Belgium, among worst-hit European countries, sees some relief with fewer cases, hospitalizations.
Texas becomes 1st U.S. state to surpass 1 million virus cases.
Pacific nation of Vanuatu records its 1st case of coronavirus.
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Western provinces are reporting new highs in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 — or are approaching peak levels — as health officials warn about the pressure that surging case numbers are putting on the health-care system.
In Manitoba, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 reached 207 on Tuesday, the first time the province has cracked the 200 mark. Of those, 30 are in intensive care.
“Our health-care system is under the strain of widespread community transmission of this virus,” Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer of Manitoba Shared Health, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
WATCH | Manitoba implements shutdowns as COVID-19 cases soar:
The entire province of Manitoba is going back into lockdown mode. It’s a last-minute bid to turn infection rates around before deaths spiral. But for some Manitobans, the only surprise is that it took this long. 2:01
The surge in cases has prompted provincial and health officials to move the entire province into the red — or critical — level of its pandemic response system.
Starting Thursday and lasting at least two weeks, Manitobans are banned from socializing with people outside their own household, and non-essential retail shops and restaurants must close to in-person customers.
Saskatchewan on Tuesday also reported its highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. Forty-four people are in hospital, with 11 of those in intensive care.
Continuing westward, Alberta set a provincial record Tuesday in not only the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, but also the number in ICU and total number of active cases. The province reported 207 people are in hospital for the illness, with 43 in ICU beds. The number of active cases stands at 8,090.
In the face of the rising trend in cases, a group of physicians from across the province on Monday called on the Alberta government to impose an immediate two-week emergency lockdown.
In the open letter addressed to Premier Jason Kenney, Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, the group warned that the province’s acute-care system could soon be overburdened if no extra restrictions are imposed.
Kenney has said he will not impose any new lockdowns, arguing the measures could hurt the economy and affect people’s mental health.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations in British Columbia are approaching peak levels, as the Lower Mainland attempts to slow the spread of infection with strict new guidelines.
With 142 people in hospital on Tuesday — 46 of them in intensive care — the numbers are nearing the record high of 149 COVID-19 patients who were in hospital on April 2.
Officials on Saturday announced broad new COVID-19 restrictions for the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions, focusing on social gatherings, travel, indoor group exercises and workplaces.
Ilan Cumberbirch, owner of Yard Athletics gym in Vancouver, sprays a sanitizing solution on used gym equipment on Tuesday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
What’s happening across Canada
As of 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, provinces and territories in Canada had reported a cumulative total of 274,463 confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 222,165 cases as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 10,647.
Ontario reported 1,426 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, setting a new record high for the fourth time in five days and pushing the seven-day average of daily cases to 1,217 — the highest it has ever been.
The province also reported 15 new deaths and 886 additional recoveries.
Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa announced on Tuesday that the city is moving into the “red” level of Ontario’s colour-coded COVID-19 shutdown system and adding stricter measures on top of those restrictions.
People wearing face masks plant Canadian flags in the lawn of the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto on Tuesday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Quebec reported 1,162 new cases and 38 additional deaths on Tuesday, as the premier ruled out the possibility of lifting red-zone restrictions early.
With two weeks remaining in the second 28-day partial lockdown, Premier François Legault said the spread of the virus is particularly concerning in the regions of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Lanaudière, Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec and the Gaspésie.
Nova Scotia recorded three new cases, two of which are connected to a cluster of cases in the Clayton Park area of Halifax.
Prince Edward Island announced one new case, a person who was in close contact with a case announced Friday.
Hotel workers demonstrate in front of a downtown Montreal hotel on Tuesday for more government aid as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to decimate their industry. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut did not report any new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
In Yukon, high school students in Grades 10 to 12 in Whitehorse will remain on a modified schedule for the remainder of the school year, Education Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brendan Hanley said officials are in the process of updating the health and safety guidelines for all K-12 students in the territory, and masks will soon be required in common areas of schools, as well as physical distancing of one metre within the classroom between students.
What’s happening around the world
From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 8:30 a.m. ET
As of Wednesday morning, there have been more than 51.5 million cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide, with more than 33.6 million listed as recovered on a coronavirus tracking dashboard maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The number of deaths recorded by the U.S.-based university stood at more than 1.2 million.
