Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday – CBC.ca

The latest:

British Columbia's top doctor is again calling on people to follow the current guidelines andnot gather inside,pointing to the increased transmissibility of the B117 variant and saying it is"much easier to spread it with even minimal contact in indoor settings."

As of Monday evening, a tracking site maintained by federal officials showed 1,240 reported cases of the B117 variant in B.C. alone. Across the country, there have been 5,117 reported cases of the variant, which was first reported in the U.K.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said indoor gatherings of "any size" remain a risk and urged people to follow public health guidelines and only gather in small groups of up to 10 outside.

"The areas where we know it spreads most quickly and most dangerously are the same as they were last yearbut now there's even less a margin for error," Henry said Monday as she provided updated COVID-19 figures for the weekend.

"This is a time where we need to take those little sacrifices all of us so that we can continue to keep those important workplaces open,we can continue to support our children to be in school, and we can continue to support our immunization programs so that we can all be safe very soon."

Under the current restrictions in place in B.C., social gatherings of any size aren't allowed inside homes with "anyone other than your household or, if you live alone, your core bubble."

Henry said that while morepeople are getting their shots every day, it's important for people to understand that the risk "for all of us remains high."

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said Monday on Twitter thatAlberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec are reporting the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases involving more transmissible variants.

Variants of concern are "moving quickly," Henry said. "To counter that, we continue to be slow and steady and to find our balance, our path to get to those brighter days which are not that far away now."

As of Monday, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province stood at303, including 80 in critical care, Henry said.

Adrian Dix, the province's health minister, reiterated Henry's call and said indoor gatherings remaina "major problem" in B.C.

"If you are thinking of going out for a birthday celebration or someone invites you to a wedding celebration somewhere do not go right now."

-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 7 a.m. ET.

WATCH |3rd COVID-19 wave hitting young Canadians harder:

As of 1p.m. ET on Tuesday, Canada had reported 940,929 cases of COVID-19, with 36,096 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at22,729.

In Atlantic Canada,Prince Edward Islandreported two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, both in people under the age of 19.

The island, which has not recorded any COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began, had eight active cases as of Tuesday, officials said.

InNova Scotia, meanwhile, health officials reported one new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday.Newfoundland and Labradorreported no new cases.

Health officials inNew Brunswickhad not yet provided updated figures for the day.

Ontarioon Tuesday reported 1,546 new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths. According to provincial data, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations stood at 868, with 324 in intensive care units.

People aged 75 years and older in Ontario on Mondaybegan booking their vaccine appointments through a provincial online portal and call centre, while pharmacies in three public health units started administering AstraZeneca-Oxford shots to those aged60 and older.

InQuebec,health officials reported 656 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and four additional deaths. Hospitalizations in the province stood at 519, with 113 COVID-19 patients reported to be in intensive care units.

In the Prairie provinces,Manitobaofficials said they are keeping the province at the highest level of restrictions inthe pandemic response system, though a few restrictions will be loosenedbeginningFriday.

The limits on outdoor gatherings, weddings and funerals is increasing to 25 people from 10, and the maximum capacity forstores is increasing to 500 people from 250, although stores may not exceed 50 per cent capacity.People will also be allowed to leave their vehicles while attending drive-in events.

The decision to keep the province at code red is due tofeedback from Manitobans, concerns over rising numbers of more transmissible coronavirus variants, and the need to maintain stability in the health-care system, the province said in a news release. Manitobareported 66 new cases and one additional death on Monday.

WATCH |Should Canadians be wearing N95-style masks?

Meanwhile, inSaskatchewan,health officials reported 205 new cases of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus and no additional deaths.Concerns about a growing number of the more infectious COVID-19 cases in the Regina area have prompted some school divisions to restart online learning.

InAlberta, health officials on Monday reported 456 new cases and five additional deaths. The update came as Health Minister TylerShandroannounced the province would not be moving into the next phase of its reopening, saying that will happen only when hospitalizations are under 300 and on a "clear downward trajectory."

