading to warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed.

Montana, Alaska, Ohio, Wisconsin and Kentucky experienced the biggest rises in new COVID-19 hospitalizations during the week ending Sept. 10 compared with the previous week, with Montana’s new hospitalizations rising by 26 per cent, according to the latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday.

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In Alaska, the influx is so heavy that the state’s largest hospital is no longer able to provide life-saving care to every patient who needs it, according to an open letter from the medical executive committee of Providence Alaska Medical Center this week.

“If you or your loved one need specialty care at Providence, such as a cardiologist, trauma surgeon, or a neurosurgeon, we sadly may not have room now,” the letter read. “There are no more staffed beds left.”

Women run past an exhibition of white flags representing Americans who have died of COVID-19, placed over 20 acres of the National Mall, in Washington, on Friday. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Some hospital workers have become so overwhelmed by the fresh wave of COVID-19 cases — a year and half after the pandemic first reached the United States — that they have left for jobs at retailing and other non-medical fields, Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and patient safety the American Hospital Association, told Reuters.

At the same time, distribution and other issues are leaving some hospitals short of oxygen supplies desperately needed to help patients struggling to breathe, Foster said.

On Friday, the hospital association held a webinar for its members on how to conserve oxygen, an effort to address a 200 per cent jump in demand at many hospitals, she said.

“There is a shortage of drivers with the qualifications to transport oxygen, and a shortage of the tanks needed to transport it.”

While there are some breakthrough cases among the vaccinated, Foster said most of the hospitalizations were among the unvaccinated.

New hospital admissions are still surging in several mostly rural and Midwestern states, even as the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals daily in the entire United States slipped to about 10,685 on Tuesday after cresting around 13,028 in late August, according to the latest data from the CDC.


What’s happening across Canada

Calgary doctor worries about triage amid COVID-19 surge

2 days ago

Emergency room physician Dr. Joe Vipond says the crush of seriously ill people from COVID-19 may force doctors to make life or death decisions for patients. ‘We never wanted to be in this position,’ he said. (Nancy Walters/CBC) 1:09

  • Health authority, N.B. working to meet demand for COVID-19 tests amid surge in cases.
  • Outbreaks are ‘a weird moment’ for P.E.I. Here’s one expert’s advice on how to cope.
  • N.S. reports 18 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

What’s happening around the world

As of Friday afternoon, more than 227.4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.6 million.

The British government announced a major simplification of its rules for international travel on Friday, heeding complaints from travellers and businesses that its regulations aimed at staving off the spread of COVID-19 were cumbersome and ineffective.

Testing requirements will be eased for fully vaccinated arrivals to England from open countries, who will no longer have to take a COVID-19 test before travelling. Travellers will still need a test after landing, but from the end of October an inexpensive lateral flow test will suffice, rather than a more sensitive — but pricier — polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. The new rules apply to travellers from Canada.

In the Americas, an influential panel of expert outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against approving COVID-19 booster shots for all Americans, but endorsing them for those 65 and over and for those at high risk of severe disease.

The decision marked a huge step back from the sweeping plan proposed by the Biden administration a month ago to offer booster shots of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to nearly all Americans eight months after they get their second dose.

In Asia, Cambodia is vaccinating children ages six to 11 so students can safely return to schools that have been closed for months due to the coronavirus. Prime Minister Hun Sen opened the campaign Friday, with his grandchildren and young family members of other senior officials getting their shots.

Children wait before they receive a shot of the Sinovac vaccine outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Friday. Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the start of a nationwide campaign to give COVID-19 vaccinations to children between the ages of six and 11. (Heng Sinith/The Associated Press)

Cambodia already has been vaccinating older children, and Hun Sen says he ordered health officials to study if children ages three to five can be vaccinated. Nearly 72 per cent of Cambodia’s almost 17 million people have received at least one COVID-19 shot since vaccinations began in February. 

India gave a record 22.6 million vaccinations on Friday, three times the average daily total during the past month. The health minister called the vaccine milestone a birthday gift for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turned 71 and was criticized heavily for India’s dramatic rise in infections and deaths in April and May.

India’s previous vaccination peak of 14.1 million was reached on Aug. 31, with a daily average of seven million doses in the last 30 days.

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Ukraine news: Canadian commander of volunteer group dies

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A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade – a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine – has died.

The news was first circulated through online chatrooms and social media posts and later shared by Russian state-owned outlet Sputnik.

Jean-Francois Ratelle, 36, was also known by the call sign “Hrulf.”

