Canada’s top public health official struck an optimistic tone about the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, saying that efforts to flatten the curve are working as provinces across the country reported more positive figures.
“By following public health recommendations, we have collectively brought down the rate of infection. We are flattening the curve,” Dr. Theresa Tam said in a news release as federal officials and the prime minister took a break from their daily news conferences.
“While we can continue to be cautiously optimistic, it is important that everyone remains aware of our duty to protect one another, especially those who are most vulnerable, as we navigate the next few weeks.”
No active cases in N.B.
The message came as New Brunswick reported they had no more active cases of COVID-19 on Saturday after two weeks without a new infection, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province could get through the pandemic faster than previously expected.
“We’re seeing a gradual downward slope in the public domain, and the lower we get the more we can open up and get back to the new normal,” Ford said.
“I don’t know the exact time … but if we keep going the way we’re going, we’re going to get out of this a lot sooner than we thought we might’ve been able to get out a couple of months ago.”
At the provincial legislature, demonstrators gathered for a second Saturday in a row for an anti-lockdown protest. Ford blasted the protesters for disrespecting the Canadian flag by flying it upside down during the demonstration.
Anti-lockdown protesters gathered at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Saturday. (Mehrdad Nazarahari /CBC)
“I understand, people are hurting out there and people want to get back out there,” Ford said. But he added that flying the flag upside down disrespects members of the Armed Forces who are overseas, as well as those helping in long-term care facilities in Ontario.
“What they’re doing is putting their lives in jeopardy as far as I’m concerned with congregating side-by-side,” he said.
Ford said he respected their right to protest but wondered whether it’s fair that mothers with their children receive fines for being in parks while anti-lockdown protesters aren’t fined.
More lockdown rules being lifted
Provinces across Canada are preparing to start relaxing lockdown rules in the coming week.
Businesses such as gardening centres and auto dealerships will be allowed to open in Ontario on Monday, while residents in Newfoundland and Labrador will be allowed to interact with one household other than their own.
People enjoy the reopening of VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Quebec has announced plans to gradually reopen daycares, elementary schools, retail businesses, construction and manufacturing during the month of May.
That province has seen most of its deaths in long-term care homes, and Quebec Premier François Legault has said the fight against COVID-19 is entirely different in those facilities — an argument Ontario’s premier agreed with on Saturday.
“There’s two different worlds right now we’re fighting this virus, one in long-term care homes and one in the public domain,” Ford said. “In the public domain, everyone has done an incredible job … and that’s the reason why we see the trend going down.”
As of Saturday evening, Canada had 56,714 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases, with the majority concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. Provinces and territories list 23,814 of the cases as resolved or recovered. A CBC News tally of COVID-19-related deaths based on provincial data, regional health information and CBC’s reporting lists 3,656 deaths in Canada and two known coronavirus-related deaths of Canadians abroad.
The contagious respiratory illness causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. There is no proven treatment or vaccine for the virus, which first emerged in China in late 2019.
‘We cannot afford any missteps’
British Columbia’s top medical official Dr. Bonnie Henry urged people to stay vigilant, asking anyone with symptoms to contact health officials and take measures to protect their family and community members.
“It is far too easy to tip the scales against us and undo the hard work and sacrifice that everybody here in B.C. has made,” she said Saturday as the province announced just 26 new cases.
“We cannot afford any missteps as we look to ease our restrictions in the coming days and weeks.”
Canadian citizen Dale Johnston of South Surrey, B.C., and U.S. citizen Diane Sumi of Edmonds, Wash., are seen at the border of the two countries in Langley, B.C., on Friday. Johnston and Sumi who have been dating for three-and-a-half years have been separated from being together since the borders were closed due to COVID-19. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with his counterpart in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, to share information about fighting the pandemic while protecting the economy.
A readout of the call said the two leaders also spoke about the need to keep supply chains working throughout the global crisis, particularly in regards to medical supplies.
New Zealand has widely been seen as a success story in the effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
WATCH | Canada’s economy to be particularly hard hit by COVID-19, says expert
Canada faces several economic disadvantages as it emerges from the pandemic but having the U.S. as its major trading partner could help, says Peter Hall, the chief economist for Export Development Canada. 7:36
What’s happening in the provinces and territories
British Columbia’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced on Saturday a new community outbreak at a poultry plant, where there are three confirmed cases. Henry also said there were 26 new COVID-19 cases in the province on Saturday, bringing the current total to 2,171. Read more about what’s happening in B.C.
