Ontario and Quebec, the two provinces hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, both reported daily case counts of the respiratory illness beyond 2,000 on Sunday — with the latter setting a new single-day record — while Nunavut reported its first two COVID-19-related deaths.
Ontario registered 2,316 more confirmed cases, Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted. That marks the sixth consecutive day the province has exceeded 2,000 new positive test results. The province also reported 25 new deaths from the disease.
In Quebec, health officials reported 2,146 new cases on Sunday and 21 more deaths.
Nunavut‘s health authorities on Sunday confirmed the territory’s first-ever deaths from COVID-19. They said a resident of Arviat and another from Rankin Inlet died of complications related to COVID-19 on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, Canada surpassed the half-million mark in reported cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and New Brunswick became the last province to launch its inoculation program.
WATCH | N.B. administers its 1st COVID-19 vaccine shot:
Pauline Gauvin, an 84-year-old Miramichi resident, was first New Brunswicker to get the vaccine. 0:49
In the United States, shipments of Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine began leaving U.S. warehouses early on Sunday, heading for health-care facilities around the country in a push to distribute the nation’s second approved coronavirus vaccine.
Employees at distribution centres in the Memphis area of Tennessee and in Olive Branch, Miss., could be seen boxing up the vaccine. The first shots were expected to be administered starting as early as Monday, just three days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized their rollout.
Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution centre in Olive Branch, Miss., on Sunday. (Paul Sancya/Reuters)
Who gets the vaccine depends on state and local officials across the United States. But generally, health-care workers and the elderly are at the top of the priority list.
It is the second COVID-19 vaccine that has received FDA authorization, following the first one developed by American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech.
WATCH | 168,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could be in Canada by year’s end:
Moderna could ship up to 168,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year once it’s approved by Health Canada, which is believed to be close. The prime minister said Moderna could ship vaccines within 48 hours of approval. 1:56
Last Tuesday, a day after Canada began using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the federal government reached an agreement with Moderna Inc. to receive the first deliveries of its vaccine within 48 hours of regulatory approval.
Canada’s chief public health officer says her focus for the next few months will be controlling the second wave of COVID-19 and communicating to Canadians that it is safe to get the vaccine. In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Dr. Theresa Tam said she is in awe that the world was able to develop, test, produce, ship and now inject a vaccine less than a year later.
“That’s never been seen before in the history of public health,” she said. “So I think it is emotional for the perspective of just, just that alone how incredible a scientific achievement that was.”
Last spring, when vaccine development efforts were well underway, most experts warned it would be at least a year to 18 months before one was ready. Instead, massive investments from governments and the private sector pushed the development, testing and review process forward at lightning speed.
Canada expects to vaccinate more than 200,000 people by the end of 2020, three million by the end of March and most Canadians who want the vaccine by the end of September.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, Canada’s COVID-19 case count stood at 503,910, with 76,404 of those cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 14,179.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to announce more public health rules on Monday to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus following a weekend of emergency talks.
Five regions in Ontario are scheduled to be in the province’s grey or “lockdown” stage as of Monday.
“We really need these measures to come in now. We needed them last week,” said Dr. Kali Barrett, a Toronto critical care physician and a member of the COVID-19 Modelling Collaborative, a joint effort of scientists and physicians in the city.
Barrett said new data modelling for Ontario intensive care units shows a system heading for a crisis, noting that if hospital admissions continue on this trajectory, the system could be beyond capacity by the end of January.
WATCH | We answer your COVID-19 questions:
As restrictions increase and vaccines roll out in many places across Canada, the CBC’s John Northcott puts viewer questions to medical contributor Dr. Peter Lin. 11:37
In British Columbia, the number of COVID-19 cases linked to the Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna has jumped to 76.
Interior Health Medical Health Officer Dr. Silvina Mema confirmed that workers living in overcrowded housing are behind the spread of coronavirus at the Okanagan resort.
WATCH | Declining case numbers an early positive sign, says Alberta’s top doctor:
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says the downward trend of new daily COVID-19 cases is a positive sign but emphasizes that the health system continues to be strained. 1:19
Saskatchewan reported 252 new cases and eight more deaths.
Manitoba saw 238 new infections and nine more deaths. The province also declared a number of new outbreaks, including incidents at three different hospitals.
New Brunswick reported five new cases. Even so, the province’s active case count fell to 49.
Nova Scotia saw two new cases, the lowest number of new daily cases in a month.
WATCH | A clinical psychologist discusses the pandemic’s toll on mental health:
The CBC’s Sarah Galashan speaks to Deanne Simms — the clinical director of the Canadian Mental Health Association in York and South Simcoe — about the 40 per cent of Canadians who say their mental health has deteriorated since March. 5:43
Newfoundland and Labrador recorded eight new cases, the most in a single day in the province since April 6.
The Northwest Territories says the government will foot the cost of self-isolation for residents returning from education or training programs outside the territory.
What’s happening around the world
As of Sunday, more than 76.5 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 43.1 million of those cases considered recovered or resolved, according to a COVID-19 tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The global death toll stood at more than 1.6 million.
In Asia, thousands of people lined up for coronavirus tests in a province near Bangkok on Sunday, as authorities in Thailand scrambled to contain an outbreak of the virus that has infected nearly 700 people.
Three lineups of mainly migrant workers stretched for roughly 100 metres in one location alone, at Mahachai in Samut Sakhon province.
People stand in lines to get COVID-19 tests in Samut Sakhon, south of Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday. (Jerry Harmer/The Associated Press)
In Europe, Serbia is opening a second new hospital in Krusevac to treat patients with COVID-19. Earlier this month, a coronavirus hospital was opened in Belgrade amid an overburdened health system.
President Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday visited the latest hospital to open and greeted workers and medical staff. Serbia has so far recorded 296,528 cases with 2,632 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins.
In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that London and much of the southeast of England would be placed under tougher restrictions, meaning a household of people must not meet up with those in other households over Christmas.
A member of the British Transport Police speaks with travellers on the main concourse at Waterloo Station in London on Sunday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday urged people to stay at home in London and southeast England in an effort to slow the spread of a new strain of coronavirus. (Niklas Halle’n/AFP/Getty Images)
In the rest of England, plans to allow three households to mix indoors for five days over the Christmas period have been scaled back, allowing for such get-togethers only on Christmas Day.
In Australia, the outbreak in Sydney’s northern beach suburbs has grown to 70 cases with an additional 30 in the last 24 hours, and authorities say they may never be able to trace the source.
While the numbers are rising, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Sunday there hasn’t been evidence of widespread seeding outside the northern beaches community.
The government has imposed a lockdown in the area until Wednesday. Residents will only be permitted to leave their homes for five basic reasons, including medical care, exercise, grocery shopping, work or for compassionate care reasons.
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
