The border opening continues its creeping delay, Disney keeps its water parks closed, cases are on the rise in the UK – so no fireworks to see out this abominable year (but stay tuned). Germans demonstrate to music (It’s a Wonderful World!), Japan has a busy week for travel and lots more.

CANADA

The United States and Canada have extended existing border restrictions until Oct. 21 as authorities continue their efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, both nations said on Friday. The month-long extension, which does not cover trade or travel by air, follows restrictions first imposed in March and rolled over several times. They were due to expire on Sept. 21.

The United States has similar restrictions on the border with Mexico and these will also now be in effect until Oct. 21.

Ontario

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province will clamp down on social gatherings to prevent “reckless careless people” from spreading the coronavirus at illegal parties. His warning came as the nation’s top medical officer said authorities could potentially lose the ability to manage the pandemic.

Starting Friday, indoor social events in Toronto, Canada’s biggest city – along with Ontario’s Peel and Ottawa regions – would be authorized to include no more than 10 people from a previous limit of 50, Ford said. The cap on outdoor gatherings would shrink to 25 from 100, he added, saying anyone breaking the law would face fines of up to $10,000.

Canada’s chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said an average of 779 new cases had been reported daily during the most recent week, more than double the level in July.

The pandemic has killed more than 9,000 Canadians and authorities are on high alert to prevent a second wave.

B.C.

British Columbia announced a new program for children ages 4 to 19 to collect a sample via saline mouth rinse to use for COVID-19 tests, instead of the nasal swab test that a nurse performs. Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, described the program as one of the first of its kind in the world that would make testing easier as schools reopen.

UNITED STATES

Orlando

Disney water parks to stay closed until 2021. Disney says it plans to reopen one of either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon on 7 March, 2021. In a message on its website, it didn’t say which one will open.

The Florida theme parks reopened in July at reduced hours and capacity but Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon have stayed closed since March. Some Disney passholders have been informed they will receive partial refunds due to the continued closure of the water parks.

Volcano Bay and Aquatica water parks at Universal and SeaWorld respectively, both reopened this summer.

GREAT BRITAIN

The latest figures show that new daily coronavirus cases for Britain have risen to 4,422, the highest since early May. An official estimate also shows that new infections and hospital admissions are doubling every seven to eight days in the UK. The Conservative government is widely expected to impose further restrictions after Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that Britain is seeing a second wave of infections, following the trend elsewhere in Europe. London’s mayor has also said tighter restrictions could be needed soon in the British capital.

London

London’s annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display will not go ahead, because of coronavirus. Mayor Sadiq Khan told LBC Radio: “I can tell you that there will not be a fireworks New Year’s Eve this year like in previous years. “We simply cannot afford to have the number of people congregate on New Year’s Eve.” He said they are working on something that people can enjoy in the comfort and safety of their living rooms on TV.

“We can’t afford to lose that slot because New Year’s Eve is a really great opportunity for the rest of the world to see how wonderful our city is. Particularly during a recession we need to continue investment in our city and people coming to London.”

GREECE

Greek health authorities announced a further 170 coronavirus cases Sunday and seven deaths. The total number of cases is now 15,142, with 338 deaths.

Monday will see further restrictions in Athens and the surrounding region following a spike in cases. The measures include a ban on gatherings exceeding nine persons in both open and closed spaces, a ban on concerts and cinemas – but not theatres – and the obligation of 40% of employees to work from home, which is combined with a ban on employers using cameras to check on employees.

GERMANY

Hundreds of people demonstrated in downtown Duesseldorf Sunday against government coronavirus restrictions and in support of a host of other causes. People waved signs with slogans like “end to panic, corona pandemic is a lie” and “corona rebels.”

They chanted “free Julian Assange” along with one speaker, and formed a “W” – symbolizing “we all” – with their hands, which they raised over their heads as the theme to Chariots of Fire played. No masks were to be seen, aside from on journalists covering the rally, and a few children mingled among the crowd. Incongruously, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” played while a man in a Superman costume sang along.

BRAZIL

A 3-ton memorial was dedicated on Sunday at a cemetery where many of Rio de Janeiro’s COVID-19 victims have been buried. The 39-meter (128-foot) long steel Infinity Memorial was erected to pay tribute to those who died from coronavirus and provide families with a symbol of their loss in one of the worst affected cities in Brazil. The memorial was designed by the Brazilian architect Crisa Santos, who had the idea of building the work at the peak of the pandemic after visiting several cemeteries in the country. The names of 4,000 of those who died will be inscribed on the structure.

INDIA

India has registered 92,605 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and is expected to surpass the United States as the pandemic’s worst-hit country within weeks. The Health Ministry on Sunday also reported 1,133 additional deaths for a total of 86,752.

Sunday’s surge raised the country’s virus tally to over 5.4 million. India, however, also has the highest number of recovered patients in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. Its recovery rate stands at about 80%. Over 60% of the active cases are concentrated in five of India’s 28 states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced scathing criticism for its handling of the pandemic amid a contracting economy that left millions jobless.

JAPAN

Train stations and airports in Japan are filled with people travelling over the “Silver Week” holiday weekend, in a sign of recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic. The surge in domestic travel is in contrast to previous holidays, when pressure was high for people living in urban congested areas to stay home and avoid areas with fewer infections. The new daily cases in Tokyo have recently fluctuated around 200, but Japan does not have widespread testing and many cases are likely going undetected. Baseball games, stores and theatres are open again with social distancing, mask-wearing, hand sanitizers and temperature checks.

A study by mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo showed crowd size at a domestic terminal at Tokyo’s main Haneda airport, as well as train stations and shopping districts nationwide. Japan, with about 1,500 deaths related to COVID-19, has banned almost all overseas visitors and requires quarantine and virus checks for returning Japanese.

CRUISE

Carnival last week confirmed a total of 18 vessels across several cruise brands will be sold or be scrapped. Princess Cruises says it has sold two of its ships as part of 18 departing the Carnival Corp fleet. In a letter to travel agents Princess wrote, “Sea Princess and Sun Princess have been sold and will be leaving our fleet. While it is never easy to say goodbye to any ship in our fleet, the sale of these ships will allow us to deploy newer ships enhancing our offering for Australia cruisers.”

“We regret that we must cancel the bookings of your clients. Guests will receive separate communications advising of this cancellation.” Princess said.

Both ships are anchored off Singapore. Sun Princess was due to sail voyages in Australia before heading to Alaska in spring 2021.It joined Princess in 1995 and is the oldest ship in the fleet.

Sea Princess was scheduled to sail short and long cruises from various ports in Australia.

Sister brand P&O Cruises Australia also recently announced the departure of Pacific Aria and Pacific Dawn from its fleet.

P&O Cruises has pushed back its restart date, cancelling all Caribbean sailings until the end of January 2021, and all cruises from and to Southampton through February. The cruise line has already announced cruises on Arcadia and Aurora have been cancelled through to the end of their spring world cruises next year.

All guests with bookings on a cancelled cruise will be notified and will automatically receive an enhanced 125% Future Cruise Credit or alternatively a 100% refund by filling out a web form.