Coronavirus Update: Scores of unvaccinated workers are filing wrongful dismissal claims against employers, lawyers say

Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

1. Scores of unvaccinated workers are filing wrongful dismissal claims against employers, lawyers say
2. Ottawa to go ahead with trucker vaccine mandate after stating it would scrap it
3. N95, medical or cloth face masks: Which is best against the Omicron COVID-19 variant? Canada’s latest guidance explained

In the past seven days, 251,312 cases were reported, down 14 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 606 deaths announced, up 99 per cent over the same period. At least 8,701 people are being treated in hospitals.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 15th among countries with a population of one million or more people.

Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.

Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening

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Coronavirus in Canada

• Legal scholars and activists are criticizing Quebec’s tax on the unvaccinated. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole also says he opposes Quebec’s plan “to tax and target” the unvaccinated. Meanwhile, Premier François Legault says the COVID-19 curfew will be lifted on Monday. In Montreal, the number of COVID-19 infections and new hospitalizations linked to the current wave may have peaked, according to experts.
• Hundreds of emergency child-care centres opened across Ontario this week to accommodate essential workers, but they are struggling to keep up with high demand. Brampton Transit is temporarily cancelling service on 20 routes, citing COVID-19 related staffing shortages. And starting tomorrow, immunocompromised Ontarians can book appointments for a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Ontario is reporting 3,630 people in hospital today because of COVID-19, and 500 people in intensive care.
• The Delta School Board has become the first in British Columbia to require its staff either to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing for infection.
• In Alberta, hockey tournaments are being held this week with about 600 teams each, and a new season of adult recreational leagues – with tens of thousands of players – is set to kick off, even though Omicron continues to rip through the province.
• Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has tested positive for COVID-19, the day after he held a news conference where he argued that gathering limits, which have been put in place elsewhere in the country, are ineffective against Omicron.
• As students return to in-person class next week, Manitoba schools will no longer notify close contacts of those infected with COVID-19.
• New Brunswick will enter a new lockdown, which includes the closing of gyms, entertainment venues and indoor dining at restaurants, at midnight tomorrow to curb rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
• Northwest Territories hit a record 1,072 active cases of COVID-19 in the territory as of Tuesday.

The federal government says the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing into Canada from the United States will come into effect as planned, despite a previous statement from the Canada Border Services Agency that said Canadian truck drivers would be exempt.

• Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said today that the CBSA statement was “provided in error,” and that Canadian truckers must be vaccinated if they want to avoid quarantine and a prearrival molecular test, starting this weekend.
• Trucking lobby groups say up to 26,000 of the 160,000 drivers who make regular cross-border trips will be sidelined as a result of the mandate, adding further bottlenecks and potential price hikes to the flow of goods.

N95s, medical masks or cloth: What’s the most effective mask to stop the spread of COVID-19? Here’s everything we know about Canada’s latest mask guidelines.

Rapid tests in short supply: The federal government is struggling to make good on its promise to deliver 140 million rapid tests to provinces by the end of the month.

Incarcerated with COVID-19: Indigenous federal inmates are infected with COVID-19 at disproportionately high rates, representing “disturbing and entrenched imbalances.”

The mathematics of Omicron: The Omicron variant is forcing mathematicians to rework the models that have helped shaped Canada’s understanding of COVID-19, as well as the country’s response to the pandemic.

Coronavirus around the world

• Tens of thousands of teachers in France went on strike today over the country’s chaotic COVID-19 strategy for schools.
• The U.S. Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing.
• During the Winter Olympics in China, international visitors should expect police escorts, daily COVID-19 tests and robot chefs. Meanwhile, Omicron has brought fresh challenges to China’s strategy to quickly extinguish local outbreaks.
• Britain has experienced record staff absences and a slump in restaurant bookings amid the Omicron variant wave.

Coronavirus and business

Lawyers in Canada say they are being inundated with vaccine-related cases and claims of wrongful dismissal.

• Labour and employment lawyers said that cases involving the termination of unvaccinated employees hinge on a number of factors, including whether employees are required to come into work.
• There has been no definitive Canadian court decision on how vaccine mandates can be enforced in workplaces, which makes whether an employee can be fired for not adhering to an employer’s vaccine policy an especially complex issue.

Toronto’s population dropped by around 16,600 and Montreal by roughly 46,700 over a portion of the pandemic as work and living arrangements shifted under COVID-19.

• Those figures confirm that remote work has redrawn the boundaries of where Canadians can live, unlocking new options for homeownership.

Also today: The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose in the first week of January amid raging COVID-19 infections.

And: Delta Air Lines said the Omicron variant will likely delay the recovery in travel demand by 60 days, but it expects the recovery to resume in February.

Also see: Office vacancy rates in downtown Toronto and Vancouver are rebounding for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

Globe opinion

• The Editorial Board: Should the unvaccinated pay a special tax?
• Timothy Caulfield: Correcting COVID misinformation does not equate to cancel culture
• Campbell Clark: The health care accountability runaround has to end
• Elizabeth Renzetti: Boris Johnson’s clown car is headed for a ditch

More reporting

• First Person: Skating is going to help me survive another pandemic winter
• Here is a summary of key dates in the still developing saga of Novak Djokovic and his road to the Australian Open
• How advisers can help Gen Z plan for a financial future upended by the pandemic
• The COVID-19 pandemic is slowing many services, including car repairs and new licences, so as customers we need to be patient
• Video: French teachers strike over COVID-19 policy

Information centre

• Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• Where do I book a COVID-19 booster or a vaccine appointment for my kids? Latest rules by province
• What is and isn't 'paid sick leave' in Canada? A short primer
• Got a vaccine 'hangover'? Here's why

Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

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