The coronavirus outbreak that has infected thousands of people in more than 100 countries is a pandemic, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement as the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus rose to more than 118,000 in 114 countries, with 4,291 deaths.
“Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly,” Tedros said. “It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death.”
“This is not just a public-health crisis,” he said, but added that countries should “double down and we should be more aggressive” and focus on containment, given the increasing case numbers. He encouraged countries to find and test every case, prepare hospitals, train health workers and co-operate.
“This is everybody’s business,” he said, while pointing out that 81 countries have not reported any cases and 57 countries have reported 10 cases or less.
WATCH | Doctor says mild cases help spread the virus:
‘Everybody get ready,’ Dr. Peter Lin says of the need to prepare for a strain on the health-care system. 4:16
The WHO labelled the outbreak that first emerged in China as a global health emergency of international concern in late January. Although China has seen the bulk of the world’s cases, the spread of COVID-19 has created new hotspots in places like Italy and Iran.
Tedros said 90 per cent of the cases are in just four countries and two of them, China and South Korea, are seeing “significantly declining epidemics.”
Dr. Mike Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program, said Iran and Italy are on the front line of the outbreak now — but he cautioned that other countries will soon be dealing with larger case numbers.
“They’re suffering, but I guarantee you other countries will be in that situation soon,” Ryan said.
“There have to be very strong efforts made to suppress infection,” Ryan said, noting that it would — at a minimum — slow the spread and ease the burden on health systems.
Expanding clusters of the new coronavirus continued to upended daily life, in places like an increasingly locked-down Italy, which counted more than 12,400 infections and recorded 827 deaths.
“Right now, the epicentre — the new China — is Europe,” said Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Rome’s usual boisterous hum was reduced to a whisper as Italy’s 62 million people were told to mostly stay home. Though shops, cafes and restaurants remained open, police around the country were enforcing rules that customers stay one metre apart and certain businesses shutter by 6 p.m.
Financial relief
The health crisis was dealing a serious blow to Italy’s economy — the third-largest of the 19 countries using the euro — and threatened instability worldwide.
Markets across Asia dropped Wednesday despite Wall Street’s gains a day earlier. Investors seemed encouraged by promises by U.S. President Donald Trump of a relief package to cushion economic pain from the outbreak. Governments around Asia and elsewhere have also announced billions of dollars in stimulus funds, including packages revealed in Japan on Tuesday and Australia on Wednesday.
The Italian government is promising to inject 10 billion euros ($15.5 billion Cdn) into the economy and allow a moratorium on debt payments such as mortgages during the outbreak. Britain’s Treasury chief has announced a 30 billion-pound ($53-billion Cdn) package of measures designed to help the economy as it grapples with the outbreak.
For most, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for a few, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illnesses, including pneumonia. More than 119,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 4,200 have died.
The virus has disrupted travel, closed schools and halted manufacturing in places around the globe. Here’s a look at what’s happening in Canada, the U.S. and some of the hard-hit regions around the world.
Here’s what’s happening in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said while Canada hasn’t seen a “drastic spike” in coronavirus cases, the government needs to ensure it’s ready for “all scenarios.”
On Wednesday, he announced a $1-billion fund to help tackle COVID-19 and deal with the economic impact of the virus.
The fund — which includes money toward public education campaigns and research — will also be used to buy supplies for health-care workers.
According to a statement, $500 million will go to provinces and territories for “critical health-care system needs and to support mitigation efforts as needed.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau breaks down the $1-billion fund to help Canadians cope with the spread of COVID-19. 2:41
“This could include help to support with access to testing, acquisition of equipment, and to enhance surveillance and monitoring.”
Ottawa is also providing support to workers who have been put under quarantine or told to self-isolate by waiving the one-week waiting period for employment insurance.
“No one should have to worry about their job if they have to be quarantined,” he said, and no employer should feel they have to lay off a worker because of the virus.
“We need to make sure that everyone is given the tools they need,” Trudeau said, later adding that Ottawa is ready to do more as needed.
Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said federal and provincial health authorities are preparing for a “range of scenarios” but that Canadians can take steps to slow the spread of the Covid-19. She spoke during a press conference where the federal government announcement $1B fund to respond to the disease. 2:08
The Public Agency of Canada, which has been continually assessing the risk from the outbreak, says that the risk to the general population in Canada is low, but notes “this could change rapidly.”
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, has noted that some people face an increased risk.
1/5 <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> Risk to Canadians: people over 65 years of age and people with a weakened immune system or underlying medical condition are at a higher risk of developing severe disease.
