Good evening,
In the first episode of The Globe and Mail’s new podcast The Decibel, host Tamara Khandaker speaks to André Picard about how Canada has fared in the COVID-19 pandemic, what to do if you have vaccine-hesitant friends or family and whether the end of restrictions is in sight.
Now on to today’s top coronavirus stories:
Most flights carrying COVID-19-positive passengers to Canadian airports were domestic, data reveal
Flights delivering passengers infected with COVID-19 into Canadian airports are now predominantly domestic routes, according to federal data on airplane exposures compiled by The Globe and Mail.
International flights accounted for more than 60 per cent of cases linked to air travel in January and February. But by April that trend had reversed, with domestic travel accounting for more than 60 per cent of flights linked to infections.
The results of the data analysis raised questions among public-health experts and political leaders about whether Canada needs to do more to stem the spread of COVID-19 from domestic air travel.
Hugs and pints in the pub are back: Boris Johnson lifts Britain’s COVID-19 curbs
Much of Britain will take a major step toward normality next week when the government lifts a host of lockdown restrictions in England and permits people to hug each other, drink a pint in a pub and watch a movie in a cinema.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that as of May 17 pubs and restaurants in England can resume indoor service and other venues will be allowed to reopen including conference centres, concert halls, museums and sports stadiums.
Britain has seen a steady decline in infections, deaths and hospitalizations in recent weeks as the vaccination rollout ramped up.
COVID-19 hot spot Fort McMurray weathers its latest disaster with frustration and resolve
In a community with some of the highest COVID-19 rates in the world, with the ICU overflowing and the hospital straining to treat those suffering from the virus, Jane Gibson was trying to focus on the positive.
“It’s been, um, a challenge. Obviously,” said the Fort McMurray teenager, choosing her words carefully. “But I think our community is not inexperienced with adversity. We’ve faced a lot.”
Indeed, in recent years Fort McMurray has become almost synonymous with disaster, having been ravaged by fire in one of Canada’s worst natural disasters in the spring of 2016, then hit by a devastating flood in 2020. Most recently, it made headlines for having the highest coronavirus rates in Alberta, which in turn has some of the highest per capita rates in the world.
In other developments: Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says the stay-at-home order set to expire May 20 will likely be extended. Read more on this story and other COVID-19 news today here. Elliott also said the province is likely to mix first and second vaccine doses amid the lack of AstraZeneca supply.
Opinion:
- Should we ditch AstraZeneca before it drags down the whole vaccine campaign? - André Picard
- The needless pause on cancer care is a microcosm of Ontario’s flawed COVID-19 response - Robert Nam, professor of surgery, University of Toronto
Read more:
- Ontario LTC patients died from neglect amid pandemic, report finds: ‘All they needed was water and a wipe down’
- Wealthy hedge funds, money managers received Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy
- Working from home, Canadians are saving thousands. Some don’t want to go back to the office
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With Jerusalem’s days of horror, Netanyahu’s and Abbas’s power to bring calm is in question
A day of violent clashes in Jerusalem – followed by a deadly exchange of fire in and around the Gaza Strip – has put the spotlight on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, two veteran antagonists who appear to be nearing the end of their long reigns.
Whether Netanyahu and Abbas will pull back from the brink – or see political advantage in escalating the situation – is a central question after weeks of mounting violence in Jerusalem, the city both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital but which Israel has controlled since a 1967 war. Read senior international correspondent Mark MacKinnon’s full analysis here.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Top U.S. fuel pipeline: Colonial Pipeline is unlikely to resume significant operations for several days on the network that provides the East Coast with nearly half of its gasoline and jet fuel, following a ransomware cyberattack that Washington has blamed on a shadowy criminal network called DarkSide.
Privacy watchdog probing Pornhub: Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien says his office is investigating Pornhub and Montreal-based parent company MindGeek, over potential privacy breaches related to non-consensual content posted online.
That’s Dr. Lowry to you: Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry congratulated students for navigating their studies through the COVID-19 pandemic as he received an honorary doctorate from Nova Scotia’s Acadia University yesterday.
The Weeknd to perform at Billboard show: The Weeknd will celebrate his leading 16 nominations at the Billboard Music Awards with a performance at the May 23 event, which will air live on NBC from Los Angeles.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street closed lower today as inflation fears drove investors away from market-leading growth stocks in favour of cyclicals, which stand to benefit most as the economy reopens. Canada’s main stock index also got pulled into the red in a late-session selloff.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34.94 points or 0.1 per cent to 34,742.82, the S&P 500 lost 44.17 points or 1.04 per cent to end at 4,188.43 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 350.38 points or 2.55 per cent to 13,401.86.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 110.56 points or 0.57 per cent to 19,361.88.
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TALKING POINTS
Newfoundland has to choose between fixing its finances or facing disaster
“If [Premier Andrew] Furey stalls and takes half-measures, his province faces the very real prospect of hitting a debt wall within a few years. From there, it’s no great stretch to envision a federal government bailout, and a province thrown into a financial and constitutional crisis.” – David Parkinson
Connor McDavid is dominating the NHL – now it’s time for a Stanley Cup
“He has risen so high that his opponents no longer feel shame when he beats them singlehanded. They’ve gotten to that weird place where they feel half-honoured that he just handed them their heads. That is total mastery.” – Cathal Kelly
LIVING BETTER
It’s well known that eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help prevent heart disease, yet new data from Health Canada indicate that many are still not heeding the advice. What’s more, Canadians may need to be eating considerably more fish than current dietary guidelines advise. Since the body can’t make omega-3 fatty acids on its own, eating fish and taking supplements are the only sources.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Injured Vancouver homeless man who spoke out about tent cities has died
Facebook photo of Carl Sinclair from December.Facebook
Carl Sinclair, whose assault last fall at a tent city in Vancouver’s Strathcona Park helped fuel calls for housing and support for people living there, has died.
His beating went unreported for 12 hours as he lay injured in the park and ultimately forced the amputation of his leg. After time in hospital and a rehabilitation centre, he and his mother moved into adjacent rooms at a downtown hotel. Sinclair died there last month of an overdose, his mother said.
Before he died, he did several interviews that cast a spotlight on conditions in the camp and the city’s long-standing homelessness crisis. His death, at 25, underscores the parallel crisis of tainted-drug deaths – a public emergency in B.C. since 2016.
“He touched so many people’s lives … he had hopes and dreams and he was an inspiration for a lot of people,” said Connie Sinclair, who said she and her late son are members of the Skuppah Indian Band, whose traditional territory is along the Fraser River near Lytton, B.C. Read Wendy Stueck’s full story here.
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