Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.
Top headlines:
- The Globe surveyed readers about how they feel about returning to the office. Most are anxious or angry about the idea
- Dr. Peter Juni says cases in Ontario might rise a bit after the holiday weekend
- Rise in hate crimes connected to pandemic and greater political polarization, Trudeau says
With many provinces now in the sixth wave, The Globe and Mail wants to hear what questions readers have about COVID-19 and the pandemic. Send your questions to audience@globeandmail.com.
In the past seven days, 326 deaths were announced, down six per cent over the same period. At least 6,303 people are being treated in hospitals.
Canada’s inoculation rate is 13th among countries with a population of one million or more.
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 a PPE suit performs to create awareness about COVID-19 during Suwori Tribal festival in Boko, west of Gauhati, India, today.Anupam Nath/The Associated Press
Coronavirus in Canada
- Alberta’s Health Minister Jason Copping says the number of COVID-19 infections continues to increase in the province but cases with the BA.2 subvariant may have reached a plateau. Hospitalizations in the province were up three per cent in the past seven days to 1,126, but the number of individuals with COVID-19 in intensive care dropped to 43 from 46.
- A Quebec judge ruled a mother can have her young son vaccinated against COVID-19 without the father’s consent and ordered the father not to take the child to COVID-19 protests. The province reported 26 more deaths due to COVID-19 today and 100 more people hospitalized with the disease.
- Ontario’s top science adviser says a small bump in COVID-19 cases is likely from holiday gatherings over the weekend. Dr. Peter Juni says waste water data shows a possible peak, the number of health-care workers testing positive for COVID-19 has plateaued, and test positivity has also plateaued.
- Newfoundland and Labrador residents are frustrated by the lack of free COVID-19 rapid tests when other provinces make them widely available at no cost. Newfoundland and Labrador only provides free rapid test kits in schools, long-term care homes, congregate living settings and to health-care workers.
A reported spike in hate crimes in Canada can be linked to the pandemic and greater political polarization, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today in a news conference.
- This past weekend, five men were attacked in a drive-by shooting outside a mosque in Scarborough. Last month, a man attacked worshippers at Mississauga’s Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre. No one was harmed.
- Statistics Canada reported this year that hate crimes jumped 37 per cent in 2020.
Coronavirus and business
The Globe’s online survey asking readers how they feel about returning to work in an office received more than 400 responses. The results show how many readers have grown accustomed to working from home during the pandemic and are mostly unwilling to trade the flexibility of remote working for the opportunity to interact with colleagues and managers in person.
- More than 56 per cent of respondents described themselves as feeling angry or anxious about returning to the office. When asked whether they would consider changing jobs if their employers instituted a mandatory return to the office full-time, 60 per cent said they would.
- Respondents’ attitudes toward returning to work varied based on career stage. Senior managers and executive-level professionals tended to be less anxious and more excited than most about returning to work. Intermediate-level professionals were more angry than the surveyed cohort about returning to the office, while entry-level employees were the most excited about it.
Also today: Prolonged lockdowns in Shanghai have become the predominant risk to China’s economy and markets, forcing money managers to cut holdings or turn defensive on stocks.
Globe opinion
- Globe editorial board: Why is Canada still telling people that two shots is ‘fully vaccinated’ against COVID-19?
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.
What are we missing? E-mail us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.