Global Affairs Canada said it is aware that a Canadian has died in Ukraine, but would not provide his name, nor the cause of death.

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“Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones at this very difficult time,” wrote spokesperson Grantly Franklin. “Consular officials are in contact with local authorities for further information and are providing consular assistance to the family.”

 

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Brian Mulroney's sons thank Canadians, politicians for outpouring of support – CBC.ca

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Former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s three sons thanked Canadians and federal political leaders for the outpouring of support they’ve received since their father’s death late last month.

Ben, Mark and Nicholas Mulroney spoke briefly to reporters after the House of Commons officially commemorated the life and legacy of the late Conservative stalwart. Their sister Caroline and mother Mila joined them in the gallery for the speeches that paid tribute to the man Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “one of the lions of Canadian politics” 

Mark said listening in reminded them of what their father loved about politics.

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“And for us sitting up in the gallery, hearing everybody speak so positively — probably not what he was used to — but he would have loved it and we did as well,” he said with a laugh.

“He enjoyed every minute of the back and forth parliamentary process, the debate. And seeing it today, seeing how it was, we obviously understand what drew him here, but what also he loved about it.”

WATCH | Brian Mulroney’s sons react to MPs’ tributes to their father 

Brian Mulroney’s sons react to MPs’ tributes to their father

2 hours ago

Duration 1:34

Ben, Mark and Nicolas Mulroney say they are thankful for the tributes to their father in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon all honoured former prime minister Brian Mulroney with speeches on Monday.

Nicholas Mulroney, who was born during his father’s time at 24 Sussex, said it was “incredibly humbling” to hear from friends and former foes.

“Being the youngest member of the family, this is certainly not something I grew up used to and especially for the grandkids, they get to see and experience something so special,” he said.

“We’re truly honoured from people across the country and internationally that have taken the time to reach out to say nice things and words of support. I just want to thank everybody on behalf of the family.”

The family was in Ottawa for the start of a week of remembrance, culminating in the state funeral in Montreal on Saturday. 

When Mulroney died on Feb. 29 at the age of 84, the House of Commons suspended operations before going on a pre-planned two-week break.

MPs returned Monday on a sombre note as leaders and MPs rose to pay tribute to Canada’s 18th prime minister.

Trudeau reminisced about one of his last encounters with Mulroney at his alma mater, St. Francis Xavier University, when they toured Mulroney Hall last year.

WATCH | Party leaders pay tribute to Brian Mulroney 

Party leaders pay tribute to Brian Mulroney

2 hours ago

Duration 3:49

Federal party leaders stood in the House of Commons Monday to honour the legacy of former prime minister Brian Mulroney ahead of the state funeral, to be held on Saturday.

Trudeau said that as they walked together through a replica of the prime minister’s Centre Block office, they reflected on the “wisdom that he and my dad both shared, that leadership, fundamentally, is about getting the big things right, no matter what your political stripe or your style.”

“He wouldn’t let himself succumb to temporary pressure. He was motivated by service. And those things, those big things, have stood the test of history four decades and counting,” he said.

Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives governed Canada from 1984 to 1993. He won two majority governments and steered Canada through several consequential policy decision points, including free trade with the United States, the end of the Cold War and the introduction of the GST.

“He had the wisdom to understand that the best way to fight back was to embrace our friends,” said Trudeau, who leaned on Mulroney when free trade negotiations were reopened with the Donald Trump administration.

“Brian Mulroney’s principles helped shape this nation, and the world, for the better, and we will all continue that work.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre opened his remarks by describing Mulroney’s humble origin as the son of a paper mill electrician in the forestry town of Baie-Comeau, Que.

“I was just becoming aware there was such a thing as prime minister when he had that job. And like millions of young people from similar backgrounds, we looked to him and said — if the Irish son of a working-class electrician from a mill town can rise to become prime minister, then in this country, anyone from anywhere can do anything,” Poilievre said to general applause.

Mulroney family members take part in a moment of silence prior to tributes to the late prime minister Brian Mulroney in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, March 18, 2024.
Mulroney family members take part in a moment of silence prior to tributes to the late prime minister Brian Mulroney in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

He also spoke of Mulroney’s famous personal touch, telling a story about meeting a mechanic in Ottawa whose father was a miner with the Iron Ore Company of Canada, when Mulroney served as its president.

Poilievre said that decades later, when the mechanic’s father died, Mulroney called the family, 

“That is kindness. That is humility,” he said

Poilievre said Mulroney elevated phone conversations to “an art form.”

