Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.
Top headlines:
- Physicians who spread misinformation may be eroding trust in health care system, experts say
- Some businesses are keeping proof-of-vaccination rules despite changing measures
- The Queen meets Trudeau in first in-person engagement since she tested positive for COVID-19
In the past seven days, 36,660 cases were reported, down 15 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 399 deaths announced, down 28 per cent over the same period. At least 4,214 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
A man wearing personal protective equipment stands on a street in Hong Kong amid the city's worst-ever COVID-19 outbreak.DALE DE LA REY/AFP/Getty Images
Coronavirus in Canada
- Quebec’s interim public health said today that the province could lift mask mandates by late March, stating that wearing masks could become a matter of “personal choice,” rather than an obligation.
- Hospitalizations from the most recent wave of the pandemic are gradually declining in Nova Scotia. But staff say they’re expecting a new rise in cases, as most public health restrictions in the province are set to lift later this month.
- Ontario is offering all nurses incentive pay of up to $5,000 per person as a means of supporting the nursing work force as the province recovers from the pandemic. And, provincial police services that implemented mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies are sticking with the requirement for now. The province is reporting 693 patients in hospital with COVID-19 and 249 in intensive care today.
All cruise ship employees and passengers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to be allowed into Canada, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced on Monday.
- Passengers will need to take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours before they board or take an antigen test within one day of boarding. They will also need a negative molecular test result within 72 hours before their return to Canada or an antigen test result within one day of their arrival, he said.
- Cruise ship operators will be required to inspect proof of vaccination and monitor and report test results. And no passenger will be allowed off a cruise ship unless they meet the testing and vaccine requirements.
Queen in recovery: Queen Elizabeth met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle on Monday, in her first official in-person meeting after she tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
Misinformation: A small number of physicians in Canada are spreading misinformation and unscientific views about COVID-19, a trend experts say could undermine the response to the pandemic and erode trust in public officials and institutions.
Friendships, reshaped: The pandemic narrowed our social circles in many ways. Lockdowns meant much less opportunity to spend time with large groups of people and bubbling required us to pick the loved ones we most want and need in our lives. Consequently, many of us reshaped how and why we value our friendships.
Trucker convoy: An Ontario judge ruled Monday that Ottawa convoy organizer Tamara Lich can be released on bail, reversing a prior decision.
Coronavirus around the world
- In the United States, vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 conspiracy theories still run deep among the country’s devout. Meanwhile, a convoy of pickup trucks, RVs and tractor-trailers protesting COVID-19 mandates drove two loops around the beltway surrounding Washington on Sunday.
- The global death toll from COVID-19 nears six million as the pandemic enters its third year.
Coronavirus and business
There’s renewed hope across the country that workers will soon be returning to offices that have been sitting mostly vacant for nearly two years.
- Governments have led the way in many jurisdictions by announcing return-to-office plans for public-service workers, which business leaders hope will propel other industries to follow suit.
Also today: With vaccine passport requirements either already lifted or about to be done away with in most of the country in the coming weeks, some businesses and organizations are deciding to keep vaccine passports in place.
And: Air Transat says it is relaunching a significant number of its routes for the busy summer travel season following the easing of pandemic-related travel restrictions.
Globe opinion
- André Picard: How the pandemic spurred more traffic violence
More reporting
- In the Maritimes, tenants are getting hit with steep rent increases, particularly during the pandemic
- Do hybrid work environments offer flexibility at the expense of career growth?
- First person: You see all sorts while working at a mass vaccination clinic
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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