Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Saturday
CBC
The latest:
Ontario reported 18,445 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, setting another record daily high — an increase from 16,713 new cases reported on New Year's Eve.
Infectious disease experts have said for several days that the actual number of new cases is likely far higher than those reported each day because many public health units in Ontario have reached their testing capacity.
Health officials had registered 15 additional deaths on Friday related to COVID-19. On Saturday, they reported 12 new deaths.
In Atlantic Canada, the surge in COVID-19 cases will be affecting health-care services in St. John's.
Eastern Health says non-urgent services will be temporarily scaled back as of Jan. 4 to allow for a greater focus on booster vaccine clinics and testing for COVID-19. The health authority says it plans to focus on urgent or emergent acute care services within the city.
However, prenatal appointments will continue, as will those for cancer treatment. The medical imaging program will be performing exams on a priority basis, and those patients will be contacted only if their appointment has been cancelled, Eastern Health said in a statement issued Friday. All non-urgent appointments have been cancelled, it said.
Boosting vaccination efforts is one of the country's top priorities as 2021 turns to 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his year-end statement on Friday.
Trudeau said Canadians will need to continue working together to end the pandemic, adding that the "strength, determination and compassion" they've demonstrated over the past year will "keep inspiring and guiding us in the new year."
In Quebec, outdoor New Year's Eve celebrations were prohibited as of 10 p.m. because a curfew, lasting until 5 a.m., went into effect on Friday amid soaring daily COVID-19 case counts in the province.
New restrictions also include banning nearly all indoor gatherings and the closing of restaurant dining rooms. Indoor gatherings involving more than one household bubble have been prohibited.
The curfew is Quebec's second of the pandemic. A previous curfew, announced in early January 2021, was in place for nearly five months.
On the last day of 2021, nearly every province reported record-breaking daily numbers for new cases of COVID-19.
British Columbia was no exception, reporting 3,795 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths on Friday, while Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said earlier in the week that the true number of cases is likely higher because the province had reached its maximum capacity on testing and contact tracing.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.