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

Published

3 years ago

November 5, 2021

The latest:

Romania has the second-lowest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the 27-nation European Union and one of the world’s highest mortality rates from the illness, with doctors warning that the pandemic is ravaging a generation of grandparents.

In a central Romanian hospital, elderly patients gasping for air through oxygen masks struggled to explain why they had not been vaccinated despite easy access earlier in the pandemic.

Florea Traznea, 73, said he thought he knew better than other people, including his family.

“My children are vaccinated, I have two grandchildren, but my wife and I aren’t, because we’re smarter, or stupid, rather,” he said. “Look at what I’m going through — this disease has brought me to the ground.”

Across the hall, 72-year-old Elena Boziru said she stuck mostly to home and had no health problems, so she chose not to get the vaccine, like many of her neighbours.

Valeriu Gheorghita, president of the National Committee for Co-ordination of Vaccination Activities against COVID-19, administers a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to a man during a vaccination marathon in Bucharest, Romania, on Oct. 24. (Georg Calin/Inquam Photos/Reuters)

Roughly 85 per cent of the more than 50,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in Romania were over 60 years old, according to public health institute data. More than 90 per cent of all deaths have been among unvaccinated patients.

“There is this mentality of, ‘At my age I will live for as long as I am meant to,’ and it is very difficult to convince the respective people to get vaccinated. It is a matter of how they perceive life and risk of disease,” said Valeriu Gheorghita, a doctor in charge of co-ordinating Romania’s vaccination campaign.

Vaccine uptake has risen significantly since last month with 1.4 million people getting their first shot as fear and movement restrictions kicked in, but the vast majority were under 60.

Gheorghita said that unlike in other EU countries where many older people live in retirement homes or receive some form of institutional care, in Romania they are more likely to remain in their homes, alone and harder to reach.

“There is also an issue of trust, they are extremely hesitant and reticent to get vaccinated, and this also ties into their religious beliefs.”

Having tried other methods in vain, Gheorghita said authorities were working on sending letters to citizens about the benefits of vaccines and how to access them via fixed centres, family doctors and mobile units.

Across the EU, 81 per cent of the adult population has received at least one vaccine dose. In Romania that figure is 43.8 per cent, the second lowest in the bloc after neighbouring Bulgaria. For Romanians over 80, it is just 23.6 per cent.

Nearly a third of all COVID-19 deaths in Romania since the onset of the pandemic early last year have occurred in just the past few weeks as daily infection numbers rocketed to record highs and depleted intensive care beds across the country.

— From Reuters, last updated at 3:30 p.m. ET

What’s happening across Canada

WATCH | Helping people with needle phobia get a COVID-19 vaccine:

Helping people overcome needle phobia for a COVID-19 vaccine

17 hours ago

An estimated four per cent of Canadians suffer from a severe needle phobia, many of them children, so clinics and experts across Canada are using distraction, patience and conversation to help them get vaccinated against COVID-19. 2:07

What’s happening around the world

WATCH | After the world passed the tragic milestone of five million deaths from the coronavirus, a top WHO official urged leaders to do more to fight the pandemic worldwide, asking: ‘How many more people need to die?’

WHO challenges world leaders to end COVID-19 pandemic

After the world passed the ‘tragic milestone’ of five million deaths from the coronavirus, the World Health Organization warned that the trajectory for the pandemic’s path in 2022 is in people’s hands but says they must make the right choices.( Fabrice Coffrini/Reuters) 2:22

As of Friday afternoon, more than 248.9 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 five million.

In the Americas, attorneys general in 11 states filed suit Friday against President Joe Biden’s administration, challenging a new vaccine requirement for workers at companies with more than 100 employees.

The lawsuit filed in the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that the authority to compel vaccinations rests with the states, not the federal government.

“This mandate is unconstitutional, unlawful and unwise,” said the court filing by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, one of several Republicans vying for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat next year.

New regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandate that companies with more than 100 employees require their workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested for the virus weekly and wear masks on the job. The requirement is to kick in Jan. 4. Failure to comply could result in penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia’s economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter as restrictions to control COVID-19 weighed on activity, although recent data suggests growth may be getting back on track in the current quarter.

Australia’s Victoria state removed entry restrictions to citizens of neighbouring New South Wales on Friday, allowing almost blanket reciprocal travel between the country’s two biggest states ahead of the busy Christmas period.

In Africa, Kenya’s health ministry on Thursday reported 149 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths.

In Europe, Germany’s COVID-19 situation is entering a very difficult period with rising numbers of intensive care patients, health minister Jens Spahn said, as German state leaders warned the country may need a new lockdown unless it takes urgent action.

Head physician Lorenz Nowak treats a coronavirus patient in the ICU of the Asklepios Clinic in Munich on Thursday, as Germany deals with an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. (Peter Kneffel/dpa/The Associated Press)

At a news conference Friday, Spahn said he had agreed with regional health ministers that in the future everyone should be offered a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine six months after receiving their previous injection.

Germany reported 37,120 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the second day in a row that it marked the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic last year.

Russia reported 40,735 new COVID-19 cases and 1,192 deaths related to the virus on Friday as authorities fight a surge that has forced them to re-impose a partial lockdown nationwide.

WATCH | Inside a Russian hospital struggling with COVID-19 cases:

Inside a Russian hospital struggling with COVID-19 cases

2 days ago

A CBC News crew goes inside one of Russia’s biggest hospitals as it struggles to keep up with COVID-19 cases. 4:17

Meanwhile, in Croatia, authorities will limit gatherings and widen the use of COVID-19 passes to curb soaring infections after the numbers of infected people reached new highs again on Friday. The country’s crisis team says the new rules for gatherings will apply starting Saturday, while the use of COVID passes will take more time to prepare.

In the Middle East, Israel on Thursday reported 554 new cases of COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker, as well as three additional deaths.

In Iran, there were 9,862 new cases reported Thursday according to the tracker, along with 158 additional deaths.

— From Reuters, CBC News and The Associated Press, last updated at 3:30 p.m. ET

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Whitehead becomes 1st CHL player to verbally commit to playing NCAA hockey

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.

Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.

An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.

A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.

Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.

“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.

CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.

“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.

Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.

Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.

“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.

Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.

“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.

His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.

___

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Calgary Flames sign forward Jakob Pelletier to one-year contract

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames signed winger Jakob Pelletier to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.

The contract has an average annual value of US$800,000.

Pelletier, a 23-year-old from Quebec City, split last season with the Flames and American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

He produced one goal and two assists in 13 games with the Flames.

Calgary drafted the five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NHL draft.

Pelletier has four goals and six assists in 37 career NHL games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kingston mayor’s call to close care hub after fatal assault ‘misguided’: legal clinic

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.

Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.

The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.

“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.

The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.

In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.

“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.

“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”

When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.

Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.

John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.

Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”

Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.

Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.

“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”

The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.

Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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