Health minister says containment will delay — but not prevent — a coronavirus outbreak in Canada.
Italy issues decree calling for school closures, event cancellations and social distancing.
Iran says COVID-19 death toll hits 107, reports 3,513 cases. Canadians urged to avoid all travel to Iran in updated travel advisory.
Nations around the world girded for months of disruptions from the novel coronavirus Thursday as its unrelenting spread brought ballooning infections, economic fallout and sweeping containment measures.
“Countries should be preparing for sustained community transmission,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said of the virus outbreak.
In places around the globe, a split was developing. China has been issuing daily reports of new infections that are drastically down from their highs, factories there are gradually reopening and there is a growing sense that normalcy might not be that far off. Meanwhile, countries elsewhere are seeing escalating caseloads and a litany of cancellations, closures, travel bans and supply shortages.
There are about 17 times as many new infections outside China as in it, WHO said, with widening outbreaks in South Korea, Italy and Iran responsible for a majority of them.
“We are seeing this rapid escalation around the world,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “At this point I believe things will get much worse before they get better.”
South Africa on Thursday confirmed a case of coronavirus, the health ministry said, the country’s first case of the deadly disease sweeping through the world.
“The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020,” the ministry said. Read on for a look at what’s happening in Canada and the U.S, as well as some of the hard-hit regions around the world.
Here’s what’s happening in Canada
Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam say they are working with local and provincial health officials to ensure they are prepared for the possibility of a community outbreak of COVID-19. 2:28
Health officials in Quebec announced a presumptive coronavirus case early Thursday morning. If confirmed, it would be the second case in the province.
The news out of Quebec comes after B.C. announced on Wednesday that its 13th COVID-19 patient — a woman in her 80s with several underlying conditions — is in critical condition in a Vancouver hospital.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Wednesday that health officials in Canada are working to slow the spread of COVID-19. But she also cautioned Canadians to prepare for the “eventuality” of an outbreak here.
“This is a virus that knows no borders, and that is growing. Each day there are countries that have new cases and new outbreaks and new situations,” Hajdu said.
“We know that eventually this is likely something that we’ll see in one of our communities.”
The Public Health Agency of Canada, which assesses the situation on an ongoing basis, says the risk in Canada is low.
If Quebec’s latest case is confirmed, it will bring Canada’s reported cases of COVID-19 to 35 — with most of the cases in Ontario and B.C.
Here’s what’s happening in the U.S.
An equipment service worker for King County Metro in Washington state sprays a disinfectant throughout a metro bus at the King County Metro Atlantic/Central operating base on Wednesday. Metro’s fleet of 1,600 buses will get sprayed once a day to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
The U.S. death toll rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency after the first death in the state from the virus. The House of Representatives approved an $8.3 billion US bill to combat the virus and develop vaccines.
Here’s what’s happening in mainland China and Hong Kong
Chinese vegetable vendors wear protective masks as they wait for customers at a local market on Wednesday in Beijing. The number of cases of the deadly novel coronavirus COVID-19 being treated in China dropped to below 28,000 in mainland China on Wednesday. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
China reported 139 new cases and 31 deaths, raising its totals to 80,409 cases and 3,012 deaths. The number of cases was higher than Wednesday’s figure, but new deaths were lower, as the illness continues to decline in the country.
While hardest-hit Hubei province had most of the new cases and deaths, hospitals there released another 1,923 patients who were declared cured.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Japan has been postponed so both countries can fight the coronavirus outbreak, Japan’s chief government spokesman said Thursday.
Here’s what’s happening in Italy and Europe
An empty classroom of the I.T.C Di Vittorio-I.T.I. Lattanzio school in Rome is pictured after the government decree to close schools and cinemas, and to urge people to work from home and not stand closer than one metre to each other. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)
Italy’s government has adopted a decree with emergency new measures to contain the coronavirus as it struggles against the worst outbreak in Europe, which has killed at least 107 in less than two weeks. The decree covers everything from how to handle public events to protocol for how people can access emergency departments.
