Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Feb. 8
Alberta the latest province to announce plans to start easing — and even dropping — COVID-19 restrictions
The latest:
- Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announces plans to lift COVID-19 restrictions beginning tonight
- Quebec plans to lift most pandemic restrictions by mid-March
- Sask. to end COVID-19 proof of vaccination policy on Feb. 14; mandatory masking to remain until end of month
- More restrictions to be eased Feb. 17 as P.E.I. outlines 3-step COVID-19 transition plan
- Newfoundland and Labrador easing more restrictions
- Finally ready to travel abroad? Returning home can get complicated
- Ontario reports 2,254 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 474 in ICUs
- N.B. premier hopes to make announcement about COVID-19 restrictions before end of the week
Alberta became the latest province Tuesday to announce plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions, joining Quebec, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I.
Premier Jason Kenney said his province has passed the peak of Omicron infections and that new hospitalizations due to the virus are coming down.
"The threat of COVID-19 to public health no longer outweighs the hugely damaging impact of health restrictions on our society, on people's mental health, on their emotional wellbeing, on our broader social health," he said during an afternoon briefing.
"Now is the time to begin learning to live with COVID."
Step 1, which takes effect in Alberta tonight at 11:59 p.m., will remove the restrictions exemption program — which mandated people to show proof-of-vaccination. Restrictions on food and beverages at entertainment venues will be removed and all capacity limits will be ended except at large capacity venues (500+).
As of next Monday, almost all restrictions on kids will be lifted — including masks in schools for kids in grades K-12. Outside of school, kids 12 and under will be exempt from mask mandates.
Phase 2 would take effect March 1, provided hospitalizations are still trending downward, and would include removing all indoor masking, lift all gathering limits for indoors and outdoors, and remove the work-from-home order.
Alberta currently has the highest daily case positivity rate nationally, with 36.4 per cent of all PCR tests coming back positive.
The Quebec government says most COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted across the province by March 14 — except for mask mandates and the vaccine passport system.
Premier François Legault announced a road map today that begins Saturday, when all limits on indoor private gatherings will be removed. (Though public health recommends having at most 10 people present.)
By Feb. 21, entertainment and sports venues can open at 50 per cent capacity and fully reopen on Feb. 28. The Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens, can reopen fully on March 14.
Bars and casinos will reopen as of Feb. 28 at half capacity and increase to full capacity by mid-March.
Legault, however, says his government isn't ready to lift mask mandates or end the vaccine passport system, both of which will remain until at least March 14.
Beginning Monday, Saskatchewan will no longer require COVID-19 vaccine passports. It is also ending its indoor mask mandate at the end of the month.
Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday that providing proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter businesses, like restaurants, had helped in the fight against spread of the virus. But he said it also created deep divisions in the province — in effect "two classes of citizens."
"The benefits of this policy no longer outweigh the costs," said Moe, adding people should be able to choose whether they get vaccinated or not.
Other provinces have said they are also looking at lifting their COVID-19 measures.
- Quebec plans to lift most pandemic restrictions by mid-March
- Sask. to end COVID-19 proof of vaccination policy on Feb. 14, mandatory masking to remain until end of month
In Prince Edward Island, the government will start to ease COVID-19 public health restrictions starting Feb. 17. Premier Dennis King announced today his cabinet has approved a three-step plan that will see an end to most restrictions around April 7.
King says the news should not be seen as a declaration that the pandemic is over, and some restrictions may remain in certain locations, such as hospitals.
Newfoundland and Labrador is also easing some restrictions on sports and gatherings.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said team competition within leagues or regions can resume Monday. Tournaments are still not permitted, but single games can occur.
Also effective Monday, formal gatherings will be able to increase to 50 per cent of a venue's capacity. Informal gatherings will remain within a person's group of 20 close, consistent contacts.
Starting Monday, restaurants, bars, theatres, bingo halls and other performance spaces can operate at 50 per cent capacity, provided physical distancing can be maintained. Gyms, fitness facilities and arenas can also operate at 50 per cent capacity with distancing.
Restrictions for faith-based groups in the province are being loosened as of Saturday, allowing churches that require the province's vaccination passport to operate at 50 per cent capacity and 25 per cent capacity if not using the passport.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News last updated at 7:30 p.m. ET
What's happening across Canada
With lab-based testing capacity deeply strained and increasingly restricted, experts say true case counts are likely far higher than reported. Hospitalization data at the regional level is also evolving, with several provinces saying they will report figures that separate the number of people in hospital because of COVID-19 from those in hospital for another medical issue who also test positive for COVID-19.
For more information on what is happening in your community — including details on outbreaks, testing capacity and local restrictions — click through to the regional coverage below.
You can also read more from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which provides a detailed look at every region — including seven-day average test positivity rates — in its daily epidemiological updates.
