Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Thursday, January 28, 2021:
- There have been 260,370 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 1,670 (or 0.6 per cent) from the previous day. There are 232,480 people recovered from the virus while 5,958 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 9,430,867 of which 46,900 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 761,226. The country has 19,533 deaths from the virus – one in the Yukon, one in Nunavut, 1,172 in British Columbia, 1,599 in Alberta, 274 in Saskatchewan, 813 in Manitoba, 5,958 in Ontario, 9,630 in Quebec, 16 in New Brunswick, four in Newfoundland & Labrador and 65 in Nova Scotia.
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit added three newly confirmed cases Wednesday to bring the regional total to 794 confirmed cases. Of those, 11 are active (no change from Tuesday) and 729 are recovered (three more than Tuesday). The number of deaths to date is 54. There is no one in hospital. There are no active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 138 cases (six active), Lanark County West 139 cases (three active), Leeds-Grenville Central 84 cases (one active), Leeds-Grenville East 118 cases (zero active) and Leeds-Grenville West 114 cases (one active).
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit added 34 newly confirmed cases Wednesday to bring the regional total to 2,432. They were 11 in Prescott-Russell, 15 in SD&G and eight in Cornwall. Of those, 458 are active (14 fewer than Tuesday) and 1,922 are resolved (47 more than Tuesday). The number of deaths is at 52. There are 21 people in hospital, one fewer than Tuesday, including five in ICU, one fewer than Tuesday. There are 17 active institutional outbreaks. Testing increased by 312 to 101,308.
- Health Canada is reviewing a request to change the labelling on Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to say each vial contains six shots instead of five. The federal government is now trying to get the special syringes to make sure they can pull six doses out of a vial. It’s ordered 87 million of them.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s been assured by the European Commission president that new export requirements on COVID-19 vaccines won’t affect shipments to Canada.
- A Canada Post worker at the company’s sorting facility in Mississauga has died from COVID-19. The facility is dealing with a major outbreak and about 350 employees are isolating for two weeks. The Canada Border Services Agency, which inspects international mail coming into Canada at Gateway, left the facility last week and won’t return until its deemed safe.
- Manitoba is hoping to start vaccinations by age bracket, starting with the most elderly. It’s hoped the province will be down to people in their 50s by April or May.
- Air Transat has suspended all flights out of Toronto until the end of April, starting today. There will also be some routes in Montreal suspended as well during the same time, according to a company spokesman. The airline has seen a decline in bookings due to the new federal government travel rules.
Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Brockville Newswatch. Email editor@brockvillenewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.