“Using the telephone the way Michelangelo may have used a chisel or a brush, he would do it to make business deals, charm foreign leaders, and more importantly to comfort grieving or suffering friends,” said Poilievre.

“He would console, joke, or even throw in the odd curse about the unfairness of it all and his friends’ turmoil melted into the astonishment that one of the country’s greatest prime ministers had offered love and laughter.”

‘He can charm the birds out of the trees’: May

One of the people who received one of those phone calls was Elizabeth May, who worked as a policy adviser to Mulroney’s environment minister before becoming leader of the federal Green Party.

“I’d love to tell you what he said … he’s so darn funny, but I really can’t repeat it,” she told the House.

“There’s no real way to explain how he can charm the birds out of the trees. He sure as heck could.”

She praised the former prime minister for ushering in one of the world’s most successful environmental treaties, the Montreal Protocol.

“Brian Mulroney quite literally saved all life on earth when Canada stood up and launched the Montreal Protocol and saved the ozone layer,” she said.

“Let us continue to try to meet that example of a good-hearted, kind-spirited, generous and brilliant Canadian.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also applauded the former Progressive Conservative leader’s environmental record, his campaign against racial apartheid in South Africa and his respect for the role of journalists.

“Prime Minister Mulroney will be remembered as someone who took big chances while he was in office,” he said. “While there are great many issues, of course, he and I would not agree on, I want to acknowledge the legacy he leaves behind after a long career of dedicated public service.

“At a time of more heightened divisions, where some political leaders try to score points by pitting one group of people against another, Mr. Mulroney will be remembered as someone who tried to build unity.”

Bloc Quebecois MP Louis Plamondon, who was elected as an MP in Mulroney’s party the year he became prime minister, said he will be remembered as a great Canadian and a great Quebecer.

“He loved Mila, his wife and lifelong companion. He was so proud of his children and he cherished his role as a grandfather,” he said in French.

State funeral this Saturday 

Mulroney will lie in state on Tuesday and Wednesday in Ottawa near Parliament Hill. Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Trudeau are set to offer condolences to the Mulroney family Tuesday morning.

His casket will then travel to Montreal ahead of the state funeral at St. Patrick’s Basilica on Saturday. 

His daughter Caroline, longtime friend and colleague Jean Charest and hockey star Wayne Gretzky will deliver the eulogies.

The funeral ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. ET and is expected to last two hours.

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An NDP motion puts a big question to the test: Will Canada recognize Palestinian statehood?

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An opposition day motion brought forward by the NDP’s foreign affairs critic Monday could set the cat among the pigeons in the federal Liberal caucus.

The non-binding motion calls on the government to take a number of actions in response to the war in the Middle East, including that it should “officially recognize the State of Palestine.”

The motion was sponsored by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh with the party’s foreign affairs critic, Heather McPherson, acting as the point person.

“We wrote this in a way that it’s not supposed to be a ‘gotcha’ motion,” she said.

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“This was supposed to be a motion that aligned with international law, aligns with Canadian policy. So we’re hopeful that we will have some support from the Liberals and we’re certainly seeing more movement from them over the last few days.”

‘I expect there will be a split:’ Liberal MP

But the motion is also expected to divide the government caucus.

“It’s not the perfect motion by any means, and no motion is. But when you look at the broad strokes of it, this is a push to support human rights,” said Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, who told CBC News that he will back it despite reservations.

“And I think it emphasizes Canada’s role in this, which is to focus on and preserve human rights and peace.”

A politician holding a piece of paper.
NDP Member of Parliament for Edmonton—Strathcona Heather McPherson is shown in the House of Commons on April 27, 2022. She is acting as point person on the opposition day motion. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Erskine-Smith, MP for the Toronto riding of Beaches—East York, says he has heard a wide range of views from his constituents on the topic, but “my inbox is full of people saying, ‘We want the violence to end, we want civilians to be protected, we don’t want to see more casualties. We don’t want to see more kids die. And Canada has to do more to end the violence.'”

Erskine-Smith also knows that his view is not shared by everyone in his party.

“I expect there will be a split,” he said. “I think the government position will obviously matter a great deal to my colleagues.”

‘A huge slap in the face:’ Housefather

One Liberal who definitely intends to oppose the motion is Montreal’s Anthony Housefather.

“It’s incredibly meaningful in the sense that this would be a huge slap in the face to the vast majority of Canada’s Jewish community,” he told CBC News.

