Good evening, these are the top coronavirus headlines tonight:
Top headlines:
- Global COVID-19 death rate triple the amount previously reported, according to estimates by World Health Organization
- Toronto Pearson urges Ottawa to boost security staffing levels as airports complain of long waits for screening
- U.S. limits use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to blood clot risks
In the past seven days, there were 493 deaths from COVID-19 nationally, down 3 per cent over the same period. At least 6,349 people are being treated in hospitals and 418 are in the ICU.
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
COVID-19 updates from Canada and the world
- A new detailed estimate released by the WHO on Thursday shows the world vastly underestimated the true toll of the pandemic, with COVID-19 killing nearly 15 million people around the world. Official statistics have undercounted the deaths caused directly by the coronavirus, while also missing the millions of deaths caused by indirect effects, such as those who died of other causes when they were turned away from hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients.
- In Ontario, 32 deaths were reported today while hospitalizations went down slightly, and in Quebec, a further decline in hospitalizations and 18 deaths reported.
- After a five-day Labour Day holiday, Beijing residents returned to work on Thursday as China continues to attempt to eliminate COVID-19.
Pandemic recovery
- There is so much demand by Canadians for air travel now that the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, operator of Toronto Pearson, has asked Ottawa for help with staffing to alleviate delays at departure and arrival checkpoints, which are run by Canadian and U.S. government agencies.
- In the U.S., federal money for COVID-19 care for the uninsured is drying up, creating a potential barrier to timely access.
- The U.S. health regulator said today it was limiting the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for adults due to the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome. The J&J shot can be administered in cases where the Pfizer and Modern vaccines are not accessible or if an individual is less keen on using the other two shots, the Food and Drug Administration said.
Globe opinion
More reading
- An intelligence analyst agency prepared reports for the Public Health Agency of Canada using anonymized data to help it understand travel patterns during the pandemic – including people’s trips to pharmacies and liquor stores. MPs on the ethics committee expressed surprise at how much detail the report contained, even as all identifying information was stripped out.
Information centre
- Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
- When will COVID-19 be endemic? The four factors that will shape the virus’s future
- Wastewater is filling the COVID-19 data gap
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