The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Wednesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
8:35 a.m. Despite the reality that each one of us probably knows more people in our lives currently infected with the virus than at any other point in the pandemic, now is the time, according to the mayor and Toronto’s top doctor, to declare the crisis kaput.
The pandemic rages on. But the emergency is over.
Like almost any public health themed message, it’s an odd one. It’s a confusing one. It’s a contradictory one. But it’s not a controversial one.
Read the full column the Star’s Emma Teitel.
8:33 a.m. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug.
Paxlovid has become the go-to option against COVID-19 because of its at-home convenience and impressive results in heading off severe disease. The US government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase enough pills to treat 20 million people.
But experts say there is still much to be learned about the drug, which was authorized in December for adults at high risk of severe COVID-19 based on a study in which 1,000 adults received the medication.
Doctors have started reporting rare cases of patients whose symptoms return several days after completing Paxlovid’s five-day regimen of pills. That’s prompted questions about whether those patients are still contagious and should receive a second course of Paxlovid.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration weighed in. It advised against a second round because there’s little risk of severe disease or hospitalization among patients who relapse.
Dr. Michael Charness reported last month on a 71-year-old vaccinated patient who saw his symptoms subside but then return, along with a spike in virus levels nine days into his illness.
8:31 a.m. California’s COVID-19 death toll is on the cusp of 90,000, a tally that comes as the US is nearing its own milestone of 1 million deaths.
As of Friday, California had reported 89,851 cumulative deaths since the start of the pandemic, up 269 from the previous week. At this pace, the state is likely to exceed 90,000 COVID-19 fatalities this week.
No state has suffered more total pandemic-related deaths than California. However, on a per-capita basis, California has the 11th-lowest cumulative COVID-19 death rate — with 229.5 deaths for every 100,000 residents, according to data compiled by the Los Angeles Times. Roughly a year ago, a similar analysis revealed California had the 22nd-lowest cumulative COVID-19 death rate of any state.
California also now has the lowest cumulative COVID-19 death rate of the nation’s 10 most populous states. By comparison, the cumulative COVID-19 death rate in Florida is 359.4 per 100,000 residents. In New York, it’s 348.8; and in Texas, it’s 316.1.
The worst rate can be found in Arizona, where the total reported death toll — just under 30,200 — amounts to 434.6 fatalities for every 100,000 residents.
8:30 a.m. The city of Shanghai is doubling down on pandemic restrictions after a brief period of loosening up, frustrating residents who were hoping for a more than month-long lockdown was finally easing as the number of new cases falls in China’s financial center.
Teams in white protective suits have begun entering the homes of coronavirus-infected people to spray disinfectant, prompting worries among some about damage to clothes and valuables and leaving their keys with a community volunteer when they are taken to quarantine — a new requirement so disinfectant workers can get in.
Shanghai also has ordered people in some areas to stay in their homes again after letting them out for limited shopping in recent weeks. On Tuesday, service was suspended on the last two subway lines that were still operating, marking the first time the city’s entire system has been shut down, according to The Paper, an online media outlet.
China’s adherence to a “zero-COVID” strategy, as many other countries loosen restrictions and try to live with the virus, is exacting a growing economic and human cost. Evermore extreme measures have been required to bring outbreaks under control, because the Omicron variant spreads so easily. China’s ruling Communist Party, with an eye on a major party congress this fall, is showing no signs of backing off anytime soon.
Escape from Shanghai is all but impossible, but that didn’t stop an unofficial how-to guide — detailing how to navigate lockdown controls and nab a seat on the few trains and plans leaving the city — from circulating widely on social media. Many in the city of 25 million people shared their frustration with the renewed restrictions in chat groups.
The daily number of new cases in Shanghai had fallen to about 3,000 by Monday, down from a peak of 26,000 in mid-April. Six more COVID-19-related deaths were reported, raising the total from the outbreak to 553.
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