Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Saturday, January 16, 2021:
- There have been 231,308 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 2,998 (or 1.3 per cent) from the previous day. There are 197,194 people recovered from the virus while 5,289 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 8,791,388 of which 63,728 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 695,707. The country has 17,729 deaths from the virus – one in the Yukon, one in Nunavut, 1,047 in British Columbia, 1,402 in Alberta, 210 in Saskatchewan, 760 in Manitoba, 5,289 in Ontario, 8,938 in Quebec, 12 in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit added 57 cases Friday to bring the regional total to 2,103 cases. There were 12 in Prescott-Russell, seven in SD&G, 32 in Cornwall and six in Akwesasne. There are 599 active (24 fewer than Thursday) and 1,461 resolved (81 more than Thursday). The number of deaths to date is 42. The number of people in hospital is 26, one more than Thursday, and there are five in ICU (no change). There are 12 active institutional outbreaks (one fewer than Thursday). Testing increased by 497 to 97,519. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 1,035 cases (195 active), SD&G 430 cases (133 active), Cornwall 523 cases (246 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 115 cases (25 active).
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit added eight newly confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday to bring the regional total to 763 confirmed cases. There are 26 active (up five) and 683 recovered (up three). The number of deaths to date is 54. There are no one in hospital. There are no institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 123 cases (six active), Lanark County West 132 cases (six active), Leeds-Grenville Central 80 cases (three active), Leeds-Grenville East 114 cases (six active) and Leeds-Grenville West 113 cases (four active).
- The makers of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be delayed in sending shipments because of production issues in Europe. That means Canada will only receive half of the doses it expects over the next month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the issue is out of the government’s hands but Ottawa is working to get vaccines as quickly as possible. Trudeau adds that it’s understandable there would be bumps in the road.
- In a statement Friday afternoon, Premier Doug Ford says they are evaluating the impact of the news about the COVID-19 vaccine delay. “We will adjust as necessary recognizing the fact that Ontario will soon have a baseline capacity to vaccinate nearly 40,000 people a day with the ability to triple or quadruple this capacity with notice,” he wrote. All Ontario long-term care homes are expected to be vaccinated by Thursday next week (Jan. 21).
- The pandemic has agitated border issues in the Cornwall area to the point where someone put messages on people’s cars with out-of-province licence plates, telling them to go home. Akwesasne Grand Chief Abram Benedict addressed the messages in an open letter to Cornwall. Benedict says the territory was settled before borders were put in place, meaning the First Nation is in Ontario, Quebec and New York State and people have cars and trucks registered in all three regions. “It’s a ‘jurisdictional nightmare’ that often creates hardship for our community members, can be difficult to explain to others, and for anyone who was previously unaware, it can be understandably challenging to fully comprehend.” Benedict says the harassment is unacceptable.
- Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the country is on track to hit 10,000 new daily cases by the end of the month. The new modelling also shows the total case count could exceed 796,000 in a week with another 2,000 deaths.
- The total number of deaths from coronavirus worldwide has exceeded two million. The U.S. leads all countries with nearly 392,000 deaths, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University.
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.