Health officials in Canada have reported one death linked to COVID-19 — a man in his 80s who lived at a long-term care facility in B.C.
In Ontario, Laurentian University in Sudbury is moving all its classes online, starting Thursday, in response to the city’s first case, a Sudbury man who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a mining conference in Toronto.
The city of Ottawa is also reporting its first case, a man in his 40s who is thought to have contracted the virus while travelling in Austria. Hamilton’s first case is a radiation oncologist who recently returned from Hawaii.
Here’s what’s happening in the U.S.
In the U.S., the caseload passed 1,000, and outbreaks on both sides of the country. Dozens of cases were being tied to a conference in Boston, and leaders in multiple states were announcing curbs on large events.
Colleges around the country emptied their classrooms as they moved to online instruction and uncertainty surrounded the upcoming opening of the Major League Baseball season and college basketball’s championships. Even the famed buffets of Las Vegas were affected, with some of the Strip’s biggest being closed in a precautionary measure.
A health-care worker tests people Wednesday at a drive-thru testing station run by the Colorado health department in Denver for people who suspect they have novel coronavirus. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
“It’s terrifying,” said Silvana Gomez, a student at Harvard University, where undergraduates were told to leave campus by Sunday. “I’m definitely very scared right now about what the next couple days, the next couple weeks look like.”
New York’s governor said National Guard troops would scrub public places and deliver food to a suburb where infections have spiked. In Washington state, where a Seattle-area nursing home was the centre of an outbreak, officials said the virus had spread to at least 10 other long-term care facilities.
In California, thousands of restless passengers remained stuck aboard a cruise ship, waiting for their turn to disembark to begin quarantines.
Two men vying to take on Trump in the U.S. presidential election abruptly cancelled rallies Tuesday and left open the possibility that future campaign events could be impacted, too. Trump’s campaign insisted it would proceed as normal, though Vice-President Mike Pence conceded future rallies would be evaluated “on a day to day basis.”
Here’s what’s happening in Italy and Europe
Italy’s lockdown measures to try to beat the coronavirus are reducing its economic output by around 10 per cent to 15 per cent, Lorenzo Codogno, a former Italian Treasury chief economist, said on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte unexpectedly expanded the so-called red zone to the entire country on Monday night, introducing the most severe controls on a Western nation.
Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in his private library as the Vatican implemented Italy’s drastic coronavirus lockdown measures, barred the general public from St. Peter’s Square and took precautions to limit the spread of infections in the tiny city-state.
WATCH | People in Italy complying with one-metre distance policy:
‘People are really kicking into gear’ and respecting strict Italian regulations, says correspondent Megan Williams 2:24
The Vatican representative to East Timor said a visit by Pope Francis has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. Monsignor Marco Sprizzi of the Apostolic Nunciature told reporters in Dili that Francis had previously indicated his willingness to visit East Timor later this year. But Sprizzi cited concerns about large crowds, saying “because he did not want his people affected by the coronavirus, he cancelled his visit.”
Italy isn’t the only country in Europe dealing with a growing number of cases of COVID-19.
Spain: Spain’s ministry of health on Wednesday reported more than 2,100 cases with 47 deaths. Roughly half the cases are in the Madrid region.
Germany: Germany on Wednesday confirmed its third death related to the coronavirus as another patient in the badly affected district of Heinsberg in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia died. Germany has reported a total of 1,296 cases.
France: France’s health ministry was reporting 1,784 cases as of Tuesday, with more than 30 deaths.
United Kingdom: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus across the U.K. has risen to 456, up from 373 a day earlier, the health ministry said on Wednesday. The number of patients who died after testing positive for the virus remained unchanged at six.
Poland is closing all schools, universities, cinemas, theatres and museums for two weeks from Thursday to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, government representatives said on Wednesday. Poland has confirmed 26 cases of coronavirus, but looking at how fast the virus spreads in some other European countries, the government decided to take the preventive action, they said.
A man in protective gear gives a fact sheet of the coronavirus to a driver arriving from Italy at a border crossing near Matrei am Brenner, Austria, on Wednesday. Austria is turning away people arriving from Italy, except those with a doctor’s certificate. Freight is still being allowed in and any Austrians arriving will also be admitted but will need to submit to quarantine. (Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)
Swiss customs authorities have shut down nine border crossings with Italy, the epicentre of Europe’s coronavirus outbreak, to channel border traffic through seven other sites.
