The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic may be tougher than the first given how the coronavirus is spreading, especially in the northern hemisphere as more infectious variants circulate, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
“We are going into a second year of this, it could even be tougher given the transmission dynamics and some of the issues that we are seeing,” Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergency official, said during an event on social media.
The worldwide death toll is approaching two million people since the pandemic began, with 91.5 million people infected.
The WHO, in its latest epidemiological update issued overnight, said after two weeks of fewer cases being reported, some five million new cases were reported last week, the likely result of a letdown of defences during the holiday season in which people — and the virus — came together.
WATCH | WHO delegate to China says they may not find coronavirus origin on this trip:
A member of the World Health Organization’s team heading to Wuhan, China, to try to find the origin of the novel coronavirus said he doesn’t see limitations on research, but also doesn’t expect this trip will reveal the source of the coronavirus. 1:33
“Certainly in the northern hemisphere, particularly in Europe and North America, we have seen that sort of perfect storm of the season — coldness, people going inside, increased social mixing and a combination of factors that have driven increased transmission in many, many countries,” Ryan said.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, warned: “After the holidays, in some countries the situation will get a lot worse before it gets better.”
Amid growing fears of the more contagious coronavirus variant first detected in Britain but now entrenched worldwide, governments across Europe on Wednesday announced tighter, longer coronavirus restrictions.
That includes home office requirements and store closures in Switzerland, an extended Italian COVID-19 state of emergency, and German efforts to further reduce contacts between people, which have been blamed for failed efforts, so far, to get the coronavirus under control.
“So far 350,000 sequences of SARS-CoV-2 have been publicly shared, but most come from just a handful of countries. Improving the geographic coverage of sequencing is critical for the world to have eyes and ears on changes to the virus.”<br>-<a href=”https://twitter.com/mvankerkhove?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@mvankerkhove</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> <a href=”https://t.co/MphC6W1ErP”>pic.twitter.com/MphC6W1ErP</a>
“I worry that we will remain in this pattern of peak and trough and peak and trough, and we can do better,” Van Kerkhove said.
She called for maintaining physical distancing. “The further, the better … make sure that you keep that distance from people outside your immediate household.”
What’s happening across Canada
As of 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Canada had reported 681,328 cases of COVID-19, with 79,293 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 17,383.
Ontario, which registered 2,961 new cases and 74 additional deaths on Wednesday, announced plans to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in all nursing homes and high-risk retirement homes by Feb. 15. Members of the province’s vaccine distribution task force said residents, workers and essential caregivers at those facilities will get their first doses by that date.
Quebec reported 2,071 new cases and 35 more deaths. The province also said more than 1,500 residents are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19.
A person wearing a face mask walks past a COVID-19 vaccination site in Montreal on Wednesday. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
New Brunswick added 19 more cases. Meanwhile, a third death has been recorded at the Shannex Parkland care home in Saint John. The home is now reporting 25 active cases, involving 14 residents and 11 employees
Newfoundland and Labrador saw no new cases for the third day in a row and, with one new recovery, the province’s active caseload has now dropped to three — its lowest level since Nov. 4.
Nova Scotia reported eight new cases, including three university students.
The Yukon government says the territory could achieve herd immunity within three months “as long as our vaccine supplies come in as scheduled.”
Northwest Territories health officials have released more details about when residents in the territory can start receiving doses;
In Nunavut, the hard-hit community of Arviat is offering cash incentives for people who get vaccinated, with anyone receiving a dose being entered into a draw to win one of five prizes of $2,000 each.
What’s happening around the world
As of Wednesday, more than 91.8 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 50.7 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 case tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 1.9 million.
In Asia, Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency for seven more prefectures Wednesday, affecting more than half the population amid a surge in infections across the country.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also said Japan will suspend fast-track entry exceptions for business visitors or others with residency permits, fully banning foreign visitors while the state of emergency is in place.
People wearing face masks are seen during a state of emergency due in Kyoto, Japan, on Wednesday. (Kyodo via Reuters)
In the Americas, coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have hit another one-day high at 4,327 deaths. The nation’s overall death toll from COVID-19 has eclipsed 380,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Deaths have been rising sharply in the past 2½ months, and the country is in the most lethal phase of the outbreak yet, even as the vaccine is rolled out.
Health-care workers are seen at a field hospital in Worcester, Mass., on Wednesday. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
In Europe, Swiss authorities are stepping up restrictions to fight the coronavirus, ordering all shops that sell non-essential goods closed and stricter rules on private gatherings.
The Federal Council decided Wednesday that a previous expansion of measures announced last month has not coincided with a significant drop in case numbers. The new measures take effect Monday.
Students wearing face masks take a written exam in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)
In Africa, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says a COVID-19 task force under the African Union (AU) has secured 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the continent, the largest such deal so far for the region. The vaccines will come from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca through the Serum Institute of India, and Johnson & Johnson.
Ramaphosa, the current AU chair, says at least 50 million of the doses will be available “for the crucial period of April to June” as coronavirus infections surge for a second time in parts of Africa, and all doses will be made available this year.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick’s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
HALIFAX – Some Halifax-area landlords say fixed-term leases allow property owners to recoup operating costs they otherwise can’t under Nova Scotia’s rent cap.
