Good evening, here are the COVID-19 updates you need to know tonight.
Top headlines:
- The announcement that Moderna was readying to submit authorization for a vaccine for children 5 and under to Health Canada was big news for many families
- In Africa, measles cases have increased significantly, as coronavirus concerns have impacted all health services across the continent over the past two years
- Almost 1,000 members of the Canadian military were denied COVID-19 exemptions
In the past seven days, there were 422 deaths announced, up 8 per cent over the same period. At least 6,558 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
Women wearing face masks sit in a flower garden at a park in Goyang, South Korea, on April 28.Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press
Coronavirus in Canada
- There was a decrease in the number of people hospitalized in Ontario and in ICU with COVID-19, as the province reported 21 new deaths.
- Quebec saw a decline in hospitalizations and ICU admissions, while the province’s interim public health director said he’s hopeful the indoor mask mandate can be lifted by mid-May.
- Nova Scotia’s weekly COVID-19 report is showing an increase in hospital admissions and 24 more deaths, but health officials say there’s a decrease in new daily cases compared to the last seven days.
- In B.C., the ferry route to Haida Gwaii was cancelled due to a COVID-19 outbreak among staff, leaving residents and visitors stranded and disrupting medical travel and supply chains.
Moderna says it’s working on a submission to Health Canada for the approval a COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of six.
- The company asked U.S. regulators today to authorize low doses of its vaccine for the same age group.
- “There is an important unmet medical need here with these youngest kids,” Dr. Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, told The Associated Press. Two kid-size shots “will safely protect them. I think it is likely that over time they will need additional doses. But we’re working on that.”
Military: The Canadian military says more than 1,300 members of the Canadian Armed Forced requested exemptions from the military’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement, and nearly 1,000 of those requests were denied. More than 98 per cent of Canadian troops have been vaccinated.
Coronavirus around the world
- Taiwan, which had been living mostly free of COVID-19, is now facing its worst outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic with over 11,000 new cases reported Thursday.
- Africa is seeing a rise in the number of measles cases on the continent. According to Dr. Benido Impouma, a WHO expert in Africa, two years of disruptions by the coronavirus pandemic have had “major effects on the provision of routine health services, with immunization being seriously affected” in many countries.
- Families of foreign prisoners in China are worried about their loved ones’ health as the country’s lockdowns have further cut off inmates from the outside world.
Coronavirus and business
American vaccine maker Moderna will announce Friday it intends to build its promised Canadian production facility in the Montreal area.
- Canada’s biomanufacturing industry declined substantially in recent years and when COVID-19 vaccines were needed, no facility in Canada was immediately able to make them.
- Last year Ottawa budgeted $2.2 billion over seven years to try and reverse that decline.
Also today: Company insolvencies in England and Wales rose to their highest since 2012 in the first three months of this year following the end of emergency COVID support measures, while individual insolvencies were the highest since 2018.
And: MasterCard reported a 49 per cent jump in first-quarter profit as cross-border travel surpassed 2019 levels for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Information centre
- Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated people
- Where do I book a COVID-19 booster or a vaccine appointment for my kids? Latest rules by province
- 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? Email us: audience@globeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.