French doctors expressed relief but business owners were in despair as France prepared Thursday to shut down again for a month to try to put the brakes on a fast-moving fall outbreak.
The new lockdown is gentler than what France saw in the spring, but still a shock to restaurants and other non-essential businesses that have been ordered to close their doors in one of the world’s biggest economies. French schools will stay open this time, to reduce learning gaps and allow parents to keep working. Farmers markets, parks and factories can also continue operating, officials said.
French lawmakers are voting Thursday on the new restrictions announced by President Emmanuel Macron, which are set to come into effect at midnight. The lower house of parliament is dominated by Macron’s centrist party, so approval is virtually guaranteed. The prime minister will lay out details of the virus-fighting plan Thursday evening.
A nurse holds the hand of a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at the Joseph Imbert Hospital Center in Arles, southern France on Wednesday. (Daniel Cole/The Associated Press)
Dr. Eric Caumes, head of the infectious and tropical disease department at Paris’s Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, said Thursday on BFM television that the new restrictions are “an admission of failure” of the government’s prevention efforts. He urged tougher restrictions.
The head of France’s main business lobby MEDEF, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, said on Europe-1 radio Thursday that “shutting businesses that are not responsible for contamination is a mistake” that could drive many into bankruptcy. He claimed it was a gift to internet retailer Amazon, “the big winner from confinement.”
COVID patients now fill 60 per cent of French intensive care units, and France is reporting tens of thousands of new cases daily.
Rural regions of Russia, already poorly resourced, are taking the brunt of the latest wave of COVID-19 cases. Many hospitals are running out of room and supplies for new patients, and morgues are overflowing. 1:59
A database maintained by Johns Hopkins University put the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases reported around the world since the pandemic began at more than 44.5 million as of Thursday morning, with more than 30 million of those listed as recovered. The death toll reported by the U.S.-based university stood at more than 1.1 million.
Concern about a resurgent virus was mounting across Europe. Germany’s disease control agency said local health authorities reported 16,774 new positive tests for COVID-19 in the past day, pushing the country’s total since the start of the outbreak close to the half million-mark. The Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, which has been tracking coronavirus cases in Germany, also recorded 89 additional deaths, taking the country’s total in the pandemic to 10,272, a number that is one-fourth the death toll in Britain, a country with about 16 million fewer people.
“The winter will be difficult, four long, difficult months. But it will end,” Merkel told lawmakers. “We have already seen over the past eight months how we can learn and help each other.”
In Belgium, the number of patients in hospitals is now higher than during the first wave of the coronavirus crisis. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo promised tougher measures across the nation to avoid a breakdown of the country’s health system.
In the Americas, Argentina’s COVID-19 fatalities rose above 30,000, another grim milestone for a country now battling one of the world’s highest daily death tolls.
An election worker delivers mail-in ballots on Wednesday to workers who will examine and verify the ballots to prepare them for tabulation at the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders’ mail-in ballot processing center at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
The White House coronavirus task force warned of a persistent and broad spread of COVID-19 in the western half of the United States and urged aggressive mitigation measures.
“We are on a very difficult trajectory. We’re going in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the task force and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci noted that coronavirus cases are rising in 47 states and patients are overwhelming hospitals across the country.
With less than a week before the U.S. election and with thin margins between the two presidential candidates in several battleground states, President Donald Trump held a pair of in-person campaign rallies in Arizona on Wednesday despite a surge in COVID-19 cases and criticism he is prioritizing his re-election over the health of his supporters.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan has hit 200 days without any domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19, highlighting the island’s continued success at keeping the virus under control even as cases surge in other parts of the world. Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control last reported a domestic case on April 12. CDC officials noted Thursday’s milestone and thanked the public, urging them to continue to wear masks and to wash their hands often.
Pakistani authorities have ordered all businesses, including restaurants, wedding halls and markets be closed after 10 p.m. to contain a coronavirus resurgence that began this month. The government Thursday reported some of its highest single-day totals, more than 900 new cases and 16 deaths. The numbers are almost double those reported some days last month.
A spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday he’s in quarantine after contact with a dinner guest who has tested positive for the coronavirus. South Africa, the hardest- hit country in Africa, reported an average of 2.79 cases per 100,000 people for the week ending Tuesday.
In the Middle East, state television in Iran said on Wednesday that one person is dying from COVID-19 every three minutes, as the health ministry reported a record daily toll of 415 fatalities.
What’s happening in Canada
WATCH | COVID-19: What’s working in schools and what’s not?
Two infectious disease specialists answer questions about COVID-19 and what’s been done to keep schools safe, whether the protocols are working or if the restrictions have gone too far. 5:56
As of 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, Canada had 225,586 confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases, with 26,687 of those active. Provinces and territories listed 188,867 as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 10,032.
In Alberta, health officials said that 70 inmates and 70 staff members at the Calgary Correctional Centre have tested positive for COVID-19.
Drinking alcohol is being restricted at Saskatoon nightclubs after multiple COVID-19 outbreaks at some locations in the city. The Saskatchewan Health Authority is putting a cork in the consumption of alcohol between 10 p.m. and 9 a.m. as of Friday. Saskatchewan, which has 20 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including six in ICU, reported 67 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
Manitoba‘s chief public health officer says the province is not seeing the results it expected from restrictions in the Winnipeg region, so tighter rules could be on the way. Dr. Brent Roussin said Wednesday some people are still gathering for social occasions and having a large number of contacts. The province reported 170 new cases and three new deaths.
Ontario reported 834 new cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus. As of Wednesday, there were 312 in hospital, with 71 in ICU, the province said. In York Region, which along with Toronto, Peel and Ottawa are under tighter restrictions, health officials said there were 44 confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to wedding events held in Vaughan.
In Quebec, a group of gym owners threatened to defy lockdown orders and open their doors backed off that plan after the province said clients could also be fined. “If we have to be severe with people who go to the gym when it is not allowed, we will be ready to do so,” Quebec deputy premier Geneviève Guilbault said.
WATCH | Gym owners, patrons frustrated by renewed COVID-19 closures:
Despite Manitoba’s surge in COVID-19 cases, gyms remain open in most of the province even though the facilities are closed in Ontario and Quebec. Gym owners and patrons are increasingly frustrated and want to know why they’re paying more to contain the pandemic than other jurisdictions. 1:57
Across the North, there were no new cases reported in Yukon and Nunavut. In the Northwest Territories, health officials said a presumptive positive COVID-19 case announced earlier this week was confirmed positive.
BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.
In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.
The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.
Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.
The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”
There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.
Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.
Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.
A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.
He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.
Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.
Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.
Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.
Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.
Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.
He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.
“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.
He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”
Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.
“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.
The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.
Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.
“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”
Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”
“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”
Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.
Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.
Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.
Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”
The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.
“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.
The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.
Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.
The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.
The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.
If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.
If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.
But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.
Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.
The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.
Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.
“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.
Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.
He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.
“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”
He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.
“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”
— With files from Darryl Greer
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
