Good evening, these are the top coronavirus headlines tonight:
Top headlines:
- The pandemic gave office-bound dads the chance to be more present in kids’ lives. They’re not ready to give that up
- Health Canada to drop COVID Alert contact-tracing app immediately as rule changes limit usefulness
- Dr. Theresa Tam says she’s ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the current trajectory of COVID-19 in Canada
An increasing number of health agencies have changed how they are 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
- Health Canada has shut down the COVID Alert contact-tracing app after changes to testing rules in many provinces rendered it useless to many Canadians.
- Federal officials say regulators should reach a decision about whether to approve Canada’s first COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschoolers in coming weeks as the U.S. prepares to roll out tot-sized shots.
- At a news conference Friday, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, said she’s “cautiously optimistic” about the current trajectory of COVID-19, with most epidemiological indicators continuing to decline. But she added there are signs of growth in several emergent Omicron sub-lineages.
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Pandemic recovery
- Working remotely during the pandemic has been a profound change for many fathers, who say they have been able to spend more time with their children, do more around the house and enjoy a greater sense of presence in their family lives.
- The first Memorial Cup in three years kicks off Monday after being cancelled since 2019 because of COVID-19 restrictions. Thousands of hockey fans are pouring into host city Saint John, a port city on the Bay of Fundy that suffered tremendously during the worst of the pandemic.
- As school boards across Ontario are nailing down virtual learning plans for the upcoming school year, some are finding that programming is challenging to offer, with significantly lower student interest.
- Children’s hospitals across Canada are seeing high rates of admission. “All these viruses that were basically dormant for two years in kids are now just exploding,” said Dr. Daniel Rosenfield, a staff physician Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
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Globe opinion
Hannah Sung: BTS are taking the break we all need to take
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More reading
- Looking to fill some COVID-19 downtime, Olivia Cesta began watching Drive to Survive on Netflix. The show is a surprising pop-culture force, taking viewers behind the scenes of Formula 1. This weekend, Cesta and her sister will catch their first F1 race in person, joining more than 300,000 in Montreal for the first Canadian Grand Prix in three years.
- Bear markets are usually brief and nasty – but a recovery can take years
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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