The latest:
The number of people hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 in Ontario continues its upward trend, reaching a new pandemic high of 2,594 on Saturday, up from Friday’s high of 2,472.
Health officials reported 13,362 new, lab-confirmed cases on Saturday, although the actual daily count is likely much higher given that the province has reduced access to PCR testing for most people. The province also reported 31 additional deaths related to COVID-19.
A total of 385 people were undergoing treatment for the illness in intensive care, up by 47 from the previous day.
The average daily case count for COVID-19 in Canada rose 65 per cent from last week, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said on Friday.
But while the sudden acceleration of the Omicron variant is causing an “enormous” volume of cases, “severe illnesses are not rising at the same explosive rate as for cases,” she said.
Tam said the health-care system is seeing four times the case count compared with the peak of the third wave last spring, and even then, the count is an underestimate given that testing is challenged in many parts of the country.
Multiple health officials have cautioned that strained testing capacity since last month may have resulted in an undercount of cases.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says mandatory vaccine laws could eventually exist in Canada, but provincial leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan are among those already saying no to the idea. 2:44
Canada’s health minister on Friday said he expects provinces will need to consider implementing a broader vaccine mandate to counter rising cases.
Jean-Yves Duclos said such a measure was not currently being contemplated in Canada, but his personal opinion was that the country will “get there at some point.”
“We know that COVID-19 will be with us for many more months to come, maybe even many years,” he said.
Duclos said he spoke with provincial and territorial health ministers on Thursday and commended their continuing work on managing the crisis.
Health experts across the country are urging Canadians to stop shopping around for their preferred brand and take whichever COVID-19 vaccine is available. 2:13
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations won’t happen in the province, despite the federal government conceding such intervention may be necessary down the road.
Kenney, in a short statement on Friday, said his government removed the power of mandatory vaccination from the law books last year and “will not revisit that decision, period.”
What’s happening across Canada
The Chief of Bearskin Lake First Nation in northern Ontario says he’s been waiting for military support, as half the community’s population tested positive for COVID-19. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she expects the military to arrive “very quickly”. 7:10
With lab-based testing capacity deeply strained and increasingly restricted, experts say true case counts are likely far higher than reported. Hospitalization data at the regional level is also evolving, with several provinces saying they will report figures that separate the number of people in hospital because of COVID-19 from those in hospital for another medical issue who also test positive for COVID-19.
For more information on what is happening in your community — including details on outbreaks, testing capacity and local restrictions — click through to the regional coverage below.
You can also read more from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which provides a detailed look at every region — including seven-day average test positivity rates — in its daily epidemiological updates.
In the Maritimes, New Brunswick officials on Friday reported having 69 people in hospital with COVID-19 — 17 of whom are in the ICU. That exceeded a previous high of 68 set in October.
In Quebec, COVID-19-related hospitalizations rose by nine per cent on Friday, pushing hospitals to cancel more surgeries. Coupled with the fast-rising number of patients, about 20,000 health-care workers across the province were off the job, isolating, because they had either contracted the virus or had been exposed to it.
In the North, Nunavut reported 35 new cases on Friday, while Yukon reported 41 new cases and the Northwest Territories recorded 149.
In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador health officials on Friday reported four hospitalizations and one additional death.
In Nova Scotia, one additional death and 48 hospitalizations were reported by health officials on Friday.
In Prince Edward Island, there were two people in hospital being treated for COVID-19 on Friday, down from four a day earlier.
In the Prairie provinces, hospitalizations in Manitoba rose to 297, health officials reported on Friday. Thirty-four of those patients are in the ICU.
In neighbouring Saskatchewan, 105 such hospitalizations were reported as of Friday — including 11 people in the ICU. As well, 1,170 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the province, a new high. No additional deaths were reported.
In Alberta, health officials on Friday reported two additional deaths and 504 hospitalizations.
In British Columbia, the provincial government said on Friday that thousands of students across the province will return to in-class learning on Monday. Health officials said the province currently has 349 hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Nine additional deaths were reported on Friday as well.
What’s happening around the world
As of Saturday morning, more than 303.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.4 million.
In the Middle East, hundreds of people rallied in Beirut on Saturday to protest measures imposed against the unvaccinated. As of Monday, civil servants in Lebanon must either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or take regular PCR tests to be able to go to work.
Health Minister Firass Abiad criticized the protesters, saying that more than 20,000 people were vaccinated on Saturday alone as part of a government campaign focusing on students and teachers. Educational institutions are to resume classes on Monday.
In Europe, government advisers in the U.K. have recommended against giving a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents and people over 80 because data shows that a third shot offers lasting protection against admission to the hospital.
The U.K. Health Security Agency says that for people over 65, protection against hospitalization remains at about 90 per cent three months after the third dose.
In Asia, India reported 141,986 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the most since the end of May, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus overtakes the Delta version in cities.
Health experts say India’s high rate of infection during a previous major wave in April and May, as well as vaccinations, would mean a reduction in the severity of the illness for those infected by the Omicron variant.
Nearly 70 per cent of Indians had been infected with the coronavirus by the middle of last year, according to government serological surveys, while an almost equal proportion of adults have been fully vaccinated as of this week.
Authorities in several Indian cities, including the national capital New Delhi, have imposed a night curfew on weekdays, closed schools and ordered most shops to open only on alternate days when there is no curfew.
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