Even Canada’s smallest province is introducing sweeping new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 as other parts of the country continue to shatter records for new diagnoses. Here’s a brief run through the current situation in Canada.
Prince Edward Island is heading into a two-week “circuit breaker” lockdown beginning this morning and ending on Dec. 21, meant to stem newly discovered community transmission of the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Ontario and Alberta led the country by far with the highest number of new cases reported on Sunday.
Ontario plowed through its own record twice over the weekend, reporting 1,924 new infections Sunday to top the historic 1,859 new diagnoses logged the day before.
Alberta logged 1,836 new cases of COVID-19, with 19 more deaths. It was the fourth straight day that the province recorded upwards of 1,800 cases.
Quebec reported another 1,691 cases of the virus on Sunday. That came after the province pushed above 2,000 daily cases for the first time on Saturday.
Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, highlighted the outbreaks that continue to occur in high-risk populations and communities such as long-term care homes, Indigenous communities and more remote areas of the country.
Meanwhile in the UK
Shipments of the coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech have been delivered in the UK. in super-cold containers.
The deliveries arrived Sunday, two days before it goes public in an immunization program that is being closely watched around the world.
Tuesday will be the start of Britain’s biggest-ever immunization program. Around 800,000 doses of the vaccine are set to be ready.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has reportedly dubbed Tuesday “V-Day,” a nod to triumphs in World War II.
Last week, the UK became the first country to authorize the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine for emergency use. In trials, the vaccine was shown it has 95 per cent efficacy.
And In the US
Donald Trump tweeted that his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for the coronavirus, making him the latest in Trump’s inner circle to contract the disease that is now surging across the US.
Giuliani was exhibiting some symptoms and was admitted Sunday to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The 76-year-old former New York mayor has travelled extensively to battleground states in an effort to help Trump subvert his election loss. On numerous occasions he has met with officials for hours at a time without wearing a mask.
The extraordinary spread in Trump’s orbit underscores the cavalier approach he has taken to a virus that has now killed more than 280,000 people in the US alone.
Those infected also include the White House press secretary and advisers Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, as well as Trump’s campaign manager and the chair of the Republican National Committee.