WATCH | Travellers arriving in B.C. met with strict quarantine instructions:
As travellers land in B.C., they are expected to have detailed quarantine plans and will receive followup calls a few days later. 2:07
WATCH | Edmonton grandma overcomes broken pelvis, pneumonia and COVID-19:
Edmonton grandma overcomes broken pelvis, pneumonia and COVID-19. 0:41
Saskatchewan announced that its number of cases has climbed to 421, with six new cases recorded on Saturday. Of the new cases included in the update, four are in the North, one is in Saskatoon and one is in Regina. Northern leaders say drastic action may have to be taken unless more people start following public health orders, as they say some people are still trying to go around the restrictions. Read more about what’s happening in Saskatchewan.
Manitoba reported one new case on Saturday. The province says there is also one more hospitalization, bringing the total to six. On Monday, the Manitoba government is allowing restaurants to open patios if they follow specific guidelines for physical distancing, which has left owners weighing the pros and cons of taking part. Read more about what’s happening in Manitoba.
WATCH | Winnipeg couple of 70 years ‘connect’ through window amid restrictions:
Winnipeg couple of 70 years ‘connect’ through window amid COVID-19 restrictions 1:34
WATCH | Personal support workers reusing masks amid PPE shortage
Some personal support workers are using the same protective mask multiple times a day while going in and out of care homes because they worry about running out. 2:03
Quebec’s director of public health says the province is launching a more “aggressive” testing strategy as it begins to loosen pandemic restrictions.Dr. Horacio Arruda says Quebec is planning to conduct 14,000 tests a day, up from roughly 6,000 tests a day that it’s currently doing. The province wants to start testing regular citizens, including some without symptoms. Until late this week, Quebec was only testing essential workers with symptoms, with a focus on health-care workers. Read more about what’s happening in Quebec.
Police officers patrol a park in Montreal on Saturday. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)
New Brunswick is COVID-19 free, according to the latest numbers from the province. The province says there were no new cases on Saturday — for the 14th straight day — and all 118 cases have now recovered. That makes New Brunswick the only province without a confirmed active case in the country. Read more about what’s happening in N.B.
Nova Scotia is reporting two more deaths at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax. That brings the death toll in the province to 31. The province also reported four news cases, bringing the total number of positive cases to 963. To date, 609 people have recovered from COVID-19. Twelve people are in hospital, including three in intensive care. Read more about what’s happening in N.S.
In Prince Edward Island, Phase 1 of the province’s plan to ease restrictions began Friday. P.E.I.’s chief public health officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, said the provincial government will continue to emphasize physical distancing, good hygiene and staying home as much as possible. The Island has 27 confirmed cases, but only two since April 8. Read more about what’s happening on P.E.I.
Premier Dennis King says he was expressing the frustrations of many Islanders when he told a Charlottetown radio station, ‘I want to find a way to say FU to COVID.’ The quip has already made its way onto a T-shirt produced by a Charlottetown company. (Submitted by Joel Watts )
Newfoundland and Labrador has no new reported cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. According to a news release issued by the provincial government, the number of total cases in the province remains at 259.
Saturday is the fifth day this week without any new reported cases of COVID-19 in the province, with only three new cases since April 18. Read more about what’s happening in N.L.
It’s a hard road for truckers these days. But now there are hot meals and friendly smiles along the way – and both are free. <br><br>Read the full story: <a href=”https://t.co/2waGuP1Oc2″>https://t.co/2waGuP1Oc2</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Covid19nfld?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Covid19nfld</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Vi92XMwNTv”>pic.twitter.com/Vi92XMwNTv</a>
In Canada’s North, all of Yukon’s 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have recovered.
Meanwhile, Yukon Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee announced Friday that someone has been charged under Yukon’s Civil Emergency Measures Act for allegedly failing to self-isolate as required. Read more about what’s happening across the North.
WATCH | Yellowknife’s sanitation workers keep working amid pandemic:
Kavanaugh Brothers owner and general manager Peter Houweling shares what he’s doing differently to keep trash collection going in the middle of a pandemic. 3:06
What’s happening in the U.S.
Gorgeous spring weather across the U.S. Saturday drew people cooped up inside for weeks outside to soak in the sun.
Though grateful to be outdoors, people were still wary — masks were worn everywhere, and a New York City farmer’s market enforced the familiar two metres of space between people waiting to buy spring flowers. Mothers in Central Park reminded their kids to give people space. And small groups of picnickers kept their safe distances, while joggers moved past each other without a glance.
