Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Saturday, January 9, 2021:
- There have been 208,394 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 4,249 (or 2.1 per cent) from the previous day. The number is higher than normal due to 450 case catch up from Toronto Public Health. There are 175,309 people recovered from the virus while 4,882 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 8,366,403 of which 73,067 have pending results.
- Ontario Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe called the new all-time daily record of cases, even with the catch up numbers, “scary.” She believes a stricter lockdown like the one last spring may be necessary.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 644,348. The country has 16,707 deaths from the virus – one in the Yukon, one in Nunavut, 988 in British Columbia, 1,241 in Alberta, 184 in Saskatchewan, 726 in Manitoba, 4,882 in Ontario, 8,606 in Quebec, nine in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit added 51 cases over two days to bring the regional total to 1,805. There are 565 active cases and 1,203 resolved. There have been 36 deaths, one more than Wednesday. The number of people in hospital jumped from six to 15 and there are now three in ICU. Read more on hospitalizations here. There are 15 active institutional outbreaks (no change). Testing is at 94,706 (total adjusted down by 1,142 from Wednesday). The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 965 cases (229 active), SD&G 374 cases (133 active), Cornwall 395 cases (180 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 71 cases (23 active).
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit added six cases Friday, to bring the regional total to 736 confirmed cases. Of those, 48 are active (up three) and 635 are recovered (up three from the previous day). There have been 53 deaths to date. There is one institutional outbreak at Kemptville Retirement Living. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East (five active), Lanark County West (nine active), Leeds-Grenville Central (14 active), Leeds-Grenville East (nine active) and Leeds-Grenville West (10 active).
- Another variant of COVID-19 first seen in South Africa has shown up in Alberta. It’s believed the person picked it up through travel. They are in quarantine.
- Research suggests both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will still work against the South African and United Kingdom variants of COVID-19.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that by September any Canadian who wants a COVID-19 vaccine can get one. The prime minister says 124,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses have already rolled out this week to 68 Canadian sites and there will be 171,000 Moderna shots delivered across the country by the end of next week.
- WestJet is cutting up to 1,000 employees through furloughs, temporary layoffs, unpaid leave and other measures due to new federal government travel rules. The airline is cutting up to 30 per cent of its capacity for February and March.
Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Cornwall Newswatch. Email editor@cornwallnewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.