The latest:
The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has hit pandemic highs in two Prairie provinces and British Columbia, according to health data released Monday, while hospitalizations in Ontario and Quebec declined slightly.
In Manitoba, the COVID-19 dashboard showed a total of 735 hospitalizations on Monday, with 56 COVID-19 patients in the province’s intensive care units. The province also reported 19 additional deaths since Friday, with 505 new lab-confirmed cases.
Saskatchewan health officials reported a total of 363 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Monday, with 42 in ICUs. The province also reported two additional deaths since its last update on Sunday and 736 new lab-confirmed cases.
British Columbia, meanwhile, saw the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital rise to 1,048 people, with 138 people in intensive care. The province also reported an additional 19 deaths and 4.075 additional lab-confirmed cases since the last update on Friday.
In Alberta, the total number of people in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 1,516, according to Monday’s report, with 99 people being treated in ICUs. The province reported 35 additional deaths since Friday, along with 1,777 additional lab-confirmed cases.
Unprecedented COVID-19 hospitalizations have left staff at Toronto’s Humber River Hospital exhausted and struggling to care for a relentless wave of very sick people. They say lessons must be learned from this pandemic, so the next public health crisis is not as catastrophic. 7:08
COVID-related hospitalizations dipped slightly in Ontario on Monday as the province began easing pandemic restrictions to allow restaurant dining rooms, gyms and theatres to reopen at 50 per cent capacity. The province said hospitalizations were down to 2,983, with 583 people in the province’s ICUs. Health officials also reported 31 new deaths and 3,043 new lab-confirmed cases.
Quebec — which also took steps to reopen on Monday — saw a small decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, with 2,888 total and 223 people in intensive care. The province also reported 33 additional deaths and 2,423 new cases.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 9:45 a.m. ET
What’s happening in the rest of Canada
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.
Across the North, there’s just one reported COVID-19 hospitalization. That individual is in a hospital in Yukon, where health officials on Monday reported 45 additional cases.
Health officials in the Northwest Territories reported 251 additional cases on Monday, while Nunavut saw 152 additional cases.
In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday reported 22 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with nine people in critical care. Health officials also reported two additional deaths and 183 lab-confirmed cases.
New Brunswick health officials on Monday said total hospitalizations had declined from a pandemic high, falling to 152, with 16 people in ICU. The province also reported five additional deaths and 169 additional lab-confirmed cases.
In Prince Edward Island, health officials said Monday 15 people were being treated for COVID-19 in hospital on Monday, with two people in ICU. A statement from the province said five other people were in hospital with COVID-19. The island also saw 234 additional lab-confirmed cases.
Nova Scotia, meanwhile, on Monday said 93 people were being treated for COVID-19 in designated hospital units, with 15 people in the province’s ICUs. The province also reported an additional 258 people in hospital with COVID-19, including people who tested positive but were being treated for other illnesses and those who acquired COVID-19 in hospital.
Health officials in Nova Scotia also reported three additional deaths and 256 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 9:30 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
As of early Tuesday morning, more than 378.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.6 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia’s holiday island of Bali will start welcoming back travellers from all countries later this week, more than three months after announcing it was open to selected nationalities.
Meanwhile, organizers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are hoping for stadium capacities of at least 30 per cent despite China’s enforcement of tight regulations to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday.
Olympic organizers in Beijing are closely guarding the ‘closed loop’ system, where athletes, personnel and the media are confined to a bubble that includes strict protocol and testing to prevent COVID-19 from infiltrating the Games. 3:01
People in China rang in the Lunar New Year on Tuesday despite pandemic restrictions, as small crowds gathered at temples to offer traditional prayers for the Year of the Tiger.
In Africa, health officials in South Africa reported 1,366 additional cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 71 additional deaths.
In Europe, Denmark has become one of the first European Union countries to scrap most pandemic restrictions as the country no longer considers the COVID-19 outbreak “a socially critical disease.” The reason for that is that while the Omicron variant is surging in Denmark, it’s not placing a heavy burden on the health system and the country has a high vaccination rate.
The wearing of face masks is no longer mandatory as of Tuesday on public transportation, shops and for standing clients in restaurant indoor areas. Another restriction that is no longer required is the digital pass, previously used to enter nightclubs, cafés, party buses and to be seated indoors in restaurants.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized and vowed to “fix it” after a report released Monday into lockdown parties held at his Downing Street residence were criticized as a “serious failure” to observe the standards of government.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tainted the ‘heart-wrenching’ sacrifices of the British people, Opposition Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer told Parliament Monday. 2:39
In the Middle East, health officials in Kuwait on Monday reported 6,063 additional cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths.
In the Americas, Mexico registered 12,521 confirmed cases and 198 more deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, according to health ministry data, bringing the country’s overall number of confirmed cases to 4,942,590 and the death toll to 306,091.
Brazil has had 77,947 new cases of the coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 284 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Monday.
-From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 9:30 a.m. ET
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