Like the rest of us COVID-19 doesn’t seem to be going anyplace right now. The pandemic is still causing havoc with the travel industry (yes, I know – and lots else) but we’re talking travel here. There are bright spots as destinations open and quarantines lessen or are even removed, but there are also huge concerns in some areas as cases spike, restaurants and entertainment venues close again and the cold weather approaches.
Canada
With the Canada-US border still closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Statistics Canada says the number of American travellers coming into Canada by car dropped 94 percent from the same time last year. The agency says the number of Canadians returning to the country in September was down 93 percent.
Statistics Canada says Canadians have been spending more time and money online since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency found in a survey conducted last month that 44 percent of Canadians had spent more money online on technology including computers, laptops and tablets, and 42 per cent spent more on video streaming services.
The World Bank
The World Bank says it has approved $12 billion in financing to help developing countries buy and distribute coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments.
The bank says the aim is to support the vaccination of up to 1 billion people and to signal to researchers and the pharmaceutical industry that people living in poor countries need access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.
It is part of a wider World Bank Group package of up to $160 billion to help developing countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The bank says its pandemic response programs are reaching 111 countries.
Development and deployment of such preventive vaccines is crucial to helping stem outbreaks of the coronavirus that has killed more than 1 million people and sickened more than 38 million.
The world’s richest countries have locked up most of the potential vaccine supply through 2021, raising concerns poor and vulnerable communities won’t get the shots.
United States
The city of Beverly Hills, California, has banned trick-or-treating this Halloween to try to prevent spread of the coronavirus. The action was approved as an urgency ordinance by the City Council this week.
The ordinance bars trick-or-treaters from going house to house or car to car, which is described as “trunk or treating.” People may not provide candy or Halloween treats to anyone outside their own household. The city is also banning pedestrians and vehicles from certain streets on Oct. 31, excluding residents.
California has not enacted a statewide restriction on Halloween but is strongly discouraging those activities and urging families to plan alternatives, including virtual celebrations.
A Wisconsin judge has temporarily blocked an order from Gov. Tony Evers’ administration limiting the number of people who can gather in bars, restaurants and other indoor places.
The order issued Wednesday comes as Wisconsin breaks records for new coronavirus cases, deaths and hospitalizations.
Evers imposed the new capacity limits last week to help curb the spread in the state. It limits the number of customers in many indoor establishment to 25% of capacity.
The Tavern League of Wisconsin sued, arguing it amounted to “defacto closure.” Sawyer County Circuit Judge John Yackel on Wednesday blocked the order and set a court date for Monday.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier this year struck down Evers’ “safer at home” order, which the governor has cited as part of the reason why coronavirus cases have spiked in Wisconsin.
Puerto Rico‘s health secretary announced he tested positive for the coronavirus. Lorenzo Gonzalez says he’s quarantined himself and alerted all those he’d been in contact.
The US territory of 3.2 million people has reported more than 27,600 confirmed cases and more than 740 deaths.
The island remains under certain restrictions imposed since the pandemic began, including a night curfew and restaurants, gyms and theatres operating at limited capacity.
Europe
Spain has become the first European Union nation to reach 900,000 infections after adding more than 11,000 confirmed cases.
Spain’s health ministry say it has confirmed 908,056 infections since the beginning of the pandemic, which is seventh in the world.
France is next in the EU with more than 750,000 cases, although the exact number of cases in each country depends on the amount of testing.
More than 5,000 new cases were diagnosed in Spain between Tuesday and Wednesday, the ministry says.
Spanish authorities have confirmed 33,413 deaths from COVID-19, ranking eighth in the world. Health experts believe the actual number is much higher because of a lack of testing.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron announced that 18 million French citizens in nine regions, including in Paris, will have a curfew starting Saturday through Dec. 1.
He also reinstated the state of health emergency for the country, which ended three months ago. The 9 p.m. curfew is aimed at limiting the resurgent coronavirus amid second wave.
Macron says, “Our goal is to curb the virus. We must reduce the number of cases per day to 3,000 or 4,000. Our goal is to reduce private contacts. What is called the curfew is a measure that is appropriate.”
The curfew will apply to the Paris region and to eight others: Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Toulouse, Montpellier, Saint-Etienne.
“We won’t go to restaurants after 9 p.m., we won’t’ see friends, we won’t party, because that’s how to pass on the virus,” Macron says.
Patients with COVID-19 occupy a third of intensive care units nationwide. France has 798,000 confirmed cases and nearly 33,000 deaths.
Italy has recorded 7,332 coronavirus cases, its single biggest single-day increase since the start of the outbreak. The previous record was 6,557 cases on March 21 when Italy became the European epicenter of the pandemic. However, there is more testing, with 152,000 conducted in the last day.
Another 43 people died, bringing Italy’s confirmed toll to 36,289, the second highest in Europe after Britain.
Public health officials are warning that hospitals are filling up and Italy’s contact tracing is overwhelmed by the number of the new infections. Virologist Andrea Crisanti says the resurgence threatens to create a “vicious circle” of too many infections to trace. He has suggested a Christmastime lockdown would help stop the chain of transmission and help “reset” the overwhelmed contact tracing system.
Romania registered a record number of new coronavirus infections with 4,016 on Wednesday as the number of patients in intensive care also surged. Romania, a nation of 19 million, has a total of 164,477 confirmed cases and 5,601 deaths. More than two-thirds of the confirmed cases were reported since the end of July.
The surge in new infections comes as authorities in Bucharest are considering a partial reopening of cinemas, theatres and restaurants following the recommendations of the National Center for Supervision and Control of Infectious Diseases (CNSU).
Romanian authorities ordered the shutdown of all indoor restaurants, theatres, movie cinemas, gambling and dance venues in the capital in early October. If the recommendations are approved, cinemas, theatres and restaurants will re-open on Thursday with reduced capacity, depending on the number of registered cases in their areas.
City officials have banned larger gatherings such as weddings and baptisms and may impose mandatory mask wearing outdoors.