Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.
Top headlines:
- Health Canada approves Evusheld, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 drug to prevent infection
- Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by nine per cent during first year of pandemic
- The Decibel podcast talks about the pandemic surge in sexually transmitted infections
The Coronavirus Update newsletter will not be publishing on Friday, April 15. It will be back on Monday, April 18.
In the past seven days, there were 363 deaths announced, up 23 per cent over the same period. At least 5,754 people are being treated in hospitals. Canada’s inoculation rate is 14th 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
People wearing face masks stroll under cherry blossoms in full bloom at a park in Goyang, South Korea, on April 14.Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press
Coronavirus in Canada
- Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore will recommend the province extend remaining mask mandates – in settings such as hospitals, long-term care and public transit – for an additional four weeks beyond the current expiry date of April 27. The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table’s latest modelling shows the province is “well into wave six of the pandemic.” Meanwhile, Toronto Mayor John Tory tested positive for COVID-19 this morning.
- Quebec’s emergency rooms are experiencing a “perfect storm” of problems amid a sixth wave of COVID-19, says the head of a medical association in the province. About 13,000 health-care workers are absent due to COVID-19, while viruses such as gastroenteritis and influenza are hitting the province.
Health Canada has approved AstraZeneca’s antibody drug Evusheld to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 infection in immunocompromised people.
- The drug is intended for people who cannot receive a typical vaccine or for whom vaccines alone won’t provide enough immunity. The drug was not approved as a substitute for vaccination against COVID-19 for most people.
- Drug trial data released in November showed an 83 per cent reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19, compared to a placebo, after about six months.
Boosters for kids: Pfizer-BioNTech announced today its booster increased the level of neutralizing antibodies against both the original version of the virus and the Omicron variant in a small trial of children age 5 to 11.
The Decibel podcast: Globe reporter Zosia Bielski tells The Decibel that sexual health testing took a nose dive during the pandemic, as health care workers and resources were diverted towards the fight against COVID-19.
Coronavirus around the world
- Germany’s health minister Karl Lauterbach said the four suspects detained for planning to kidnap him were using protests against COVID-19 restrictions to destabilize the state and the country’s democratic system.
Coronavirus and business
Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions plummeted to their lowest level in almost three decades in 2020 as pandemic restrictions kept cars off the road and grounded airplanes for months on end.
- Emissions from road transportation fell more than 14 per cent in 2020, accounting for two-thirds of Canada’s total reduction. Aviation emissions were cut almost in half.
- But a new and more accurate way to count methane emissions from the oil and gas industry found that Canada emitted many more tonnes than previously thought over the last 25 years, dampening some of the better news in the emissions report published today.
Globe opinion
- Nancy Qian: China is caught in a COVID-19 trap of its own making
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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