In Central Canada, promoters of Quebec's most popular festivals want the government to let them know what COVID-19 health orders they'll face this summer, fearing the restrictions are affecting the city's international reputation.
The province on Tuesday reported 56 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus and a 45-patient drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 2,380 people remaining in hospital.
In Ontario, where visitor restrictions for long-term care eased slightly this week, health officials on Tuesday reported 42 additional deaths and said the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 stood at 2,254 — up by 99 from a day earlier.
In Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island's chief public health officer, Dr. Heather Morrison, reported the death of one person over the age of 80 — the 13th COVID-19-related death in the province since the pandemic began.
Morrison said nine people are hospitalized with the disease, a decrease of two from Monday, and one patient is in intensive care. There are five other people in hospital who were admitted for other reasons but later tested positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the head of Nova Scotia's cancer care program is warning that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are causing serious backlogs in the health system that could take years to clear.
"Even if COVID suddenly disappears tomorrow, it will take years to catch up with the backlog and to rebuild the system," Dr. Helmut Hollenhorst said. Staff availability and lack of intensive care unit beds have been an issue in the most recent wave, he said Monday.
Provincial health officials on Tuesday reported 91 people were being treated in designated COVID-19 units in hospital — unchanged from Monday — including 14 in ICU.
In New Brunswick, six more people have died as a result of COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 269 since the start of the pandemic. Health officials reported 151 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, unchanged from Monday, with 17 in intensive care.
In the Prairie provinces, Saskatchewan announced it would be making booster doses available to all people between the ages of 12 and 17, five months after their second dose.
Manitoba reported two additional deaths Tuesday. There are currently 697 people in hospital being treated for COVID-19, including 40 in the ICU.
Alberta had 1,623 people in hospital with COVID-19 Tuesday, including 129 in ICU. An additional 13 people have died from the virus.
In the North, the Canadian Red Cross has sent six nurses to Nunavut as the territory continues to experience its worst outbreak of COVID-19 to date. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Michael Patterson says COVID-19 has reached Resolute Bay, with four presumptive cases of COVID-19 in the High Arctic community of about 200 people.
There are currently 366 cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut, while 19 people have been hospitalized and one person has died during this wave.
Yukon health officials on Tuesday reported four people were in hospital being treated for COVID-19.
In British Columbia, the pandemic remains the government's top priority, according to the throne speech delivered today.
"After two of the most difficult years in our history, we know people are exhausted and families are feeling stretched," Premier John Horgan said in a news release.
"That's why our focus has been, and will continue to be, on investing to help make life better for people."
The province reported 986 people in hospital with COVID-19 Tuesday, including 146 in the ICU.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 8 p.m. ET
What's happening around the world
As of Tuesday evening, more than 400.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.7 million.
In the Americas, the governors of four U.S. states announced plans Monday to lift statewide mask requirements in schools by the end of February or March, citing the rapid easing of COVID-19's Omicron surge.
The decisions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon were announced as state and local governments grapple with which virus restrictions to jettison and which to keep in place. The changes also come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it.
Meanwhile, California announced plans to end its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people next week, but masks will still be the rule for schoolchildren in the nation's most populous state.
In Africa, Ugandan authorities are seeking to legally mandate vaccines in draft legislation aimed at boosting the East African country's drive to inoculate more people against COVID-19. The bill, which is subject to changes as it faces scrutiny by a parliamentary health committee, proposes a six-month jail term for failure to comply with vaccination requirements during disease outbreaks. Alfred Driwale, a public official who leads Uganda's vaccination efforts, said he supports the proposed changes to the country's public health law.
Attempts by Ugandan officials in recent months to enforce limited mandates have been unsuccessful. A vaccine requirement for people using public transport failed to be implemented amid opposition from operators.
According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, roughly five per cent of Uganda's population is fully vaccinated.
In Europe, Sweden has decided to lift entry restrictions for foreign nationals travelling to the country from Nordic countries and the rest of the European Union and European Economic Area from Wednesday.
Meanwhile, several German states are planning to loosen coronavirus restrictions despite rising infections, officials said.
In the Asia-Pacific region,China has ordered inhabitants of the southern city of Baise to stay home and suspended transportation links amid a surge in COVID-19 cases at least partly linked to the Omicron variant. Classes have been suspended, non-essential businesses closed and mass testing of residents ordered. Restaurants are only permitted to serve takeout.
Traffic lights have been switched to red only, to remind drivers to stay home. As of Tuesday, 135 cases had been reported in the city — at least two of them found to be Omicron, health authorities said. The city has become the latest to be placed under lockdown in keeping with China's "zero-tolerance" approach to the pandemic. The policy requires strict measures be applied even when only a small number of cases have been found.
In the Middle East, health officials in Iran on Tuesday said 114 people had died from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, with 38,757 additional cases reported.
-From Reuters, CBC News and The Associated Press, last updated at 8 p.m. ET
With files from CBC News, The Associated Press and Reuters
