Skip to main content

Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

  1. A pregnant Toronto psychiatrist issued her family an ultimatum: Get vaccinated, or you won’t be able to hold the baby. Other families, too, are seeing vaccine statuses cause rifts as reopening continues
  2. The vaccine statuses of Canadians returning from abroad are not being tracked by the federal government – leaving a data gap in the total number of vaccinated residents
  3. The Delta variant, first detected in India, has given the pandemic renewed vigour and prompted the British government to delay lifting all remaining restrictions on social contacts

In the last 7 days, 9,141 cases were reported, down 27 per cent from the previous 7 days. There were 183 deaths announced, down 14 per cent over the same period. At least 1,306 people are being treated in hospitals and 1,361,174 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 11th 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 chartsTracking vaccine dosesLockdown rules and reopeningVaccine distribution planFour vaccines approved in CanadaEssential resources


Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

A police officer faces demonstrators during an anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protest in London, Britain on June 14, 2021.HENRY NICHOLLS/Reuters


Coronavirus in Canada

  • Starting tomorrow, British Columbia’s restrictions on indoor activities, gatherings and travel within the province will be relaxed. The province’s top doctor says the reopening is largely based on B.C. exceeding its minimum vaccine threshold markers.
  • In Alberta, if the Calgary Stampede goes ahead, its planners say the event will take place with capacity cut in half and proof of vaccination or rapid testing necessary to enter some venues.
  • Starting today, more people in Ontario were eligible to book an accelerated second dose of COVID-19 vaccine while those who received AstraZeneca can get the second shot after eight weeks.

In Ottawa, the federal government has not been tracking the number of residents who got a COVID-19 vaccine abroad, leaving a gap in understanding of vaccine coverage in Canada.

  • The lack of federal tracking means provinces are left to “fill this gap,” said Tom McMillan, a spokesperson with Alberta Health. The province is working on a way to allow residents to update their health records easily, while Ontario lets individuals do so in COVaxON, the central vaccine data registry, by contacting their local public-health unit.

Family feuds: Tension and resentment are mounting between vaccinated and unvaccinated family members as more Canadians get the shot and gathering limits increase.

Coronavirus origins: Canadians want a “robust” and ongoing investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, Health Minister Patty Hajdu says.


Coronavirus around the world


Coronavirus and business

Cash-flush consumers, lockdowns and ever-changing COVID-19 protocols have created an unprecedented slowdown of goods that is testing the global economy and its distribution networks.

  • From Vancouver to Halifax, manufacturers, wholesalers and other companies are scrambling to secure container space on ships at exponential prices to get their goods to Canada.

Also today: The head of the World Trade Organization said that the trend of pandemic-related trade barriers is “going in the wrong direction.” The restrictions need to be removed, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, so that medical supplies and vaccines can be moved more quickly.

And: Indigenous entrepreneurs find new business opportunities with subscription boxes amid the COVID-19 pandemic


Globe opinion


More reporting


Information centre

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? Email us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe