Good evening, these are the top coronavirus headlines tonight:
Top headlines:
- Japan is loosening its tourism travel ban, but many Canadians wanting to visit family there still face near-impossible hurdles
- After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, Canada’s bars and restaurants are looking for a boost from the NHL playoffs
- Ontario reports no new COVID-19 deaths in the province for first time in nearly a month
In the past seven days, there were 428 deaths from COVID-19 nationally, up 2 per cent over the same period. At least 6,171 people are being treated in hospitals and 431 are in the ICU.
Canada’s inoculation rate is 9th 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
COVID-19 updates from Canada and the world
- Why do young adults lag behind the rest of the population when it comes to booster shots? These three people opened up about their decisions not to get boosted yet.
- Quebec’s death rate from COVID-19 remains the highest in the country, with the province reaching 15,000 dead from the virus this weekend. But rates are looking better there and across the nation, with no COVID-19 deaths reported in Ontario today for the first time in a month.
- Shanghai reported at least two days with zero infections outside of quarantine areas, and began allowing residents to go outside.
Pandemic recovery
- With three Canadian National Hockey League teams in the playoffs, restaurants and bars across the country are looking optimistically at a hockey boost to help them forget the shutdowns and closures of the past two years.
- After working remotely in sweats and yoga pants for two years, many people are rethinking their wardrobes to balance comfort and professionalism as offices reopen.
- A shift toward private flying that more wealthy Americans saw as a necessary luxury during COVID-19 is now showing signs of becoming something else: a pricey but sought-after alternative to a premium ticket on a commercial flight.
- Japan is one of fewer than a dozen countries that have remained closed to foreign tourists since the start of the pandemic. Although the country is now loosening its tourism travel ban, many Canadians wanting to visit family there still face near-impossible hurdles.
- For the first time in more than two years, New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and other visa-waiver countries after dropping most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said more than 90,000 people had booked flights to New Zealand in the seven weeks since the reopening was announced.
Globe opinion
- Marcus Gee: Reflecting on National Immunization Awareness Week in a Toronto graveyard
- John Doyle: Why is so much television so melancholy? Blame it on COVID-19
Information centre
• Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
• When will COVID-19 be endemic? The four factors that will shape the virus’s future
• Wastewater is filling the COVID-19 data gap
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Rebecca Zamon
Samantha Edwards