Retired New York attorney Stan Neustadter pulled down his mask to say it’s been important to his spirit to get out. “Why live like a rabbit? Plus I’m approaching 78, I’ve had a great run,” Neustadter said.
Esther Forbus and her daughter, Rachel, sit in the surf at Hershey Beach in Galveston, Texas, on Saturday. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)
Police and park officials were spread out across New York City, which sent out 1,000 officers to enforce social distancing on the warmest day since mid-March. But they were more likely to break up large groups, leaving the nuisances of social distancing and hanging out safely outside to New Yorkers themselves.
“Go for a walk, but respect the social distancing and wear a mask,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
With gigs drying up at clubs and concert halls, German native Julia Banholzer, a saxophonist, said she has taken to playing al fresco in Central Park for whoever happens by. On Saturday that was a steady stream of folks, most wearing masks, who left tips for her trio as they worked their way through a set of jazz standards.
“It’s great to have an audience after all these weeks.” she said. “All my dates have been cancelled through September, and I don’t know if any will come back this year. New York is a tough place, but this is just another tough period we need to get through.”
‘So far, so good’
Meanwhile, fighter jets from the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds drew people outside as they flew over Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington in honour of health-care workers. In Atlanta, motorists stopped on a major highway while other people found open places to look to the sky on rooftops or a cemetery.
New Jersey reopened state parks Saturday. Limited to 50 per cent capacity in their parking areas, several had to turn away additional arrivals by the afternoon. But nearly everyone followed the rules on social distancing and Gov. Phil Murphy said “so far, so good” at his daily briefing.
Margie Roebuck and her husband were among the first people on the sand at Island Beach State Park. “Forty-six days in the house was enough,” she said.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
There are economic factors to consider as well. In some areas of the United States, reopening is being urged to ease the shutdown of businesses that plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.
It has created a patchwork of rules across the 50 states. In South Carolina, where about 20 per cent of the state’s revenue comes from tourism, beach hotels were allowed to reopen Friday. Webcams showed dozens of people on the beach Saturday, but pools still closed. South Carolina also hasn’t reopened dine-in restaurants, unlike neighbouring Georgia. Some U.S. states have yet to start the reopening process.
Armed protesters rally outside the New Hampshire State House calling for Gov. Chris Sununu to open the state, in Concord on Saturday. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
Business owners have also been left wondering if customers will return. On a postcard-perfect spring day, Detroit’s Eastern Market had far fewer customers and vendors than normal at the farmers market.
Jill and Mark Thomas said they felt safe selling bottles of homemade wine from their Unwined Winery, but it wasn’t the same in the COVID-19 world.
“It’s easier when you can get samples to people,” said Jill Thomas. “We’re not allowed to do that now.”
What’s happening around the world
China‘s health authorities say two new coronavirus cases were confirmed Saturday, continuing a downward trend since the government took steps to cut the number of people arriving from overseas. China’s official confirmed case count stands at 82,877 and its death toll has reached 4,633.
The government has blocked virtually all foreigners from entering the country and sharply curtailed the number of international flights, making it difficult for Chinese citizens to return from overseas too.
People use a phone app to scan a code required to prove their health and travel status before being allowed to enter a shopping mall in Beijing on Saturday. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
Yemen‘s health authorities say there are three new coronavirus cases in the southern city of Aden and the western city of Taiz, bringing the total number of cases to 10 with two deaths. Saturday’s announcement comes as the U.N. health agency has warned of the invisible outbreak of the virus, saying that it’s “actively circulating throughout the country.” The agency says testing and resources to detect the virus are “grossly insufficient.”
Yemen has been embroiled in civil war for more than five years and has a fragile health system, with half of the health facilities not properly functioning.
Britain‘s Department of Health says a total of 28,131 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for the new coronavirus in the United Kingdom, an increase of 621 from the previous tally.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday told the nation that Britain had passed its peak in the COVID-19 outbreak and said he has plans to reveal a “road map” outlining how lockdown steps might be eased in the coming week.
Protestors hold placards as a small group of anti-lockdown protesters gather outside New Scotland Yard in Victoria, London, on Saturday. (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
In Italy, the number of beds treating COVID-19 patients continued to decline as the country prepared to ease its strict lockdown measures on Monday.
The Civil Protection Agency said that there were 212 fewer people hospitalized with the virus and 39 fewer in intensive care in the past 24 hours, numbers that have been consistently easing in recent weeks. That has given authorities confidence to be able to cope with any new spike in cases as more businesses reopen and individuals are allowed more freedom to move around their towns and cities of residence.