The move announced Wednesday follows a decision by Italian authorities to continue to allow cross-border traffic with Switzerland despite adopting strong quarantine measures across Italy. Neighbours Austria and Slovenia have barred travellers from Italy without a medical certificate.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a rare, hastily convened news conference Wednesday in Berlin that it’s important for European leaders to discuss “what are good and effective measures and what aren’t.” She said “we in Germany, in any case, are of the opinion that border closures are not an appropriate response to the challenge.”
Here’s what’s happening in Iran and the Middle East
Iran said Wednesday that the novel coronavirus killed 63 more people, raising the death toll to 354 amid over 9,000 cases in the Islamic Republic.
Across the Mideast, the vast majority of the 9,000 people who have contracted the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes are in hard-hit Iran. Outside the Islamic Republic, only Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon have recorded deaths from the virus in the Mideast.
A civil defence worker wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant in Baghdad’s main market as a precaution against the novel coronavirus on Tuesday. (Hadi Mizban/The Associated Press)
Israel has 82 confirmed coronavirus cases. Earlier in the week, the government announced that everyone arriving in Israel will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
In Bahrain, authorities say the number of confirmed cases on Wednesday spiked by nearly 70 per cent to 189. The new cases were all on a returning flight of Bahraini evacuees from Iran.
Officials found 77 on board tested positive for the novel coronavirus, compared to the 112 already reported in the island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
Here’s what’s happening in China
In China, officials said they’d counted only 24 new cases on Wednesday. In a reversal of positions, China is seeing new cases brought in from overseas.
WATCH | China’s coronavirus epicentre loosens some quarantine restrictions:
Drop in new cases of COVID-19 permits work to resume for some in Wuhan. 0:25
In Beijing, the capital, all the new cases of COVID-19 reported on Wednesday came from outside the country, five from Italy and one from the United States. “The epidemic situation is at a low level and the prevention and control are continuously going well,” said Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission.
Beijing’s city government said all passengers arriving in the city from overseas, regardless of their points of departure, are now be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Here’s what’s happening in South Korea and Japan
The other major outbreak site in Asia, South Korea, continued to report improving numbers, too, with 242 new cases announced Wednesday. Still, a cluster of infections connected to a call centre in one of the busiest areas of that country’s capital was raising alarms.
More than half of South Korea’s 51 million people live in the Seoul metropolitan area.
So far, 93 people have tested positive among the call centre’s employees and their families, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Wednesday in a briefing broadcast over YouTube. The number could grow as tests are being done on more than 550 co-workers who worked on other floors of the Korea Building in Seoul’s Guro district.
Health workers in white protective suits scrambled to sanitize the nearby Sindorim subway station, which is used by more than 404,000 commuters per day, according to Seoul Metro.
Disinfection workers wearing protective gear spray antiseptic solution against the coronavirus in a subway at Seoul metro railway base on Wednesday. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
While most of the infected workers live in Seoul, some of them commute from nearby cities such as Incheon and Bucheon, raising concern about a broader spread through public transit.
Call centre workers may be vulnerable because they work long hours in crowded and confined spaces, said Yoon Tae-ho, an official from South Korea’s health ministry.
Jung Eun-kyeong, director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it would be difficult to track infections if they spread to buses and subways. She said it’s “most critical” that public transit operators vigorously sanitize handles, bars and anything passengers frequently touch with the threat of local transmissions growing.
Park said Seoul is investigating the working conditions of more than 400 call centres in the city and will push employers to allow more employees to work from home. The mayor said authorities were responding actively to prevent the cluster from intensifying like South Korea’s earlier clusters around the southeastern city of Daegu.
Here’s a look at what’s happening in some other areas as COVID-19 spreads
Dr. Samir Gupta says Canada is doing more testing and seeing more cases, but the health-care system can manage, so far. 6:18
India ramped up travel restrictions and closed a border with neighbouring Myanmar to counter the coronavirus outbreak, as countries across South Asia reported a rise in cases on Wednesday.
In Afghanistan, the number of confirmed cases rose to seven from four, the country’s health ministry said.
Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa hit by the epidemic to seven.
Indonesia says a foreigner has become its first fatality from COVID-19. Achmad Yurianto, the government spokesperson on efforts to contain the coronavirus, said Wednesday the 53-year-old woman had diabetes and lung disease and had contracted the virus abroad.
Honduras has confirmed the first two cases of the novel coronavirus in its territory, the health ministry said.
Guatemala’s health minister said the country will ban the entry of citizens of European countries, Iran, China and South Korea, starting Thursday, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Central American country has yet to confirm any cases of COVID-19.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
