More help from the Canadian Forces has arrived in an Indigenous community in northern Manitoba that is hard-hit by COVID-19, following a desperate plea from the Shamattawa First Nation’s chief.
About two dozen members of the military arrived in the remote community just after noon on Saturday and more were expected to arrive later, including medics and nurses, Shamattawa First Nation Chief Eric Redhead said in a Facebook post.
He said the team will set up isolation units at the community’s school and help with tasks like door-to-door grocery delivery, wellness checks and contact tracing. Redhead, who first called for military support on Nov. 30, said he is expecting an additional 30 military members to arrive Sunday.
We have approved an additional request for assistance for the Shamattawa First Nation. <a href=”https://twitter.com/CanadianForces?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CanadianForces</a> personnel will deploy and assist the community in its efforts against <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a>. Our government will always be there to help people in need.
Nearly one third of Shamattawa’s population of about 1,300 has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which is said to be spreading easily due to overcrowding in some homes.
In Alberta, a range of new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 went into effect on Sunday.
Restaurants, pubs and bars are closed, except for takeout and delivery. Hair salons, casinos, gyms, libraries, museums and movie theatres have also been shuttered.
WATCH | COVID-19 vaccine en route to Canada:
Canada’s first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipped out yesterday from a factory in Belgium. UPS is delivering the cargo. Officials with the company say all vaccine shipments are being treated as a top priority. 4:16
The restrictions also include a 15 per cent capacity limit for places of worship, as well as grocery and retail stores. The restrictions will be in place for at least four weeks.
Protests against the restrictions were held Saturday outside the provincial legislature in Edmonton and in downtown Calgary.
Demonstrators gather at an anti-mask rally in Calgary on Saturday. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Ontario, meanwhile, is also imposing stricter rules to combat the spread of COVID-19, beginning at midnight in York Region, just north of Toronto, and Windsor-Essex. People lined up outside the busy Vaughan Mills shopping centre in York Region for up to an hour on Saturday to do last-minute buying.
The two regions are moving into the province’s “grey” lockdown level of restrictions, meaning retail stores deemed non-essential will be operating with curbside pickup only. Businesses still open to customers must cap capacity at 50 per cent.
About 30,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioTech COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada by Monday. Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin said on Twitter that up to 249,000 doses are coming this month, with “millions more in the new year.”
Cases of COVID-19 were up significantly again across Canada on Saturday. Nationally, 6,772 new infections were reported from 81,481 completed tests on Friday, for a positivity rate of 8.3 per cent.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 6:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, Canada’s COVID-19 case count stood at 454,853 with 73,029 of those cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 13,350.
Sheila Chaisson, a 67-year-old from Courtenay, said she “can’t afford to go out and buy anything” after losing out on the monthly $300 relief, adding: “I’ve really had to stretch to afford masks and sanitizer and all the things I need through the pandemic.”
WATCH | What you need to know about repaying CERB:
Some Canadians are getting letters from the Canada Revenue Agency, suggesting they could have to repay thousands of dollars in CERB money because they may not have been eligible to receive it in the first place. 6:54
Meanwhile, the number of positive COVID-19 tests in a pilot project for international travellers at the Calgary airport and a United States border crossing in southern Alberta has been reasonably low after its first six weeks.
WATCH | Sask. woman on going from not feeling well to critically ill with COVID-19:
Hospitalizations continue to increase in our province. Kathy Ziglo is on the mend from the COVID-19 but she is still shocked about how quickly she became critically ill. Bonnie Allen delivers her story. 2:34
Of the deaths reported Saturday, eight are linked to outbreaks at personal care homes in Winnipeg, including three at Charleswood Care Centre, two at Oakview Place and three at Park Manor Care Home.
Ontario‘shealth minister on Saturday reported 1,873 new cases, with a record 65,300 tests completed. The province also reported 17 additional deaths.
New Brunswick reported one new case as the Edmundston region entered its first day in the orange phase of restrictions since the early days of the pandemic.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported three new cases, of which two are travel-related.
Nova Scotiaadded seven new cases on Saturday, but its caseload fell from 65 to 61. Health officials also urged residents who live near the Eden Valley Poultry plant in Berwick to be tested for COVID-19 as a precaution it closed amid an outbreak of cases.
Prince Edward Island recorded five new cases, all related to travel.
In the Northwest Territories, health officials confirmed a new case in Hay River and warned that passengers aboard two flights in the territory may have been exposed to COVID-19.
What’s happening around the world
As of Sunday morning, more than 71.8 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 46.9 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.6 million.
Germany will close schools and non-essential stores from Wednesday until at least Jan. 10, cutting short the busy Christmas shopping season, as it tightens coronavirus restrictions and tries to rein in the spread of the disease, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 20,200 to 1,320,716, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 321 to 21,787, the tally showed.
In the United States, the first trucks carrying a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use were set to pull out of a Michigan manufacturing plant Sunday, with the shots that are critical to curbing the spread of the pandemic destined to reach states a day later.
Workers can be seen on Sunday preparing boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for shipment from the company’s manufacturing plant in Portage, south of Kalamazoo, Mich. (Morry Gash/The Associated Press)
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history.
Initially, about 3 million doses are expected to be sent out, and the priority is health-care workers and nursing home residents. The novel coronavirus is blamed for killing nearly 300,000 Americans.
In Japan, the country’s daily coronavirus cases have exceeded 3,000 for the first time while the government delays stricter measures for fear of hurting the economy ahead of the holiday season.
The 3,030 new cases, including 621 in Tokyo, took Japan’s national tally to 177,287 with 2,562 deaths, the country’s health ministry said Sunday.
Experts say serious cases are on the rise around the country, putting an extra burden on hospitals and affecting the daily medical treatment for other patients. They urged authorities to take measures such as suspending out-of-town trips and requesting stores to close early.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
