Ontario health officials reported more than 1,900 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, a new high in the hard-hit province.
Toronto and Peel Region — which are both under the province’s toughest public health restrictions — accounted for 1,045 of the 1,924 cases reported, according to figures reported by the province’s health minister.
Three more regions in Ontario are facing tougher public health restrictions as of Monday, but none are joining Toronto or Peel at the grey, or “lockdown,” level.
Ontario also reported 15 additional deaths on Sunday, bringing the provincial death toll to 3,772, according to a provincial COVID-19 tracking site. Hospitalizations stood at 701, with 204 people in intensive care units.
Quebec, which has seen more COVID-19 cases and deaths than any other province, was dealing with even higher hospitalization numbers. The most recent figures reported in Quebec put the number of people in hospital at 778, with 102 in intensive care.
Health officials in Quebec reported 1,691 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, as well as 24 additional deaths linked to the virus.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 7:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Canada’s COVID-19 case count stood at 415,182, with 73,379 of those cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 12,665.
In Atlantic Canada, all four provinces each reported four new cases on Sunday.
Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King announced on Sunday that the province would enter a two-week “circuit-breaker” lockdown Monday in a bid to curb community spread of the virus.
As of Monday, Islanders are being urged to stay home as much as possible and many non-essential services and businesses will be closed.
A statement released by health officials says there are to be “no personal gatherings” and there are limits on the number of people a household can associate with. The province is also putting caps on attendance at organized events, including religious services, weddings and funerals.
As of Sunday, P.E.I. had recorded a total of 80 cases, with 69 of them listed as recovered.
New Brunswick, meanwhile, is lifting restrictions in Moncton and Fredericton thanks to a declining COVID-19 caseload. The two areas will return to the less restrictive “yellow” level of precautions.
WATCH | Early days of PPE contracts were ‘the wild west’:
CBC News tracked some of the billions of dollars the federal government spent on personal protective equipment during the pandemic and found the early days were tumultuous and two large contracts went to companies that seemingly had no pre-pandemic experience procuring PPE. 2:19
In Manitoba, health officials reported 383 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths, bringing the provincial death toll to 395.
Health officials in Saskatchewan, meanwhile, reported 415 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths.
In Alberta, which has been struggling with growing case numbers and hospitalizations, health officials on Sunday reported 1,836 new cases of COVID-19 and 19 additional deaths. That comes after a new record on Saturday, when the province reported 1,879 new cases.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alberta also hit a new high on Sunday, with 601 people in the province’s hospitals. Of those, 100 people were in an intensive care unit, according to a provincial report.
WATCH | B.C. churches defy gathering ban, hold in-person services:
Several churches in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley held in-person services on Sunday despite a provincial health order banning in-person gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Members of the churches say they have a right to worship despite the pandemic. 1:58
In British Columbia, which doesn’t publicly report COVID-19 figures on weekends, health officials are facing an outbreak at a Fraser Valley mink farm. According to the local health authority, eight people have tested positive at the site and testing of the animals is underway.
There were no new cases reported in Yukon or the Northwest Territories on Sunday.
What’s happening around the world
From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 7:30 a.m. ET
As of early Monday morning, there were more than 67.1 million cases of COVID-19 around the world, with more than 43.1 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.5 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Monday for expanded coronavirus testing and more thorough tracing as the country struggles to control its latest and largest wave of infections.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 615 new coronavirus cases as of midnight Sunday, capping a month of triple-digit daily increases that have led to 8,311 confirmed patients in quarantine, the most ever.
The positive rate for the latest batch of tests was about 4.2 per cent, compared to the year’s average of 1.2 per cent, according to the KDCA.
People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus pass by a poster emphasizing an enhanced physical distancing campaign at a bus station in Seoul on Monday. (Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press)
Moon ordered the government to mobilize every available resource to track infections, and to expand testing by deploying the military and more people from the public service, presidential Blue House spokesperson Chung Man-ho told a briefing.
In Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said he expects coronavirus vaccinations to start in Germany “in the very first days” of the new year. The trained doctor said he’s prepared to help vaccinate people himself.
European Union authorities are expected to make a decision by Dec. 29 on approving the first vaccine for use. Germany is getting special vaccination centres ready. The news comes as Britain gears up to start coronavirus vaccinations on Tuesday.
Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told the Bild newspaper late Sunday that he will tell medical authorities he’s prepared to help. He said “that won’t work at every hour of the day or night as chief of staff, but at the weekend I’m prepared to join in.” He said that he and Merkel will get vaccinated “when it’s our turn.”
Infection figures in Germany have more or less stabilized at a high level since a partial shutdown started on Nov. 2 but haven’t decreased. On Monday, the national disease control centre reported 12,332 new cases over the past 24 hours, compared with 11,168 a week ago, and 147 new deaths.
In the Americas, Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for COVID-19, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday, prompting one state legislature to close for a week after Giuliani visited to try to persuade lawmakers to help reverse Trump’s election defeat.
The U.S. has seen more than 14.7 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 282,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Manny Yekutiel, left, guides Jupiter Peraza as they prepare to board up a space ahead of the new stay-at-home order to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease in San Francisco on Sunday. (Stephen Lam/Reuters)
In the nation’s most populous state, California is shutting down bars, hair salons and barbershops, and allowing restaurants to remain open only for takeout and delivery service in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. The San Francisco Bay Area will also go into lockdown starting at 10 p.m. on Sunday night, under a different set of orders.
While individual states are rushing in often seemingly different directions, the nation as a whole is the grim leader in global infections and deaths. The United States is now reporting nearly 190,000 new infections on average each day and accounts for one in every 20 deaths reported worldwide each day.
South Africa remained the hardest-hit nation in Africa, with more than 814,000 cases of COVID-19 and 22,000 deaths.
John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, recently expressed concern about the potential impacts of holiday travel on health-care systems across the continent.
“During the holiday season, there will be a tendency for large movement from capital cities to villages, remote areas, for people to connect with families,” he told a news conference from Ethiopia. “That might drive the pandemic.”
Iran’s death toll from the global pandemic has risen above 50,000, state television said Saturday, as the country grapples with the worst outbreak in the Middle East.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.
Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.
Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.
“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”
Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.
Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.
Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.
Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).
“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”
Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.
Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.
“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.
UP NEXT
Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.
Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.
Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”
The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.
King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”
SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.
The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.
Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.
Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”
He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.
In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
