Good evening, these are the top coronavirus headlines tonight:
Top headlines:
- Early indicators are signalling a fall resurgence of COVID-19, prompting the Public Health Agency of Canada to prepare for “worst-case scenario” COVID-19 variants that can evade immunity
- A new cost breakdown reveals the ArriveCan app began as an $80,000 expense at the onset of the pandemic – then ballooned to $54-million this year, according to figures provided to The Globe and Mail Monday
- Pandemic-related disruptions affected some of the youngest learners – according to data released by the Toronto District School Board, one of the only school boards to share data on student performance
COVID-19 updates from Canada and the world
- Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the Public Health Agency of Canada is keeping a particularly careful eye on the evolution of Omicron variants, along with any new mutations, as early signs point to a fall resurgence of the virus. “We haven’t detected any very extraordinary appearances as yet, but that is a scenario that we’re planning ahead for,” Tam said during her virtual appearance at the committee yesterday.
- A new cost breakdown reveals the ArriveCan app began as an $80,000 expense at the onset of the pandemic before growing to $54-million this year. The figures were provided to The Globe and Mail Monday shortly after a parliamentary committee ordered federal departments to hand over key contracting documents related to the ArriveCan app by the end of the month as part of a study into its $54-million cost.
- A new study shows the long-term effects of COVID-19 infections on the health care system – with those who test positive for COVID-19 spending more time in hospital in the months after infection, compared with their peers who tested negative.
- More Grade 1 students at the Toronto District School Board did not meet reading expectations in the last academic year compared with a decade ago, highlighting how pandemic-related disruptions affected some of the youngest learners. But overall, the impact of COVID-19 disruptions in Canada is unclear, because, unlike in other countries, the data is piecemeal.
- The World Health Organization said today COVID-19 remains a global emergency. “This pandemic has surprised us before and very well may again,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
- The Emergencies Act inquiry is currently under way, for the sake of determining whether the federal government met the required legal threshold to avail itself of the Emergencies Act’s extraordinary temporary powers. According to an intelligence report presented to the inquiry today, the Ontario Provincial Police warned there was no end date to the convoy protests heading for Ottawa in January and that it could end up including “extremists.” The same report appeared to illustrate a much higher level of concern about the convoy protest than the Ottawa police shared publicly at the time.
- According to additional evidence presented at the Emergencies Act inquiry, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Doug Ford of hiding during the Ottawa convoy protest that quickly overwhelmed the city’s police force, and talked with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson about the Premier’s absence in a Feb. 8 call.
- It was also revealed earlier this week that a week before the Emergencies Act was invoked, Canada’s intelligence agency told senior government officials it had found no evidence of foreign actors or states financing the convoy protests.
- Ontario hospitals are coming up with alternative solutions to deal with high patient volumes and long wait times as cases of COVID-19 and other illnesses rise. New staffing models and the use of unconventional patient spaces are being utilized as several hospitals across Ontario say they’re facing high patient volumes that are straining staff, challenging capacity and leading to delays in admitting patients. Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore is urging Ontarians to get their COVID-19 vaccines, saying, “it’s going to be a complicated year, as we try to get back to normal living with all respiratory viruses this fall and winter.”
- Ontario quietly changed masking rules for long-term care homes last Friday, no longer requiring visitors or caregivers to wear them when alone with a resident in their room. Operators were notified but no public announcement was made.
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Pandemic recovery
- Vaccines are widely available, there are fewer pandemic restrictions, and many Canadians are back in the office and back to school, yet there are still lingering coronavirus questions. We asked an expert: infectious disease specialist Lisa Barrett.
- Vaccines will no longer be a mandatory prerequisite for those serving in uniform in the Canadian Armed Forces, but members who already refused to get vaccinated will be released.
- Researchers chasing long COVID cures are eager to learn whether naltrexone, a generic drug typically used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction, can offer similar benefits to millions suffering from pain, fatigue and brain fog months after a coronavirus infection.
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Globe opinion
André Picard: Are we prepared for the wallop long COVID will deliver?
Kelly Cryderman: A new poll paints a grim picture for Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party
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More reading
- How the Black Death left its mark on our genes
- First COVID-19, now drought, B.C. brewery takes water-use restrictions in stride
- Hamilton slated to return to Toronto stage this winter after COVID-19 delays
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
- Waste water is filling the COVID-19 data gap
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