Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says Canada is in crisis when it comes to COVID-19 PCR testing capacity, even as the federal government struggles to make good on its promise to deliver 140 million rapid tests to provinces by the end of the month.
Duclos says access to PCR tests in provinces is a crisis, and that’s why at-home rapid tests will be such an important tool to combat the Omicron wave of COVID-19.
But some provinces have flagged that shipments of those vital rapid tests from the federal government have been slow to arrive.
WATCH | Procurement minister talks about demand for rapid tests:
140 million rapid tests on the way to provinces
7 hours ago
Duration 2:01
Filomena Tassi, minister of public services and procurement, acknowledged the difficulties in obtaining COVID-19 rapid tests due to the high demand over December, but stated the federal government was working hard to acquire more, and said there would be 140 million tests going out to the provinces in the month of January. 2:01
In Ontario for example, fewer than 0.3 per cent of the rapid tests committed to the province in January have been delivered so far, and there is no delivery scheduled for about 80 per cent of them.
Tests will be distributed starting next week first to staff, then to children in daycares and students in public elementary schools, followed by high school students.
Provincial officials say more tests will be provided when supply allows.
Federal Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi says the provinces’ demand for the tests has increased drastically since last year, while the market has become very competitive. She says the government is working with 14 suppliers to secure the tests that were promised by the end of the month.
Manitoba Health says it’s been told by Ottawa the province is allotted five million tests a month. A recent shipping notice confirmed it would get a total of 700,000 devices for January. It has already received 132,000.
“The premier and prime minister also had discussions in December and again this week, in which the premier stressed the need for additional rapid tests for Manitoba,” said the department in a statement.
N.S., Yukon shift approach to testing
In Nova Scotia, Premier Tim Houston said the province is distributing 830,000 rapid tests a week, which he said is almost a test for every person in the province.
Strang said rapid tests need to be used more efficiently, as there are currently just over one million tests in the province.
“We ask for your patience while we rebuild our testing supply,” he said, adding that 3.6 million more tests were on the way.
WATCH | N.S. premier talks about why the province has changed its testing strategy:
Change is hard, says N.S. premier as he describes modifications in testing
7 hours ago
Duration 2:37
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says the province, which was once a leader in COVID-19 testing, has had to change its testing protocols, based on availability and need. 2:37
In Yukon, officials said on Wednesday that they have also had to shift their approach to testing due to the rapid rise in cases. For now, PCR tests will be available only to high-risk individuals with symptoms.
For everyone else, “The most important thing that you need to know is that if you have symptoms, you should assume you have COVID-19 and follow the recommendations for isolation,” said Yukon Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee.
The territory says it received a shipment of 50,000 rapid antigen tests from the federal government on Saturday and that they are being made available at a drive-thru location in Whitehorse. McPhee said Yukon is expecting to receive more rapid tests in the coming weeks.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 7 p.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Homeless shelters struggle with extreme cold, Omicron:
Homeless shelters struggle with extreme cold, Omicron
1 day ago
Duration 1:40
Homeless shelters across Canada have seen more people seek a place to stay during extreme cold temperatures, but dealing with crowded spaces is even more challenging with the spread of the Omicron variant. 1:40
With lab-based testing capacity deeply strained and increasingly restricted, experts say true case counts are likely far higher than reported. Hospitalization data at the regional level is also evolving, with several provinces saying they will report figures that separate the number of people in hospital because of COVID-19 from those in hospital for another medical issue who also test positive for COVID-19.
For more information on what is happening in your community — including details on outbreaks, testing capacity and local restrictions — click through to the regional coverage below.
In Central Canada, health officials in Quebec on Wednesday reported 52 additional deaths and a total of 2,877 hospitalizations. The number of people in the province’s intensive care units stood at 263, according to an update posted online. The province reported 8,351 additional lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The update comes a day after Premier François Legault became the first leader in Canada to propose a tax on adults who have chosen not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Speaking on Tuesday, the premier said about 10 per cent of adults in Quebec are unvaccinated, but they represent about 50 per cent of intensive care patients.