Here’s a look at some of the key points of the Italian decree:
People in Italy are being told not to hug or shake hands and to keep a “safe distance” of at least a metre from other people.
Public events that don’t allow for the one-metre safety limit — for example, theatres and cinemas — are to be suspended. Sporting events must be played behind closed doors.
All schools and universities are closed until at least mid-March. Training for doctors and health workers, however, continues. Government is loosening rules for home working, encouraging people who can work from home to do so.
Travellers who have visited so-called red zone areas can be told to self-isolate at home for two weeks.
In Switzerland, a 74-year-old woman died after contracting the novel coronavirus, the country’s first death from the rapidly spreading disease outbreak. She was a high-risk patient suffering from chronic disease, authorities said.
In Germany, the number of cases jumped by 109 within a day, a public health institute said on Thursday. As of Thursday morning, there were 349 cases spread across all but one federal state, up from 240 on Wednesday morning and compared with 262 on Wednesday afternoon, the Robert Koch Institute said.
Britain, which has so far reported 90 cases of COVID-19, said Thursday it will move to the second phase of its four-phase plan to fight the novel coronavirus. The government set out a plan earlier this week that called for containing the virus, delaying its transmission, researching its origins and mitigating its impact.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is optimistic that Britain is well prepared to cope with the spread of the virus, but early on Thursday regional airline Flybe became one of the first big corporate casualties of the outbreak.
Here’s what’s happening in Iran and the Middle East
A city worker disinfects a bus stop sign because of the novel coronavirus in Tehran, Iran, on Thursday. Iran has one of the highest death tolls in the world from the coronavirus outside of China, the epicentre of the outbreak. (Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press)
Iran will set up checkpoints to limit travel between major cities and urged citizens on Thursday to reduce their use of paper money to fight a spreading outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which has killed at least 107 people across the Islamic Republic.
The announcement in Iran came as Palestinian authorities said the storied Nativity Church in the biblical city of Bethlehem, built atop the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, will close indefinitely later in the day over coronavirus fears. The church was expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors and worshipers next month for the Easter holiday.
These mark the latest disruptions of life due to the virus across the Mideast, which has seen over 3,740 confirmed cases.
Iran’s Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced his country’s new restrictions at a televised press conference. He added that schools and universities will remain closed through Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 20.
He said people should stay in their vehicles at gas stations and allow attendants to fill their gas tanks to avoid the spread of the virus.
Canada on Thursday updated its travel advice for Iran to urge people to avoid all travel to the country.
Here’s what’s happening in South Korea
South Korean soldiers wear protective gear as they prepare to spray disinfectant as a precaution against the novel coronavirus in Seoul on Thursday. (Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press)
South Korea declared a “special care zone” on Thursday around a second city hit hard by the coronavirus, and the U.S. military confirmed two new cases among relatives of its troops in the country, which is battling the biggest outbreak outside China.
The “special care zone” is around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250 kilometres southeast of Seoul, promising extra resources such as face masks. Gyeongsan has seen a spike in cases in recent days, many of them linked to a fringe Christian group at the centre of South Korea’s outbreak. Similar zones have been declared around neighbouring Daegu city and Cheongdo County.
About 75 per cent of all cases in South Korea are in and around Daegu, its fourth-largest city, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
“Every day is sad and tough like a war. But our Daegu citizens are showing surprise wisdom and courage,” Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin told reporters on Thursday.
Here’s what’s happening in Japan
A child, wearing a protective face mask following an outbreak of coronavirus, uses hand sanitizer at a daycare centre in Tokyo on Thursday. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)
Japan said Thursday it will impose 14-day quarantine on people arriving from China and South Korea to prevent spread of the virus.
Earlier, Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto signalled the Summer Games would go ahead as planned in July and August, even as the outbreak spread to new regions.
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.
