Coronavirus Update: Grocery stores face temporary closings as staff fall sick, products delayed

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

Top headlines:

1. Grocery stores face temporary closings as staff fall sick, products delayed
2. WestJet, Air Canada cancel flights as the Omicron variant takes toll on travel sector
3. Hong Kong to kill 2,000 small animals after hamsters blamed for COVID-19 outbreak in closed-off city

In the past seven days, 197,790 cases were reported, down 27 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 867 deaths announced, up 73 per cent over the same period. At least 10,520 people are being treated in hospitals.

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

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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

• In Quebec, the rise in the number of COVID-19 patients is slowing, but around 12,000 health care workers are isolating. Meanwhile to meet the shortage of nurses, hospitals and health networks are launching recruitment campaigns in Africa, Europe and Latin America. And the National Bank of Canada’s chief economist says Quebec’s health care shortages threaten economic growth. The province reported 89 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus Tuesday, and 3,417 people are in hospital with COVID-19.
• Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is set to make an announcement this week about reducing COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, child-care centres say they’re concerned about the limited supply of N95 masks they’ve received from the provincial government. Ontario is reporting a record 4,183 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 580 people in intensive care.
• In British Columbia, gyms and other exercise facilities are allowed to reopen, a move the province’s top doctor describes as a “cautious step” in lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, doctors and nurses are “emotionally exhausted” as the province grapples with latest COVID-19 wave. And B.C. teachers can now be asked to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status under a public-health order issued Monday.
• In Alberta, hospitalizations surpassed 1,000 on Sunday for the first time since October. Meanwhile, a Red Deer restaurant has closed temporarily after public health inspectors say some of its staff accepted dog photos instead of vaccine passports to dine-in.
• Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is adding a third health minister to her cabinet. Meanwhile, federal statistics show Manitoba has recorded the second-highest, per-capita death rate from COVID-19 among all provinces.
• Saskatchewan’s health authority says health care services may be interrupted in the weeks ahead when a tide of COVID-19 hospitalizations and absenteeism among workers is expected to hit. COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased 65 per cent in the last month, with 165 patients currently admitted.
• Prince Edward Island announced new restrictions, including reducing gathering sizes, and closing gyms and indoor dining at restaurants.
• Nunavut has recorded its first Omicron death, and the fifth since the start of the pandemic. The federal government has said it will provide the territory with extra nurses and contact tracers to help with its outbreak of the virus.

Air Canada and WestJet are cutting thousands of flights as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge. The Public Health Agency of Canada advised against non-essential trips abroad in mid-December.

• Air Canada has cancelled 15 per cent of its flights in March and 11 per cent in February, while WestJet Airlines said Tuesday it will cancel 20 per cent of its February flights.
• On Monday, the two carriers and Toronto’s Pearson airport said in a statement that the requirement for international travellers to quarantine until on-arrival molecular tests come back negative has further dissuaded visitors.

Coronavirus around the world

• Authorities in Hong Kong will euthanize some 2,000 hamsters and other small animals after a minor COVID-19 outbreak was linked to a pet shop in the city.
• The World Health Organization’s chief scientist said today there is currently no evidence that healthy children and adolescents need booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Coronavirus and business

Hot-desking, a concept where employees book a desk each time they work in office, has become one of the most popular hybrid work-related changes employers have embraced over the past two years.

• For employers, hot-desking is a savings tool: Why have 100 desks for 100 employees when many of them only come in fewer than three times a week?
• But many employees say hot-desking makes their workspaces feel impersonal and removes part of the joy and certainty of coming into the office.

Also today: Grocery stores are struggling with rising labour and product shortages that could threaten Canada’s food security, experts say. Gary Sands, senior vice-president of public policy with the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, says employee absenteeism, owing to workers calling in sick and COVID-19 protocols, has hit about 30 per cent at some stores.

And: Leadership burnout on the rise as COVID-19 pandemic takes mental-health toll

Globe opinion

• The Editorial Board: On mandatory COVID-19 testing for travellers, the airlines have a point – up to a point
• Gary Mason: As the pandemic drags on, governments can only do so much to protect us

More reporting

• NHL to stop testing asymptomatic players who are fully vaccinated after All-Star Weekend break
• Montreal Canadiens forwards Cole Caufield and Joel Armia placed in NHL’s COVID-19 protocol
• World tourism industry inched back in 2021, but is still a fraction of prepandemic levels
• Pandemic scars on social cohesion to last at least a decade, senior labour leader says

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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