“Those who refuse to get their first doses in the coming weeks will have to pay a new health contribution,” Legault said.
In Ontario, health officials reported 46 additional deaths, as well as a total of 3,448 hospitalizations, including 505 in intensive care units, on Wednesday. The education minister announced that kids going back to in-class learning next week will get two new rapid antigen tests.
WATCH | Ontario’s education minister says it was worth keeping kids home until Jan. 17:
Ontario education minister defends extending remote learning
7 hours ago
Duration 2:00
Saying his government used ‘every minute of the day’ to get kids back to class and ensure their safety, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce outlined the measures put in place during the current two-week school shutdown due to COVID-19. 2:00
The province, which like many other regions has limited access to PCR tests, recorded an additional 9,783 lab-confirmed cases.
Health officials said there were seven hospitalizations across the province and 502 additional lab-confirmed cases. More than 220 additional positives were identified in samples previously sent out of the province for testing, said Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s chief medical officer of health.
The update in Newfoundland and Labrador comes a day after health officials in New Brunswick urged people to reduce their contacts and step up their precautions in the face of rising COVID-19 cases. The province’s chief epidemiologist said if current trends continue, the province could see 5,500 people testing positive each day for COVID-19 by the end of the month and nearly 220 people in hospital.
As of Wednesday, New Brunswick was reporting 94 hospitalizations — a pandemic high for the province. Ten of those people were being treated in intensive care units. Health officials also reported one additional death and 359 lab-confirmed cases.
Nova Scotia on Wednesday reported one additional death, and 60 hospitalizations — including five people who are in ICU. The province recorded 837 lab-confirmed cases. There is growing concern in the province that patients waiting for long-term care beds are being forced to stay in hospitals due to staff shortages.
Meantime, an initiative to place 20 emergency single-occupancy shelters on church grounds across Nova Scotia is now complete. The 20 heated shelters, which measure 2.5 metres by 2.5 metres, come with a built-in bed, lighting, USB charging ports and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors at a cost to the archdiocese of $11,500 a piece.
Justin Strang stands outside his temporary home at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Dartmouth, N.S., Jan. 12, 2022. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)
In Prince Edward Island, there were seven people in hospital Wednesday, with one person in intensive care. The province also recorded 230 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“Whether it’s provided through our online platform … or through take-home learning packages, remote instruction beginning on Jan. 17 will be assessed and will count toward the final grades,” Education Minister Pamela Gross said.
In Yukon, two people are being treated in hospital with COVID-19. There were 70 new cases announced on Wednesday, with active cases in the territory at more than 400.
In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba health officials on Wednesday reported that there were 454 people in hospital due to COVID-19, with 46 people in ICUs. The province also reported 1,478 additional lab-confirmed cases and three new deaths.
In Saskatchewan, health officials on Wednesday reported a total of 121 COVID-19 hospitalizations, no change from Tuesday, with nine cases in intensive care units. The province, which reported no additional COVID-linked deaths, recorded 1,084 additional lab-confirmed cases.
Alberta on Wednesday reported 15 additional deaths and said there were 748 people in hospital with COVID-19 — including 82 people in intensive care. Health officials also reported an additional 6,789 lab-confirmed cases.
–From CBC News, last updated at The Canadian Press, last updated at 7 p.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
WATCH | COVID-19: How long does immunity last after Omicron?
COVID-19: How long does immunity last after Omicron?
2 days ago
Duration 2:21
Dr. Peter Jüni, scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, talks to Andrew Chang about how long immunity may last after acquiring the Omicron variant and its impact on how people may transmit the virus. 2:21
As of Wednesday evening, roughly 315.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.5 million.
The number of new coronavirus infections in the last week jumped by about 55 per cent, although the number of deaths remained stable, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The agency’s latest report, covering Jan. 3 to 9, said there were about 15 million new COVID-19 cases last week and more than 43,000 deaths. Every world region reported a rise in cases except Africa, where officials saw an 11 per cent drop.
