The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Saturday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
8:50 a.m. Ontario hospitals are reporting a rise in numbers of staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, and in one case — at Kingston Health Sciences Center — the number of absences due to the virus is the highest since the pandemic began.
KHSC, the University Health Network and the Ottawa Hospital all confirmed an increase of COVID-19 infections among staff in recent weeks.
Experts say the increase in cases among health-care professionals is an indicator of a rise in community infections as the group is among a small number of the population who are eligible for publicly funded PCR tests, since access was sharply restricted at the end of December due to the Omicron arises. The increase comes after Ontario relaxed COVID restrictions, lifting capacity limits and proof-of-vaccination requirements March 1, and mask mandates this past Monday.
Numbers from Kingston Health Sciences Center showed that staff absences on Thursday due to COVID surpassed numbers in January, at the height of the Omicron wave. Dr. Gerald Evans, head of infectious diseases at KHSC, said these were the highest absences due to COVID recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, and they were primarily among staff that provide direct care to patients.
Read the full story from the Star’s Ghada Alsharif.
8:47 a.m. China’s economy faces its worst downward pressure since the spring of 2020 when it was hit by the first wave of COVID-19, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.
Economic activities “may notably deteriorate across the board” in March, weighed down by increasing mobility restrictions across the country and a continued property sector slump, Nomura economists said. With the outbreaks suppressing a wide range of sectors, including in-person services, construction and some manufacturing activity, “it’s getting harder for Beijing to achieve its ‘around 5.5%’ GDP growth target for 2022,” they said.
8:45 a.m. The number of people infected with COVID-19 in the UK soared by almost a third in a week just as the government prepares to end free virus testing for most people. About 4.25 million people currently have the disease, almost a million more than last week, according to an estimate by the Office for National Statistics.
8:45 a.m. Though frustrations over the lack of spots for popular recreation programs and the technical challenges of seasonal sign-up have long been the bane of parents of all backgrounds, pandemic closures have posed a new problem.
One cohort of kids who have yet to learn how to swim is now colliding with a new group of tots born just before or during the pandemic to compete for a limited number of lessons. According to the city of Toronto, wait-lists for early childhood swim programs have nearly doubled between fall 2021 and spring 2022 registrations.
As another pandemic swimming season approaches, the result is a cohort of young children without the critical skills needed to stay safe in pools and lakes with no affordable alternative — private clubs can charge five times as much.
Read the full story from the Star’s Jennifer Pagliaro.
8:45 a.m. As coronavirus infections rise in some parts of the world, experts are watching for a potential new COVID-19 surge in the US — and wondering how long it will take to detect.
Despite disease improvements monitoring over the last two years, they say, some recent developments don’t bode well:
—As more people take rapid COVID-19 tests at home, fewer people are getting the gold-standard tests that the government relies on for case counts.
—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon use fewer labs to look for new variants.
—Health officials are increasingly focusing on hospital admissions, which rise only after a surge has arrived.
—A wastewater surveillance program remains a patchwork that cannot yet be counted on for the data needed to understand coming surges.
—White House officials say the government is running out of funds for vaccines, treatments and testing.
8:41 a.m. Shanghai’s new COVID-19 cases jumped over 40 per cent in a single day, hitting a fresh record as authorities scramble to contain China’s worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic in Wuhan.
There were 2,269 infections reported, with the majority of cases asymptomatic. Only 38 cases had symptoms, data from the municipal health commission showed.
The Chinese financial hub has seen case numbers grow rapidly in the past month, with scores of buildings and apartment blocks locked down and residents confined at home. While Shanghai officials have ruled out fully isolating the city, parts of it will be sealed off and further tested in a move some fear will plunge the financial hub into a de-facto lockdown. Frustrated residents are struggling to secure fresh food, while accessing medical care gets harder as select hospitals prioritize COVID patients and close outpatient services.
Following the death of a Shanghai nurse from asthma Wednesday night after being turned away from the hospital, the city’s authorities vowed to ensure healthcare services for residents under lockdown. Health facilities shouldn’t close or restrict access to departments including emergency rooms, fever clinics and intensive care units unless absolutely necessary, it said at a press conference on Saturday.
The city is also starting to roll out rapid antigen tests to a few districts, including Jing’an district. The tests are designed to supplement existing nucleic acid tests to help discover cases early.
8:40 a.m. Hong Kong’s government isn’t contemplating any “major concession” on flight suspension policies but will revisit trigger thresholds for halting them, chief executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing Saturday.
The flight suspension is a “public health infection control measure” not a “tug of war” between the Hong Kong government and individual airlines, Lam said.
Earlier, Sing Tao Daily reported that the city may greatly relax the number of confirmed COVID cases that trigger the flight circuit breaker. Currently, three or more infections on the same flight, or one that is confirmed and another that is non-compliant on the same plane, lead to a two-week ban.
City health officials at a separate briefing on Saturday reported 8,841 new COVID cases, dropping below 10,000 for the first time since Feb. 24. Infections have declined from more than 50,000 earlier this month as the city battles a fifth wave that has challenged its COVID Zero stand.
Authorities recorded 114 virus-related deaths in the last 24 hours. Hong Kong is experiencing one of the deadliest outbreaks of the entire pandemic, after being largely COVID-free for two years. Since January there have been more than 6,500 fatalities, the vast majority being unvaccinated elderly.
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