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Quebec Prime Minister François Legault will hold a press conference this afternoon to address the resignation of the province’s public health director.
Dr Horacio Arruda, a key leader in the province’s pandemic response, resigned on Monday and Legault’s office told The Canadian Press that the prime minister had accepted it. Legault speaks at 1 p.m. ET.
On Monday, Quebec reported 2,554 hospitalizations due to COVID-19, a new maximum pandemic, as well as 248 cases of intensive care. The province has reported 11,966 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Arruda wrote in a letter on Monday that his office has offered public health opinions and recommendations amid uncertainty and based on the best available knowledge and various expert opinions. But he acknowledged that there was “some erosion” in public support for health measures.
“In this context, I consider it appropriate to offer you the possibility of replacing me before the end of my term.”
Arruda’s contract was renewed for three years in August 2020.
In recent weeks, the province has recovered a number of strict health measures, including a curfew for the second year in a row, amid rising infections and hospitalizations.
Radio-Canada has announced that Arruda will be replaced by Dr. Luc Boileau.
-From The Canadian Press, with a CBC News file, last updated at 7:10 am ET
What is happening across Canada
With the capacity for laboratory testing deeply tense and increasingly restricted, experts say the number of actual cases is probably much higher than reported. Hospitalization data at the regional level are also evolving, with several provinces saying they will report figures separating the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 from those hospitalized for another medical problem that also test positive. COVID-19.
For more information on what’s happening in your community, including details about outbreaks, test capacity, and local restrictions, click on regional coverage below.
You can also read more information from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which provides a detailed overview of each region. – included average seven-day test positivity rates – in their daily epidemiological updates.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia Three additional deaths from COVID-19 and 59 hospitalizations were reported on Monday, with two people in intensive care units. The update came when the province, which recently moved temporarily to remote education, reported an additional 816 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, health officials reported on Monday two additional deaths and four hospitalizations for COVID-19. Health officials reported a total of 1,135 cases on Monday, but that number included 680 positives that had been sent for testing to laboratories outside the province due to capacity issues. More results are expected from outside the province in the coming days, the health minister said.
In Prince Edward Island, Five people were in hospital being treated for COVID-19, health officials said Monday, including one in intensive care. The province also reported an additional 320 cases since the last update on Saturday.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations New Brunswick reached a pandemic peak, with 86 people in hospital, including 13 in the ICU. The province, which saw 220 cases confirmed in the lab, has expanded eligibility for the booster dose to adults over 18 years of age.
Canada’s largest school board, the Toronto District School Board, says there are new safety measures for children’s return to the classroom, but the TDSB is still struggling to count COVID-19 case numbers and make -know parents. (Frédéric Pepin / CBC / Radio-Canada) 9:26
In Central Canada, Ontario Students will return to classrooms next Monday after moving on to remote learning after the holidays, a sudden change that sparked heated debate.
“As planned and announced earlier, students will return to face-to-face learning on Monday, January 17,” Ford Media Relations Director Ivana Yelich said in an email on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Christine Elliott will speak on the topic at 12:30 pm ET, along with Matthew Anderson, CEO of Ontario Health. The health system in the province has been under increasing stress in recent weeks due to the highly transmissible variant, which has also led to staff shortages in various sectors.
The province reported 12 additional deaths and 2,467 hospitalizations on Monday, with 438 people in the ICU. Ontario, which is one of many regions in the country rationing access to laboratory testing for COVID-19, also reported an additional 9,706 laboratory-confirmed cases.
In the north, health officials in Yukon said people who develop symptoms of COVID-19 and are not eligible for a lab-based PCR test can pick up a quick test at a bus location in Whitehorse.
In the provinces of La Prada, Manitoba Health officials said Monday that there were 378 people hospitalized because of COVID-19, with 39 in intensive care units. The province, which reported an additional 19 deaths over a three-day period, has reported 7,083 confirmed cases in the lab since the last update.
In Saskatchewan, the total number of hospitalizations stood at 119 on Monday, health officials said, with 11 in the ICU. There were no additional deaths on Monday, as the province recorded an additional 1,069 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Alberta, for its part, reported 635 hospitalizations for COVID-19, with 72 people in the ICU. The update came when the province reported six additional deaths since its update last week and an additional 17,577 confirmed cases in the lab.
In British Columbia, Provincial health officials said Monday that hospitalizations for COVID-19 stood at 431, with 95 people in intensive care units. The update came when the provincial health ministry reported seven additional deaths since last week’s update, along with 6,966 more confirmed cases in the lab.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 9:45 am ET
What is happening around the world
As of Tuesday morning, approximately 310.5 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University coronavirus scanner. The overall death toll was more than 5.4 million.
In Europe, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday faced a wave of public and political outrage over allegations that he and his staff violated coronavirus blocking rules by holding a garden party in 2020 while the British they were prohibited by law from mixing outside the home.
Opposition politicians called for a police investigation after ITV posted a leaked email invitation to “socially distanced drinks” in the garden of the Prime Minister’s office and residence on Downing Street in May 2020. Prime Minister Martin Reynolds’ private secretary’s email was sent to dozens of people urging attendees to “bring their own drink.”
The event was scheduled for May 20, 2020, the same day the government at a televised press conference reminded people that they could only meet one person outside their home. London Metropolitan Police also issued reminders about the rules that day.
Police said on Tuesday they were “in contact” with the government over the party’s claims, which follow allegations of other rule-breaking meetings in Downing Street during the pandemic.
Dr. Peter Juni, Scientific Director of the COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board of Ontario, talks with Andrew Chang about how long immunity can last after acquiring the Omicron variant and its impact on whether people can transmit the virus. 2:21
During the first blockade of the United Kingdom, which began in March 2020 and lasted more than two months, meetings were banned with a few exceptions, such as work and funerals. Millions of people were cut off from friends and family, and even banned from visiting dying relatives in hospitals. On the day of the garden party, 268 people with coronavirus died in Britain, according to official figures, bringing the total death toll to more than 36,000. The total now stands at more than 150,000, the highest toll in Europe after Russia.
The opposition Labor Party demanded that Johnson answer questions about the allegations in Parliament, but the government sent a junior minister, Michael Ellis, to confront lawmakers. Ellis apologized “for the inconvenience caused by these allegations,” but said he could not comment further because an investigation was underway.
Labor leader Angela Rayner said “Johnson’s absence says a lot.”
“He can run but he can’t hide,” he said.
In the America, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department advised not to travel to neighboring Canada, and the Washington Post reported that it is considering recommending better masks.
In Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that he had contracted COVID-19 for the second time, saying that he had a mild case and would continue to work in isolation until he recovered.
In the Asia-Pacific region, China’s cities are imposing tougher restrictions on trying to control new outbreaks of COVID-19, with Tianjin now battling the highly contagious variant of Omicron, which has already been detected in at least two more provinces.
In Africa, South Africa’s health officials reported an additional 2,409 cases and 77 deaths on Monday.
In the Middle East, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he had tested positive but was in good health.
-From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 9:45 am ET