"Today, while hospitalizations are indeed below 300, they've risen in recent days," he said Monday."The decline that we saw in January and early February has stopped. Alberta now sits at 280 COVID hospitalizations, which is a rise of 16 from a week ago."

Across the North, Nunavut reportedno new cases on Tuesday. TheNorthwest TerritoriesandYukonhave not yet reported updated figures for the day.

-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 1p.m. ET

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 123.8million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide,with 70.2 million cases listed as recovered, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.7 million.

InEurope,the French hospital system could face an "unprecedented violent shock" in about three weeks if the country fails to curb its vertiginous rise in cases, the president of the French hospital federation said.

A leading European Union official has lashed out at the AstraZeneca vaccine company for its massive shortfall in producing doses for the 27-nation bloc, and threatened that any shots produced by them in the EU could be forced to stay there.

Sandra Galina, the chief of the European Commission's health division, told legislators on Tuesday that while vaccine producers like Pfizer and Moderna have largely met their commitments, "the problem has been AstraZeneca. So it's one contract which we have a serious problem."

The European Union has been criticized at home and abroad for its slow vaccine rollout, standing at about a third of jabs given to their citizens compared to nations like the United States and United Kingdom.

Galina saidthe overwhelming responsibility lies with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was supposed to be the workhorseof the drive, because it is cheaper and easier to transport and was supposed to be delivered in huge amounts in the first half of the year.

"We are not even receiving a quarter of such deliveries as regards this issue," Galina said, noting thatAstraZeneca could expect a response from the EU. "We intend, of course, to take action because, you know, this is the issue that cannot be left unattended."

The EU already closed an advance purchasing agreement with the Anglo-Swedish company in August last year for up to 400 million doses.

Meanwhile, Germany is extending its lockdown until April 18 and calling on citizens to stay at home over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel said, as the country races to vaccinate its population.

In theAsia-Pacificregion,with new infections on the rise the past few weeks,India will start vaccinating everyone over the age of 45 starting on April 1.

Federal information minister Prakash Javadekar made the announcement on Tuesday, when more than 40,000 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours. Most infections are in Maharashtra state in India's western coast. But cases have spiked in other states like Punjab, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has received his first shot of AstraZeneca's vaccine as he plans to attend June's Group of Seven meetings in Britain.

Moon on Tuesday received his shot at a public health office in downtown Seoul along with his wife and other presidential officials who plan to accompany him during the June 11-13 meetings.

Moon's office said he was feeling "comfortable" after receiving the shot and complimented the skills of a nurse who he said injected him without causing pain. The office said Moon will likely receive his second dose sometime around mid-May.

South Korea launched its mass immunization program in February and plans to deliver the first doses to 12 million people through the first half of the year, including elders, front-line health workers and people in long-term care settings.

Officials aim to vaccinate more than 70 per centof the country's 51 million population by November, which they hope would meaningfully slow the virus and reduce risks of economic and social activity.

In theAmericas,Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that a surge of coronavirus cases in Europe could foreshadow a similar surge in the United States. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor, is urging Americans to remain cautious while the nation races to vaccinate its citizens.

In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America,Faucisaidhe is "optimistic" of the vaccines' effectiveness and expressed hope that AstraZeneca's vaccine could join the arsenal of inoculations.

He deemed it an "unforced error" that the company may have used outdated data in a clinical trial, perhaps casting doubt on its effectiveness. But he says Americans should take comfort knowing the FDA would conduct an independent review before it was approved for use in the United States.

Uruguay confirmed that it had detected the presence of two coronavirus variants that originated in neighbouring Brazil as the tiny South American nation faces a spike in cases and deaths.

InAfrica,Nigeria suspended the airline Emirates from flying into or out of its territory last week after the carrier imposed additional COVID-19 test requirements on passengers from the country, the aviation minister said.

In theMiddle East, the United Arab Emirates said unvaccinated private sector workers in five industries must get a PCR test every two weeks, in a bid to encourage vaccine uptake.

-From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 12:15p.m. ET

More here:

Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday - CBC.ca