Good evening, these are the top coronavirus headlines tonight:
Top headlines:
- Starting today, Ontario residents can book appointments for Omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccines — beginning with residents considered to be the most vulnerable
- More than one third of Canadians polled say they are stressed about what to wear if they are returning to the office, after the pandemic forced many to work from home for the last two-and-a-half years
An increasing number of health agencies have changed how they're reporting data on the coronavirus. A look at the current numbers in Canada for reported cases, deaths from COVID-19 and for hospitalizations can be found here.
COVID-19 updates from Canada and the world
- Ontario is rolling out Omicron-targeted COVID-19 vaccines beginning today – starting with residents considered the most vulnerable, including those aged 70 and older, long-term care residents and health-care workers.
- Health Canada approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine last Friday for use in children between six months and four years old. It’s the second vaccine to be approved for that age group after Health Canada approved Moderna’s Spikevax shot in July.
- Residents of New Zealand will no longer be required to wear masks in supermarkets, stores, buses or planes, as the country removed most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions today. The last remaining vaccine mandates – on health care workers – will end.
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Pandemic recovery
- The federal government says airport data indicates that flight departure times are moving closer to prepandemic numbers, saying 86 per cent of flights at Canada’s four biggest hubs departed on time during the week of Aug. 22 to 28. But the government, under pressure to resolve bottlenecks that marred the summer resurgence in air travel, is using a novel measurement to show its efforts were effective.
- “There’s a level of social anxiety about returning to an office, and the idea of seeing colleagues for the very first time and in some circumstances,” says Mike Shekhtman, regional director at Robert Half, about the feelings of Canadians and white-collar workers around the world who are heading back to the office after the pandemic forced workplaces to go remote for more than two years.
- Deemed a high-risk activity during the pandemic, after a few karaoke nights were identified as superspreader events in Canada, karaoke was banned in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and later Quebec, and measures were put in place in Ontario and PEI to limit the risks that karaoke posed. Now, it’s back.
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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
Thank you for subscribing to our Coronavirus Update Newsletter. As the pandemic eases, we plan to wind this down and eventually cease sending, but have many other newsletters to keep you informed, including Globe Climate, Carrick on Money and Breaking News.
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