At the same time, the number of dead nudged up the most in 11 days — by 474 — and the number of people who have recovered from the virus was the lowest in more than two weeks. Italy has registered the most deaths after the United States, at 28,710.
WATCH | Italian cities test physical distancing measures as restrictions soon to ease
Picturesque Florence and Ostia prepare to slowly transition to a somewhat new normal beginning May 4. 1:02
In Spain, people filled the streets Saturday to exercise for the first time after seven weeks of confinement to fight the coronavirus.
People ran, walked or rode bicycles under a sunny sky in Barcelona, where many flocked to the maritime promenade to get close to the still off-limits beach. Others jogged around parks and along sidewalks across the nation.
“Some people think it may be too early, as I do, but it is also important to do exercise for health reasons,” says 36-year-old Cristina Palomeque in Barcelona.
Spain has 24,824 confirmed deaths from the virus and 215,216 infections.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. syphilis epidemic slowed dramatically last year, gonorrhea cases fell and chlamydia cases remained below prepandemic levels, according to federal data released Tuesday.
The numbers represented some good news about sexually transmitted diseases, which experienced some alarming increases in past years due to declining condom use, inadequate sex education, and reduced testing and treatment when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Last year, cases of the most infectious stages of syphilis fell 10% from the year before — the first substantial decline in more than two decades. Gonorrhea cases dropped 7%, marking a second straight year of decline and bringing the number below what it was in 2019.
“I’m encouraged, and it’s been a long time since I felt that way” about the nation’s epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin. “Something is working.”
More than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia were diagnosed and reported last year — 1.6 million cases of chlamydia, 600,000 of gonorrhea, and more than 209,000 of syphilis.
Syphilis is a particular concern. For centuries, it was a common but feared infection that could deform the body and end in death. New cases plummeted in the U.S. starting in the 1940s when infection-fighting antibiotics became widely available, and they trended down for a half century after that. By 2002, however, cases began rising again, with men who have sex with other men being disproportionately affected.
The new report found cases of syphilis in their early, most infectious stages dropped 13% among gay and bisexual men. It was the first such drop since the agency began reporting data for that group in the mid-2000s.
However, there was a 12% increase in the rate of cases of unknown- or later-stage syphilis — a reflection of people infected years ago.
Cases of syphilis in newborns, passed on from infected mothers, also rose. There were nearly 4,000 cases, including 279 stillbirths and infant deaths.
“This means pregnant women are not being tested often enough,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California.
What caused some of the STD trends to improve? Several experts say one contributor is the growing use of an antibiotic as a “morning-after pill.” Studies have shown that taking doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex cuts the risk of developing syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
In June, the CDC started recommending doxycycline as a morning-after pill, specifically for gay and bisexual men and transgender women who recently had an STD diagnosis. But health departments and organizations in some cities had been giving the pills to people for a couple years.
Some experts believe that the 2022 mpox outbreak — which mainly hit gay and bisexual men — may have had a lingering effect on sexual behavior in 2023, or at least on people’s willingness to get tested when strange sores appeared.
Another factor may have been an increase in the number of health workers testing people for infections, doing contact tracing and connecting people to treatment. Congress gave $1.2 billion to expand the workforce over five years, including $600 million to states, cities and territories that get STD prevention funding from CDC.
Last year had the “most activity with that funding throughout the U.S.,” said David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors.
However, Congress ended the funds early as a part of last year’s debt ceiling deal, cutting off $400 million. Some people already have lost their jobs, said a spokeswoman for Harvey’s organization.
Still, Harvey said he had reasons for optimism, including the growing use of doxycycline and a push for at-home STD test kits.
Also, there are reasons to think the next presidential administration could get behind STD prevention. In 2019, then-President Donald Trump announced a campaign to “eliminate” the U.S. HIV epidemic by 2030. (Federal health officials later clarified that the actual goal was a huge reduction in new infections — fewer than 3,000 a year.)
There were nearly 32,000 new HIV infections in 2022, the CDC estimates. But a boost in public health funding for HIV could also also help bring down other sexually transmitted infections, experts said.
“When the government puts in resources, puts in money, we see declines in STDs,” Klausner said.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists can’t know precisely when a volcano is about to erupt, but they can sometimes pick up telltale signs.
That happened two years ago with the world’s largest active volcano. About two months before Mauna Loa spewed rivers of glowing orange molten lava, geologists detected small earthquakes nearby and other signs, and they warned residents on Hawaii‘s Big Island.