Housefather, MP for Mount Royal, says he objects to clauses in the motion that call for an immediate ceasefire, and for the suspension of all sales of military equipment to Israel.

He called it an “anti-Israel motion.”

“Because it’s a motion that essentially rewards Hamas for attacking Israel,” Housefather said.

“It changes 50 years of consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments positions on the recognition of a Palestinian state to move away from the fact that it’s something that would have to be negotiated by the parties where they agree on a territory and normally do recognize the state.”

A man wearing a suit speaks in front of microphones.
Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather talks to reporters as he arrives to a caucus meeting in Ottawa on Nov. 8. He has hinted that he may leave the Liberal caucus if cabinet members back Palestinian statehood. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

Housefather pointed out that no G7 country has yet recognized Palestinian statehood; Canada would be the first.

Indeed, a map of the world shows a stark North-South and East-West split on recognition. Of the UN’s 193 member states, 139 have recognized Palestine, including almost every country in South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe (mostly from their time in the Soviet Bloc).

Trudeau’s eight years in office have produced a more uniformly anti-Palestinian UN voting record than even his famously pro-Israel predecessor Stephen Harper, but there have been some recent adjustments.

Starting in 2019, the Trudeau government began to vote in favour of an annual motion supporting Palestinian self-determination, although the prime minister has played down the significance of the change in comments to the Jewish community.

The Trudeau government has also sought to prevent Palestine from advancing its case for statehood through the courts.

Three different Liberal foreign ministers have written to the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court asking it to refuse to hear Palestinian cases, partly on the grounds that Israel does not recognize the court.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally written to Trudeau to ask for those Canadian interventions on behalf of Israel.

When the International Court of Justice met last month to consider the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” the Trudeau government’s submission again asked it to refuse to hear the case on the grounds that Israel did not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, and that those matters were best left to negotiations between the parties.

The argument is not if, but when

McPherson says that Canada’s official position that there should not be movement toward recognition until after final-status talks between the two parties is “an excuse.”

“This is a moment in time where we need to come up with a better solution for peace in the Middle East,” she said.

Housefather says he agrees that “the two-state solution is absolutely necessary.”

But “this is not the time to recognize a Palestinian state suddenly in contradiction to what our policy has been for decades. Because what this would do is say the policy has changed,” he said.

“Why has the policy changed? Because Hamas started a war. And so I would be aghast, aghast if Canada changed its position as a result.”

McPherson disagrees.

“I don’t believe that stopping killing children, the end of the bloodshed, the end of starvation, getting humanitarian aid to innocent people, getting the conflict to stop so that we are, we are able to move toward something that’s more peaceful and just for Israelis and Palestinians, I don’t think that’s rewarding Hamas,” she said.

US, UK, France all inch toward recognition

Canada is not the only country where the idea of unilateral recognition of Palestine, without waiting for Israel, has gained ground since the war in Gaza began.

The Biden administration, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and French President Emmanuel Macron have all sent signals that they are moving in that direction.

Last month the Biden official leaked the news that it was not just thinking about recognition, but actively drawing up plans for recognition to go into effect once the war in Gaza ends.

That came just days after Cameron, a former prime minister, said British recognition of Palestine “can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process.”

Last month France’s Emmanuel Macron said his country had come to the same conclusion.

“Recognizing a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France,” Macron said after meeting in Paris with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

“We owe it to Palestinians, whose aspirations have been trampled on for too long. We owe it to Israelis, who lived through the worst antisemitic massacre of our time.”

Warnings of red lines

Some of the measures the motion calls for have already happened. For example, it calls on the government to “immediately reinstate funding and ensure long-term continued funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and support the independent investigation.”

Canada restored funding to UNRWA on March 8, and has said it will support the investigations by both the UN’s investigative office and by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

The motion also calls on the government to “support the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court,” which the government has said it will do.

Housefather says he knows some of his caucus colleagues will support Monday’s motion, but he’s less concerned with how backbenchers vote than members of cabinet.

“I will be actively watching what the government position is on Monday, how the vote goes. And I will obviously, as I continue to do, speak out in terms of what I believe is right,” he said.

Housefather hinted that he might not remain in caucus if cabinet members backed recognition.

McPherson says she is hoping for a win but knows the vote faces an uphill climb.

“We’re working as hard as we can to convince folks that this is the right path forward, that this is a fundamental shift in our foreign policy in the right direction,” she said.

It’s not clear which way the Bloc Québécois will go, although the party has sent signals of openness to the motion

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