According to WHO’s weekly situation report, the highest number of cases were in:
The U.S., with more than 4.6 million recorded cases.
France, with nearly 1.6 million recorded cases.
The U.K., with more than 1.2 million recorded cases.
The update comes a week after WHO recorded a pandemic high of 9.5 million new infections in a single week.
WHO said the Omicron variant continues to define the pandemic globally and is now crowding out the previously dominant Delta variant. Early studies also show Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than Delta, and vaccination and a booster still offer strong protection from serious illness, hospitalization and death.
WHO said Omicron has now proven to have a shorter doubling time compared to other variants, with “increasing evidence” that it’s able to evade immunity.
After a steep rise in cases in South Africa when Omicron was first detected, numbers quickly dropped and experts believe the wave has passed. WHO said this week that after a continuous rise of COVID-19 across Africa, cases fell this week for the first time.
Scientists say there are signs Omicron’s wave may have peaked, but they’re still uncertain how the next phase of the pandemic might unfold. WHO noted the Americas reported the highest-ever number of COVID-19 cases this week, with a 78 per cent spike. The Americas also reported 14,000 additional deaths, a 25 per cent increase compared to the previous week.
New cases in Europe rose by 31 per cent, however, the report said weekly deaths continued to decline with over 20,000 new deaths reported, a 10 per cent decrease compared to the previous week.
The biggest jump in COVID-19 infections was noted in Southeast Asia, where cases increased by more than 400 per cent. The numbers of deaths there fell by six per cent.
According to the weekly summary, seven countries in the WHO’s Southeast Asia region reported a case count increase of over 50 per cent — led by India, with 638,872 new recorded cases.
Meanwhile, in the Americas, the Biden administration is increasing federal support for COVID-19 testing for schools in a bid to keep them open amid the Omicron surge. The White House said Wednesday the administration is making a dedicated stream of five million rapid tests and five million lab-based PCR tests available to schools starting this month.
The White House says states can request the tests immediately and the tests will be available for use by the end of the month. The initiative comes after Chicago public schools closed for days amid an impasse between teachers and officials over reopening policies.
Medical workers put on protective gear at the COVID-19 ward at a Veterans Affairs health system campus and medical centre in West Roxbury, Mass. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images)
The new crop of tests is enough to cover only a small fraction of the more than 50 million students and educators in the nation’s schools.
In Africa, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has left isolation just over a week after testing positive for COVID-19 without symptoms, the government said.
South Africa, meanwhile, on Tuesday reported 5,668 additional cases and 119 deaths.
In Europe, Germany should make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all adults, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament on Wednesday, brushing off heckling from opposition lawmakers who accused him of fomenting social divisions.
“With the decision not to get vaccinated, one ultimately is not just making a decision for oneself, but also for 80 million others,” he said of an issue stirring passions around the world as some companies and authorities start to insist on inoculation.
Germany’s Parliament passed a law in December making coronavirus vaccinations compulsory for certain professions from mid-March.
People wait in front of a COVID-19 test centre in Leipzig, Germany. COVID-19 infection rates, after having fallen in Germany throughout December, are steadily rising in the new year as the Omicron variant continues to spread. (Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized for attending a “bring your own booze” gathering at his official residence during the U.K.’s first lockdown, as a senior figure in his party and opponents said he should resign.
Denmark is to offer a fourth coronavirus vaccination to vulnerable citizens and will ease restrictions at the end of the week, while Sweden will cut the recommended interval between the second and third jabs to five months from six.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has registered its highest daily number of new infections so far, breaking through 5,000 cases on Wednesday.
In the Asia-Pacific region, India’s Bharat Biotech said on Wednesday a booster shot of its Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine administered six months after the last of two doses neutralizes both the Omicron and Delta variants of the coronavirus.
The northern Chinese city of Tianjin ordered a second round of COVID-19 testing of all 14 million residents Wednesday following the discovery of 97 cases of Omicron during initial screenings that began Sunday.