In Europe, decreasing hospitalizations, fewer confirmed cases and other major public health indicators show that the resurgence of the coronavirus in Belgium is abating — welcome news for a country that proportionally is among the worst-hit nations in Europe when it comes to confirmed coronavirus cases.
Over the past month, Belgium has taken increasingly stringent measures to contain the virus, with bar and restaurant closures capped by a partial lockdown, which started last week and put further restrictions on gatherings and forced non-essential shops to shut.
A bagpiper stands in the centre of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing prior to an Armistice Day ceremony in Ypres, Belgium, on Wednesday. Coronavirus restrictions prevented the general public from attending the ceremony, with even dignitary attendance reduced to a minimum. (Virginia Mayo/The Associated Press)
Belgium still had 7,834 new confirmed cases a day over the past week, but it amounted to a 46 per cent decline from the previous seven-day period. The daily death toll for the past week stood at 190 people, a 35 per cent increase.
In the Americas, California and several states across the U.S. Midwest tightened restrictions on residents on Tuesday as the nation’s top infectious disease specialist called on Americans to remain vigilant until a vaccine can be approved and distributed.
The new clampdowns were announced as the country reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday for the seventh day in a row, according to a Reuters tally. With case numbers still being filed by a handful of states, the U.S. had reported at least 134,000 new infections by late Tuesday.
Texas became the first U.S. state to surpass more than one million confirmed coronavirus cases after it registered 10,865 confirmed cases on Tuesday, a new daily record.
Registered nurse Glenda Perez waits to test people for the coronavirus in East Los Angeles, Calif., on Tuesday. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
The country’s daily death toll stood at 1,450, the first time it has risen above 1,400 since mid-August. Hospitalizations of infected people also continued to climb rapidly, reaching 61,471 by late Tuesday, the highest ever during the pandemic.
“There’s a real thing called COVID-19 fatigue, that’s understandable,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CNN in an interview. “But hang in there a bit longer, do the things you need to do and we’ll be OK.”
In the Asia-Pacific region, Vanuatu has recorded its first case of the coronavirus after a citizen who had been repatriated from the United States tested positive while in quarantine. The Pacific nation had been among the last handful of countries to have avoided the virus.
Health authorities said the 23-year-old man was asymptomatic when he returned home Nov. 4 but his infection was confirmed Tuesday after routine testing. Officials said they plan to keep everyone from the same flight in quarantine and to trace the man’s close contacts, but they don’t plan to impose any broader measures in the nation of 300,000 people.
Students sit physically distanced in class as they attend a lesson at the Ethio Parents elementary and high school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last month. Ethiopia has recorded more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus infections. (Amanuel Sileshi/AFP/Getty Images)
In Africa, Ethiopia now has more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus infections, joining a handful of countries across the continent that have surpassed that milestone as COVID-19 cases begin to creep up again in multiple places.
The Horn of Africa regional power faces multiple humanitarian crises and now has a growing deadly conflict in its northern Tigray region between federal forces and regional ones.
Other African nations with over 100,000 confirmed virus cases on Wednesday are Egypt with over 109,000; Morocco with over 265,000; and South Africa with over 740,000. The 54-nation African continent is closing in on two million confirmed cases.
MONTREAL – Importers say a new online portal for collecting taxes on goods shipped into Canada is creating headaches ahead of its rollout this week, with potential implications for consumers.
On Monday, the federal government’s digital platform for paying duties is set to come online in an effort to streamline the old, paper-based process that customs officials relied on for decades.
Many of the complaints revolve around registration, while others relate to navigating the platform itself, which will be used to collect some $40 billion in annual revenue.
Lisa McEwan, co-owner of customs brokerage firm Hemisphere Freight, says she’s had to hire new staff to handle the “onboarding” process and help clients make payments amid confusion over issues ranging from business numbers to customs bonds.
She and others also say federal employees seemed overwhelmed and sometimes took weeks to respond to queries in the lead-up to the launch of what’s known as the Canada Border Services Agency Assessment Revenue Management project, or CARM.
The CBSA says the portal will simplify the import process by offering tens of thousands of shippers a modern platform for submitting documents and direct access to their information while shoring up compliance with trade rules.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2024.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on homes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday left at least 87 people dead or missing, the territory’s Health Ministry said, as a large-scale operation continued against Hamas militants said to be regrouping.