Now a study of the volcano’s lava confirms their timeline for when the molten rock below was on the move.
“Volcanoes are tricky because we don’t get to watch directly what’s happening inside – we have to look for other signs,” said Erik Klemetti Gonzalez, a volcano expert at Denison University, who was not involved in the study.
Upswelling ground and increased earthquake activity near the volcano resulted from magma rising from lower levels of Earth’s crust to fill chambers beneath the volcano, said Kendra Lynn, a research geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and co-author of a new study in Nature Communications.
When pressure was high enough, the magma broke through brittle surface rock and became lava – and the eruption began in late November 2022. Later, researchers collected samples of volcanic rock for analysis.
The chemical makeup of certain crystals within the lava indicated that around 70 days before the eruption, large quantities of molten rock had moved from around 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) to 3 miles (5 kilometers) under the summit to a mile (2 kilometers) or less beneath, the study found. This matched the timeline the geologists had observed with other signs.
The last time Mauna Loa erupted was in 1984. Most of the U.S. volcanoes that scientists consider to be active are found in Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast.
Worldwide, around 585 volcanoes are considered active.
Scientists can’t predict eruptions, but they can make a “forecast,” said Ben Andrews, who heads the global volcano program at the Smithsonian Institution and who was not involved in the study.
Andrews compared volcano forecasts to weather forecasts – informed “probabilities” that an event will occur. And better data about the past behavior of specific volcanos can help researchers finetune forecasts of future activity, experts say.
(asterisk)We can look for similar patterns in the future and expect that there’s a higher probability of conditions for an eruption happening,” said Klemetti Gonzalez.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Waymo on Tuesday opened its robotaxi service to anyone who wants a ride around Los Angeles, marking another milestone in the evolution of self-driving car technology since the company began as a secret project at Google 15 years ago.
The expansion comes eight months after Waymo began offering rides in Los Angeles to a limited group of passengers chosen from a waiting list that had ballooned to more than 300,000 people. Now, anyone with the Waymo One smartphone app will be able to request a ride around an 80-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) territory spanning the second largest U.S. city.
After Waymo received approval from California regulators to charge for rides 15 months ago, the company initially chose to launch its operations in San Francisco before offering a limited service in Los Angeles.
Before deciding to compete against conventional ride-hailing pioneers Uber and Lyft in California, Waymo unleashed its robotaxis in Phoenix in 2020 and has been steadily extending the reach of its service in that Arizona city ever since.
Driverless rides are proving to be more than just a novelty. Waymo says it now transports more than 50,000 weekly passengers in its robotaxis, a volume of business numbers that helped the company recently raise $5.6 billion from its corporate parent Alphabet and a list of other investors that included venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz and financial management firm T. Rowe Price.
“Our service has matured quickly and our riders are embracing the many benefits of fully autonomous driving,” Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in a blog post.
Despite its inroads, Waymo is still believed to be losing money. Although Alphabet doesn’t disclose Waymo’s financial results, the robotaxi is a major part of an “Other Bets” division that had suffered an operating loss of $3.3 billion through the first nine months of this year, down from a setback of $4.2 billion at the same time last year.
But Waymo has come a long way since Google began working on self-driving cars in 2009 as part of project “Chauffeur.” Since its 2016 spinoff from Google, Waymo has established itself as the clear leader in a robotaxi industry that’s getting more congested.
Electric auto pioneer Tesla is aiming to launch a rival “Cybercab” service by 2026, although its CEO Elon Musk said he hopes the company can get the required regulatory clearances to operate in Texas and California by next year.
Tesla’s projected timeline for competing against Waymo has been met with skepticism because Musk has made unfulfilled promises about the company’s self-driving car technology for nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, Waymo’s robotaxis have driven more than 20 million fully autonomous miles and provided more than 2 million rides to passengers without encountering a serious accident that resulted in its operations being sidelined.
That safety record is a stark contrast to one of its early rivals, Cruise, a robotaxi service owned by General Motors. Cruise’s California license was suspended last year after one of its driverless cars in San Francisco dragged a jaywalking pedestrian who had been struck by a different car driven by a human.
Cruise is now trying to rebound by joining forces with Uber to make some of its services available next year in U.S. cities that still haven’t been announced. But Waymo also has forged a similar alliance with Uber to dispatch its robotaxi in Atlanta and Austin, Texas next year.
Another robotaxi service, Amazon’s Zoox, is hoping to begin offering driverless rides to the general public in Las Vegas at some point next year before also launching in San Francisco.