Their comments to a legislative committee today are in reaction to plans by the government to extend the five per cent cap on rental increases to the end of 2027.
But opposition parties and housing activists say the bill’s failure to address fixed-term leases has created a loophole that allows large corporate landlords to boost rents past five per cent for new tenants.
But smaller landlords told a committee today that they too benefit from fixed-term leases, which they said help them from losing money on their investment.
Jenna Ross, of Halifax-based Happy Place Property Management, says her company started implementing those types of leases “because of the rent cap.”
Landlord Yarviv Gadish called the use of fixed-term leases “absolutely essential” in order to keep his apartments presentable and to get a return on his investment.
Unlike a periodic lease, a fixed-term lease does not automatically renew beyond its set end date. The provincial rent cap covers periodic leases and situations in which a landlord signs a new fixed-term lease with the same tenant.
However, there is no rule preventing a landlord from raising the rent as much as they want after the term of a fixed lease expires — as long as they lease to someone new.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Former vice-admiral Haydn Edmundson has been found not guilty of sexual assault and committing an indecent act, concluding a trial that began in February.
Edmundson was head of the military’s personnel in 2021 when he was accused of assaulting another member of the navy during a 1991 deployment.
The complainant, Stephanie Viau, testified during the trial that she was 19 years old and in the navy’s lowest rank at the time of the alleged assault, while Edmundson was an older officer.
Edmundson pleaded not guilty and testified that he never had sexual contact with Viau.
In court on Monday, a small group of his supporters gasped when the verdict was read, and Edmundson shook his lawyer’s hand.
Outside court, lawyer Brian Greenspan said his client was gratified by the “clear, decisive vindication of his steadfast position that he was not guilty of these false accusations.”
Justice Matthew Webber read his entire decision to the court Monday, concluding that the Crown did not meet the standard of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He cited concerns with the complainant’s memory of what happened more than 30 years ago, and a lack of evidence to corroborate her account.
“There are just too many problems, and I’m not in the business of … declaring what happened. That’s not my job, you know, my job is to just decide whether or not guilt has been proven to the requisite standard, and it hasn’t,” Webber said.
During the trial, Viau testified that one of her responsibilities on board the ship was to wake officers for night watch and other overnight duties, and that she woke Edmundson regularly during that 1991 deployment.
The court has heard conflicting evidence about the wake-up calls.
Viau estimated that she woke Edmundson every second or third night, and she told the court that his behaviour became progressively worse during the deployment.
She testified that he started sleeping naked and that one night she found him completely exposed on top of the sheets.
Viau said she “went berserk,” yelling at him and turning on the lights to wake the other officer sleeping in the top bunk.
That incident was the basis for the indecent act charge.
Webber said he did not believe that Viau could have caused such a disruption on board a navy ship at night without notice from others.
“I conclude that (Viau’s) overall evidence on the allegation that Mr. Edmundson did progressively expose himself to her as being far too compromised to approach proof of those allegations that she has made,” he said in his decision.
Viau alleged that the sexual assault happened a couple of days after her yelling at Edmundson.
She testified at trial that he stopped her in the corridor and called her into his sleeping quarters to talk. Viau said Edmundson kept her from leaving the room, and he sexually assaulted her.
When Edmundson took the stand in his own defence he denied having physical or sexual contact with Viau.
During his testimony, Edmundson also said Viau did not wake him regularly during that deployment because his role as the ship’s navigator kept him on mostly day shifts.
Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan took aim at the Crown’s corroborating witness during cross-examination. The woman, whose name is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, was a friend of Viau’s on the ship.
She testified that she remembered the evening of the assault because she and Viau had been getting ready for a night out during a port visit, and she misplaced her reading glasses. She said Viau offered to go fetch them from another part of the ship but never came back, and that she went looking for her friend.
On cross-examination, the woman explained that she had told all of this to a CBC reporter in early 2021.
Greenspan produced a transcript of that interview that he said suggests the reporter told her key details of Viau’s story before asking her any questions.
Greenspan argued the reporter provided information to the witness and she wouldn’t have been able to corroborate the story otherwise.
In his decision, Webber said the woman’s evidence “cannot be relied upon in any respect to corroborate that evidence of the complainant, because it’s it’s clearly a tainted recollection, doesn’t represent a real memory.”
Edmundson was one of several senior military leaders accused of sexual misconduct in early 2021.
He stepped down from his position as head of military personnel after the accusation against him was made public in 2021. The charges were laid months later, in December 2021.
Edmundson testified that in February 2022, he was directed by the chief of the defence staff to retire from the Armed Forces.
The crisis led to an external review by former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour in May 2022, whose report called for sweeping changes to reform the toxic culture of the Armed Forces.
The military’s new defence chief, Gen. Jennie Carignan, was promoted to the newly created role of chief of professional conduct and culture in an effort to enact the reforms in the Arbour report.
Outside court, Edmundson declined to comment on whether he was considering legal action against the government or the military.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
