Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.
Top headlines:
- Hong Kong grapples with COVID-19 chaos as many foreigners head for the exit
- B.C. to ease COVID-19 restrictions on masks, vaccine cards
- Vancouver Coastal Health’s top doctor said vaccine mandates may cause more harm than good, letter reveals
In the past seven days, 39,350 cases were reported, down 1 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 375 deaths announced, down 21 per cent over the same period. At least 4,044 people are being treated in hospitals.
Canada’s inoculation rate is 13th among countries with a population of one million or more people.
Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.
Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts • Tracking vaccine doses • Lockdown rules and reopening
Photo of the day
Tennis player Novak Djokovic on the We Miss You wall after he withdrew from the Indian Wells tennis tournament due to COVID-19 entry requirements on March 10, 2022 in California.Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Coronavirus in Canada
- Ontario’s Education Minister Stephen Lecce is defending the province’s plan to end mask rules along with other COVID-19 measures in schools on March 21. The province is reporting 742 people in hospital with COVID-19 today, and 244 in intensive care.
- British Columbia will lift its mask mandate, restore long-term care visits and drop capacity limits on faith gatherings starting Friday. And starting on April 8, the B.C. vaccine card will no longer be required to access restaurants and other venues. Meanwhile, Vancouver Coastal Health’s Chief Medical Health Officer Patricia Daly advised in mid-February that vaccine mandates, passports and segregated lockdowns may cause more harm than good, correspondence shows.
- Quebecers who live with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 will soon not have to self-isolate, the same day most of the province’s remaining health orders are set to expire.
- In Nova Scotia, public employees in sectors considered non-high risk who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 can return to their jobs on March 21, when the province lifts its remaining public health restrictions. Today the province released its weekly COVID-19 data, which indicated a continued downward trend in hospitalizations and deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus.
- Saskatchewan is seeing a decline in active family doctors. Dr. Tima Mitchell, who has been a family doctor since 2011, says she can no longer sustain her clinic because of pressures on health care which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health workers in Canada have now endured two difficult years of pandemic conditions, and are calling for radical changes in order to revive the ailing health-care system.
- As the rest of the country starts to talk about the possibility of post-pandemic recovery, health workers say for them there is no end in sight. Now that cases of COVID-19 have dropped, they still have to tackle the serious backlogs that grew while non-emergent care was put on hold during the peaks of the pandemic waves.
Convoy protests: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser says the people who organized the Ottawa blockade, “came to overthrow the government.” Jody Thomas, former deputy minster at National Defence, said the protests that clogged Canada’s capital were sufficient to justify the Emergencies Act, even leaving aside separate blockades of vital border crossings.
Coronavirus around the world
- Hong Kong is currently grappling with the world’s biggest and deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, one that has been made worse by a breakdown in communications from the government, including conflicting advice and whiplash policy changes.
- In the U.S., the trial has begun for the four men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because they were angry about pandemic restrictions she imposed.
Coronavirus and business
Prior to the pandemic, some of New Zealand’s most popular tourist destinations – Matapouri Mermaid Pools, Milford Sound, Wanaka Tree and Queenstown – were being overrun. The country took advantage of the border closure to implement a sustainable travel movement.
- New measures incentivize hospitality operators to think greener, build smarter and work with local talent. It’s prompted a shift toward luxury, eco-friendly retreats that New Zealand Tourism is hoping will attract “high-value” visitors who will spend more to be in off-the-grid locations with five-star amenities and stellar cuisine.
- At the end of April the country has said it will welcome back fully vaccinated travellers. The country’s borders have been closed since 2020.
Also today: The airline industry, still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, is facing a new challenge as soaring fuel prices drive up the cost of travel.
And: The European Central Bank will stop pumping money into financial markets this summer, it said on Thursday, as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, among other factors, wanes.
Globe opinion
- George Athanassakos: Buying the dip? Beware - this time it’s not going to end well
More reporting
- How do you feel about returning to work in an office? The Globe and Mail wants to know
Information centre
- Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
- Where do I book a COVID-19 booster or a vaccine appointment for my kids? Latest rules by province
- What is and isn't 'paid sick leave' in Canada? A short primer
- Got a vaccine 'hangover'? Here's why
Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.
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