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

Top headlines:

  1. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, per capita COVID-19 fatality rates are more than three times the national figure
  2. Major-General Dany Fortin’s bid to lead the federal vaccine rollout again has been quashed
  3. The Quebec Order of Nurses is suspending licences for members who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 beginning Friday

In the past seven days, 24,138 cases were reported, down 12 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 239 deaths announced, down 20 per cent over the same period. At least 2,342 people are being treated in hospitals and 1,601,901 others are considered recovered.

Canada’s inoculation rate is 13th 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 chartsTracking vaccine dosesLockdown rules and reopening


Photo of the day

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People hold a rally in support of the 10 teachers fighting the vaccine mandate for public-school employees at Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse today in New York. A judge ruled against the teachers who are fighting the city's enforcement of the mandate.Michael M Santiago/Getty Images


Coronavirus in Canada


A surge of infections has overwhelmed hospitals in Alberta and Saskatchewan, leaving those two provinces with the country’s highest COVID-19 death rates.

  • Alberta alone accounts for more than a third of all deaths in Canada in the past two weeks – despite having less than 10 per cent of the population.
  • In Saskatchewan, about 40 people a week have been dying of COVID-19, though the per capita rate is even higher than in Alberta. The death rate in Saskatchewan is 21 times higher than in Nova Scotia.

Military ruling: The Federal Court has denied Major-General Dany Fortin’s bid to be reinstated as the leader of the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He is still facing a charge of sexual assault.


Coronavirus around the world


Coronavirus and business

Canada’s fine-dining industry has taken such a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic that many high-end restaurants have considered closing down.

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed restaurants to the brink, coping with challenges such as high food and labour costs, and a heavy reliance on in-person dining rooms that have been subject to months of shutdowns and capacity limits.
  • Also, when indoor dining vanished, high-end restaurants were less suited than others to providing takeout. They often make money by selling alcohol: The markup on a bottle of wine offsets the cost of the food on a plate.

Also today: The International Monetary Fund is slightly downgrading its outlook for global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic recession, and emphasized the need for a more equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

And: What is driving the decline in self-employed workers? In September, the number of self-employed workers fell to its lowest level during the pandemic.


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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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