The ministry said another 40 people were wounded in the strikes on the town of Beit Lahiya, which was among the first targets of Israel’s ground invasion nearly a year ago. The Israeli military said it carried out a strike on a Hamas target.
Palestinian officials say hundreds of people have been killed in Israel’s two-week operation in northern Gaza, and that the health sector there is close to collapse.
The United States, meanwhile, was investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents indicating that Israel was moving military assets into place for a military strike in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1., according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Iran supports both Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
The U.S. is urging Israel to press for a cease-fire in Gaza following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. But neither Israel nor Hamas has shown interest in such a deal after months of negotiations sputtered to a halt in August.
Lebanese army says 3 soldiers killed in Israeli strike
A year of escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah boiled over into all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon early this month.
The Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike Sunday on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. There was no immediate comment on that from the Israeli military, which said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day and continued ground operations there.
Lebanon’s army has largely kept to the sidelines in the war. The military is a respected institution in Lebanon but is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or defend the country from an Israeli invasion.
Israel’s military said Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into the country on Sunday. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said three people were lightly injured from a fire sparked by a rocket attack on the northern city of Safed.
Israel has increased strikes on southern neighborhoods of Beirut known as the Dahiyeh, a crowded residential area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It is also home to many civilians unaffiliated with the militant group.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in the Israel-Hezbollah war and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut.
Medics warn of a catastrophic situation in Gaza
Among the dead from the strikes in Beit Lahiya were parents and eight children, according to Raheem Kheder, a medic. He said the strike flattened a multi-story building and at least four neighboring houses.
The Israeli military said it used precise munitions against a Hamas target. It said the area is an active war zone and it is trying to avoid harming civilians.
Mounir al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry, said the flood of wounded from the strikes compounded “an already catastrophic situation for the health care system” in northern Gaza, in a post on X.
Doctors Without Borders, the international charity known by its French acronym MSF, called on Israeli forces to immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza after the Health Ministry said Israeli troops had fired on two hospitals over the weekend.
“The ever-worsening escalation of violence and non-stop Israeli military operations that we have been witnessing over the past two weeks in northern Gaza have horrifying consequences,” said Anna Halford, an emergency coordinator for MSF.
Israel’s military said it was operating near one of the hospitals but had not fired directly at it, and that it was looking into the other incident.
Internet connectivity went down in northern Gaza late Saturday and had not been restored by midday Sunday, making it difficult to gather information about the strikes and complicating rescue efforts.
Israeli operation in northern Gaza enters third week
Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to Jabaliya in northern Gaza, a densely populated urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
The north has already suffered the heaviest destruction of the war, and has been encircled by Israeli forces since late last year.
Israel ordered the entire population of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate to the south in the war’s opening weeks and reiterated those instructions this month. Most of the population fled last year, but around 400,000 people are believed to have remained.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 captives are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Zeke Miller, Mike Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Oscar made landfall early Sunday in the southeastern Bahamas and was heading toward Cuba, an island recently beleaguered by a massive power outage.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm’s center arrived on Great Inagua island. It is expected to produce a dangerous storm surge that could translate into significant coastal flooding there and in other areas of the southeastern Bahamas. Two to four inches of rainfall are expected, with isolated areas seeing up to six inches.
Forecasters said five to 10 inches of rain are expected across eastern Cuba through Tuesday, with some isolated locations getting up to 15 inches.
Oscar formed Saturday off the coast of the Bahamas and brushed past the Turks and Caicos islands to the south.
The National Hurricane Center earlier characterized the storm as “tiny,” but hurricane warnings were in place Sunday for southeastern Bahamas and portions of Cuba.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds were clocked at 80 mph (130 kph) with higher gusts. Its center was located about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east-northeast of Guantanamo, Cuba. The storm was heading west at 12 mph (19 kph) and was expected to reach Guantanamo or Holguin, Cuba, on Sunday afternoon at hurricane strength.
The hurricane’s approach comes as Cuba tries to recover from its worst blackout in at least two years, which left millions without power for two days last week. Some electrical service was restored Saturday.
Philippe Papin of the National Hurricane Center said it was somewhat unexpected that Oscar became a hurricane Saturday.
“Unfortunately the system kind of snuck up a little bit on us,” Papin said.
Hours earlier Tropical Storm Nadine formed off Mexico’s southern Caribbean coast. It degenerated into a tropical depression as it moved over land.
