Good evening, these are the top coronavirus headlines tonight:
Top headlines:
- North Korea is experiencing a significant outbreak of COVID-19, reporting that 10 per cent of its population has symptoms.
- As a “no restriction” summer nears, opinion writer Kieran Delamont asks about those struggling with health and financial concerns.
- Canadian health experts are saying the newest variant of Omicron that’s been found is not one that has had a significant impact, but that they continue to watch for new variants of concern.
In the past seven days, there were 384 deaths from COVID-19 nationally, down 21 per cent over the same period. At least 4,896 people are being treated in hospitals and 349 are in the ICU.
Canada’s inoculation rate is 15th 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
- In Manitoba, Indigenous people aged 30 and up, and others aged 50 and up, can now get a second booster four months after the first one.
- P.E.I. will be lifting its masking mandate for schools and daycares as of next week.
- North Korea said Friday that nearly 10 per cent of its 26 million people have fallen ill and 65 people have died amid its first COVID-19 outbreak, while some observers believe authorities are under-reporting mortalities to try to show that its pandemic response is effective.
Pandemic recovery
- The WHO called an emergency meeting about the monkeypox outbreak in Europe. While not a recovery story per se, the organization hopes to use learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic in its responses to new outbreaks.
- China has surrendered hosting rights for next year’s Asian Cup, a little more than a week after it postponed the multi-sport Asian Games to 2023. It’s a trend that will likely continue for the country as it sticks to its “zero-COVID” policy while much of the rest of the world resumes normal life.
Globe opinion
Kieran Delamont: Our restrictions-free COVID-19 summer is here – but we’re leaving out people who can’t afford it
More reading
While nearly 1,000 cases of a new sublineage of the Omicron variant – BA.2.20 – have been discovered in Ontario, experts across the country say it doesn’t warrant significant concern. Instead, they’re focusing on keeping an eye out for any new variants that could cause a substantial increase in transmission.
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
- Waste water is filling the COVID-19 data gap
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