Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 cases among children in B.C. saw highest rise in those aged five to 11

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

Top headlines:

1. In British Columbia, children aged five to 11 are contracting COVID-19 at higher rates than other age groups. Of the 550 cases diagnosed this week in that age group, 56 went to the hospital and four received critical care
2. Health care spending in Canada will surpass $300-billion this year, according to findings in a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information
3. Pricey and “irrational” COVID-19 tests are making it difficult for families to travel even when all adults are fully vaccinated, say members of the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable

In the past seven days, 15,617 cases were reported, down 5 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 188 deaths announced, down 28 per cent over the same period. At least 1,919 people are being treated in hospitals and 1,672,943 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 12th among countries with a population of one million or more people.

Open this photo in gallery:

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

Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

Coronavirus in Canada

• The Ontario government says it will spend billions hiring more nurses and personal support workers and building more long-term care beds in the next few years, according to the province’s fall economic statement. The Toronto District School Board has put dozens of staff on unpaid leave for failing to reveal their COVID-19 vaccine status. Meanwhile, the province is reporting 438 new cases of COVID-19 today and five more deaths.
• In British Columbia, COVID-19 cases among children are the highest among those aged five to 11. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says cases are a reflection of transmission in areas with lower vaccination rates.
• Manitoba’s new premier, Heather Stefanson, is turning her attention to managing COVID-19 in the province as her rival in the leadership for the province’s governing Progressive Conservatives, Shelly Glover, refuses to concede.
• In Saskatchewan, data from the Ministry of Health shows COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes are more likely to occur in private care homes as opposed to ones run by the province’s health authority.
• Members of the medical community expressed disappointment and resignation after the Quebec government cancelled its vaccine mandate for health-care workers. The province is reporting 588 new cases of COVID-19 today and no additional deaths. Health officials say COVID-19-related hospitalizations dropped by seven, to 241, after nine people went to hospital and 16 were discharged.

In Ottawa, the federal government says 20,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine are set to arrive in Canada this week, and will be sent to western provinces to help boost vaccination rates.

• Officials in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan had asked the federal government for thousands of Janssen vaccine doses in recent weeks. The single-dose vaccine has not been used in Canada up to now, despite being approved by federal health regulators.

Health care spending: Health care spending in Canada will surge beyond $300-billion due to COVID-19, says a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

COVID-19 tests: Canadian Chamber of Commerce calls pricey COVID-19 border tests “irrational.”

Coronavirus around the world

• Britain became the first country in the world to approve Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral pill, a potentially game-changing treatment for people with mild to moderate COVID-19.
• As of Jan. 4, the U.S. will require those who work at companies with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested on a weekly basis.
• Two of Canada’s largest insurers are continuing to feel the economic impact of COVID-19 after a third wave of the virus and the resurgence of lockdown measures hit Asian markets, causing a slump in insurance sales.

Coronavirus and business

Canada’s banking regulator will allow banks and insurers to raise dividends and buy back shares effective immediately, lifting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The head of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Peter Routledge, said in a statement that while the restrictions “were prudent and effective over the past year and a half, they are no longer necessary nor fit for purpose and are being unwound.”
• Bankers and analysts had broadly expected OSFI to lift the moratorium, which was first imposed in March, 2020, and intended to help financial institutions preserve capital so they could continue making loans in the early stages of a global crisis.

Also today: Moderna shares tumble as the company cuts 2021 sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccine.

And: Canada’s two biggest life insurance companies, Manulife and Sun Life, report a rise in quarterly profits as its asset management growth offsets the COVID-19 pandemic.

Globe opinion

• John Ibbitson: Who would refuse the COVID-19 vaccine? New research sheds some light
• André Picard: Ontario and Quebec could not have chosen a worse time to embolden anti-vaxxers
• Cathal Kelly: Aaron Rodgers is showing us sports is the canary in the anti-vaxx coalmine

More reporting

• Airbnb revenue surges as countries ease pandemic-related restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors

Information centre

• Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• Waiting for a second dose? We answer your COVID-19 vaccine questions
• 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.

What are we missing? E-mail us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.