Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Dec. 15
U.K. legislators pass new virus restrictions but Johnson faces dissent; long lines for booster shots in London
The latest:
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Ottawa to toughen international travel restrictions as omicron concerns escalate.
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Ontario's top doctor urges provincewide approach to omicron, as Doug Ford expected to make booster announcement.
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Liberals to keep most MPs away from Parliament over omicron concerns.
- Freeland tables 'omicron-centric' fiscal update, pledges billions of dollars in support.
- B.C. confirms 44 cases of omicron variant as cases rise on Vancouver Island.
- This is what it could look like to produce a vaccine that works on all COVID-19 variants.
- P.E.I. to impose new restrictions after omicron variant presence confirmed.
- Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email: [email protected]
British lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve new restrictions to curb the spread of the omicron variant, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major revolt by MPs in his own Conservative party who are opposed to the regulations.
The result was a blow to the authority of the embattled prime minister, whose approval ratings — both with voters and inside the Conservative Party — have plunged amid ethics scandals and allegations that his government breached its own pandemic restrictions.
The House of Commons voted on measures that take effect this week, ordering masks to be worn in most indoor settings in England, changing rules on self-isolation and — most contentiously — requiring proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs and large, crowded events.
All passed comfortably because of opposition party support, but 97 Conservatives voted against the nightclub rules, according to a House of Commons tally — by far the biggest rebellion of Johnson's premiership. It came despite Johnson imploring Conservative legislators to back the measures in a private meeting just before the vote.
As if to underscore omicron's rapid spread, a handful of lawmakers missed the vote because they have COVID-19 and are in quarantine.
Vaccine passes have become commonplace in many European countries, but Johnson's government has resisted introducing them in England, although the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own health rules, have done so.
'A grave threat'
The British government argues that the highly transmissible omicron strain has changed the argument, and proof of vaccination or negative tests is now a sensible measure, along with booster vaccinations for all adults.
"Omicron is a grave threat," Health Secretary Sajid Javid told members of Parliament, saying the strain was already estimated to be infecting 200,000 people a day in the U.K. "Scientists have never seen a COVID-19 variant that is capable of spreading so rapidly."
He said the nightclub rule was "not a vaccine passport" because people could also use a negative virus test to enter venues.
Many Conservative legislators, however, argued that the new requirements were economically damaging and restricted individual freedoms.
Meanwhile, Johnson called for thousands of volunteers to staff new vaccination centres in shopping areas, stadiums and racecourses as the government accelerates its booster program to combat the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The drive comes two days after Johnson set a target of giving booster shots to all adults by the end of this year to stem the tide of omicron, the latest variant of concern.
"We need tens of thousands of people to help out — everyone from trained vaccinators to stewards," Johnson said in a statement. "Many thousands have already given their time — but we need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives."
Long queues formed at vaccine centres in England on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people rushed to get COVID-19 booster shots.
Omicron spreading quickly
Meanwhile, Javid told Parliament that Britain will remove all 11 countries from its COVID-19 travel red list from Wednesday.
"Now that there is community transmission of omicron in the U.K. and omicron has spread so widely across the world, the travel red list is now less effective in slowing the incursion of omicron from abroad," he said.
"Whilst we will maintain our temporary testing measures for international travel, we will be removing all 11 countries from the travel red list effective from 4 a.m. tomorrow morning."
Health officials with the World Health Organization — which had previously called for a moratorium on boosters as it worked to increase equitable access to the vaccine worldwide — on Tuesday noted that it's still critical to get doses to people who have not yet had access to initial shots.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccine booster shots can play a role in curbing the spread of COVID-19 as long as people most in need of protection also get access to jabs.
"There remains a vast gap in rates of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> vaccination between countries:<br>-41 countries still haven't been able to vaccinate 10% of their populations<br>-98 countries have not reached 40%<br>We also see significant inequities between population groups in the same country"-<a href="https://twitter.com/DrTedros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrTedros</a>
—@WHOThe update came as Tedros and colleagues urged people not to underestimate the virus even as scientists work to pin down more detail on the omicron variant.
"Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," he said, noting in his briefing that omicron was "spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant."
Tedros said 77 countries had reported cases of the omicron variant — and noted that it was likely that it had spread to other countries that had not yet detected it.
— From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 8:30 p.m. ET
What's happening across Canada
- Yukon community under isolation order until Dec. 24 amid multiple COVID-19 cases.
- Alberta reports 250 new cases, 8 additional deaths; identified omicron cases now up to 50.
- Saskatchewan reports 47 new cases, 4 new deaths.
- Calgary Flames place 3 more players in NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
- The Kingston, Ont., area has obliterated local COVID-19 records. Here are the numbers.
- After she lost her hair from COVID-19, 7-year-old Regina girl excited for 1st vaccine dose.
- N.B. reports 109 new cases, 2 deaths, day after tightening COVID-19 measures.
- Quebec to roll out rapid tests in pharmacies, urges people to work from home as province reports 1,747 new cases.
- Manitoba reports 164 new COVID-19 cases, 2 additional deaths.
What's happening around the world
As of Tuesday evening, more than 271.4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a case-tracking tool from U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.3 million.
In the Americas, the U.S. death toll topped 800,000 on Tuesday, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after vaccines became available practically for the asking last spring.
The number of deaths, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is roughly equivalent to how many Americans die each year from heart disease or stroke. The true death toll in the U.S. — and around the world — is believed to significantly higher because of cases that went unreported.
The United States has the highest reported toll of any country, accounting for approximately four per cent of the world's population but about 15 per cent of the 5.3 million known deaths from the coronavirus since the outbreak began in China two years ago.
The African continent might not reach the target of vaccinating 70 per cent of its 1.3 billion population against COVID-19 until the second half of 2024 — a target many of the world's richer countries have already met, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The warning comes as the world faces a new surge in cases driven by the highly infectious omicron variant. Health officials in South Africa, which first detected the variant, say early data indicates it causes less severe illness and shorter, less-intensive hospital stays. But some richer countries have rushed to allow booster vaccine doses in response, even as less than eight per cent of Africa's population has received two doses.
Just 20 of Africa's 54 countries have fully vaccinated at least 10 per cent of their populations against COVID-19. And 10 countries have fully vaccinated less than two per cent of their populations.
The WHO Africa director, Matshidiso Moeti, pushed back against any suggestion that African nations are allowing large numbers of vaccine doses to go to waste amid poor infrastructure and vaccine hesitancy. The African continent has received about 434 million vaccine doses, and some 910,000 of them have expired in 20 countries, Moeti said. The main challenge in Africa, she said, remains access to vaccine supplies.
In Europe, the Dutch government on Tuesday ordered elementary schools to close a week early for Christmas holidays as authorities battle to rein in coronavirus infections amid concerns about the swift spread of the new omicron variant. Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte also extended the country's existing lockdown until Jan. 14.
Italy extended a COVID-19 state of emergency to March 31 and ruled that all visitors from EU countries must take a test before they arrive, extending a requirement that was already in force for many non-EU countries.
Meanwhile, France is contemplating tightening controls for travellers coming from Britain, who must currently show a negative test less than 48 hours old, said French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore is considering requiring its residents to get a booster shot to qualify as fully vaccinated against COVID-19, its health minister said.
In the Middle East, Oman reported two cases of the omicron variant. Health ministry officials said the cases involved travel abroad, according to local media reports.
— From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 9 p.m. ET
With files from Reuters and CBC News