Residents were asked to remain where they are until the results of all the nucleic acid tests are received, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Xinhua said authorities have carried out almost 12 million tests so far, with 7.8 million samples returned. Infections were first reported on Saturday in the city that is only about an hour from Beijing, which is to host the Winter Olympics beginning Feb. 4.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, officials are turning to additional pharmaceutical tools, authorizing the use of Novavax’s vaccine and preparing to distribute the first of Pfizer’s antiviral pills.
-From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 4:30 p.m. ET
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
CALGARY – Sam Edney and Jesse Lumsden sat on a bench on Parliament Hill during an athlete celebration after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Having just represented Canada in their sliding sports — Lumsden in bobsled and Edney in luge — the two men pondered their futures together.
“There was actually one moment about, are we going to keep going? Talking about, what are each of us going to do? What’s the next four years look like?” Edney recalled a decade later.
“I do remember talking about that now. That was a big moment,” Lumsden said.
As the two men were sounding boards for each other as athletes, they are again as high-performance directors of their respective sliding sports.
Edney, an Olympic relay silver medallist in 2018 and the first Canadian man to win a World Cup gold medal, became Luge Canada’s HPD upon his retirement the following year.
Lumsden, a world and World Cup bobsled champion who raced his third Olympic Games in 2018, leaned on his sliding compatriot when he returned from five years of working in the financial sector to become HPD at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton in July.
“The first person I called when BCS reached out to me about the role that I’m in now is Sam,” Lumsden said recently at Calgary’s WinSport, where they spent much of their competitive careers and now have offices.
“It’s been four months. I was squatting in the luge offices for the first two months beside him.
“We had all these ideas about we’re going to have weekly coffees and workouts Tuesday and Thursday and in the four months now, we’ve had two coffees and zero workouts.”
Canada has won at least one sliding-sport Olympic medal in each of the last five Winter Games, but Edney and Lumsden face a challenge as team leaders that they didn’t as athletes.
WinSport’s sliding track, built for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and where Edney and Lumsden did hundreds of runs as athletes, has been closed since 2019 needing a $25-million renovation.
There is no sign that will happen. WinSport took the $10 million the provincial government offered for the sliding track and put the money toward a renovation of the Frank King Lodge used by recreational skiers and snowboarders.
Canada’s only other sliding track in the resort town of Whistler, B.C., has a fraction of Calgary’s population from which to recruit and develop athletes.
“The comparison is if you took half the ice rinks away in the country, hockey and figure skating would be disarray,” Edney said.
“It just changes the dynamic of the sports completely, in terms of we’re now scrambling to find ways to bring people to a location that’s not as easy to get to, or to live out of, or to train out of full time.
“We’re realizing how good we had it when Calgary’s (track) was here. It’s not going to be the end of us, but it’s definitely made it more difficult.”
Lumsden, a former CFL running back as well as an Olympian, returned to a national sport organization still recovering from internal upheaval that included the athlete-led ouster of the former president and CEO after the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Olympic champion pilot Kaillie Humphries suing the organization for her release to compete for the U.S. in 2019.
“NSOs like Luge Canada and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, they’re startups,” Lumsden said. “You have to think like a startup, operate like a startup, job stack, do more with less, especially in the current environment.
“I felt it was the right time for me to take my sporting experience and the skill set that I learned at Neo Financial and working with some of the most talented people in Canada and try to inject that into an NSO that is in a state of distress right now, and try to work with the great staff we have and the athletes we have to start to turn this thing around.”
Edney, 40, and Lumsden, 42, take comfort in each other holding the same roles in their sports.
“It goes both ways. I couldn’t have been more excited about who they hired,” Edney said. “When Jesse was coming in, I knew that we were going to be able to collaborate and work together and get things happening for our sports.”
Added Lumsden: “We’ve been friends for a long time, so I knew how he was going to do in his role and before taking the role, having the conversation with him, I felt a lot of comfort.
“I asked ‘are you going to be around for a long time?’ He said ‘yeah, I’m not going anywhere.’ I said ‘OK, good.'”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
