Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on April 14

The latest:

• Trudeau says hesupports restricting interprovincial travel when necessary.
• Ontario logs4,156 new cases, record day for vaccines.
• After safety review, Health Canada says people shouldn't hesitate to get AstraZeneca vaccine.
• How a Quebec City gym outbreak became one of Canada's largest COVID-19 superspreading events.
• Why the U.S. recommended pausingJohnson & Johnson's vaccine, and what it means for Canada.
• Ontario is adding hundreds of ICU beds. But does it have the resources to support them?
• Have questions about the pandemic? Send your questions toCOVID@cbc.ca

Fourprovinces reported four-digit totals of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as British Columbia saw a record number of coronavirus patients in its hospitals and Yukon confirmed the presence of a variant of concern in the territory.

With 1,168 new cases, B.C. had the fourth-highest such daily total among provinces reporting on Wednesday. It also reported six additional deaths.Health officials said the province now hasmore patients in hospital with COVID-19 than at any prior point in the pandemic.

In neighbouring Alberta, 1,412 new casesand eight additional deaths were reported.

It was announced Wednesday that Grade 7 to 12 students at Calgarypublic and Catholic schools would be moving to online learning next week.Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says the change, due to COVID-19, is to last for two weeks and came at the urging of school boards in the city.

Meanwhile in Ontario, the country'smost populousprovincereported 4,156 new cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 1,877, with 642 patients listed as being in ICU due to COVID-19-related illness, the province reported.Some immunization clinics in Ontario were forced to close theirdoors or cancel appointments due to vaccine shortages.

In Quebec, health officials reported 1,559 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 660, according to a provincial dashboard on COVID-19 in the province, with 152 people in intensive care.

Also Wednesday, Yukon, which reported one new case, revealedthatthe P1 variant had been detected in the territory for the first time.

-From The Canadian Press,TheAssociated Press and Reuters, last updated at 9:45p.m. ET

What's happening across Canada

WATCH | Vaccine benefits outweigh risks, doctor says:

Health Canada medical adviser says Canadians should take the first vaccine that's available

3 years ago

Duration 1:39

Dr. Supriya Sharma tells reporters the COVID threat is "real" and outweighs rare instances of blood clots reported with the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson/Janssen vaccines.

As of 7:45p.m. ET on Wednesday,Canada had reported1,087,158confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 80,204considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at23,445.

InNew Brunswick,health officials on Wednesday reported 16 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases in the province to 141. Hospitalizations stood at 19, with 13 people in ICU.Newfoundland and Labrador, meanwhile,reportedthree new cases, bringing the number of active casesto 14. Nova Scotia reported two new COVID-19 cases. P.E.I. had not reported any new cases as of late Wednesday evening.

In the Prairie provinces,Manitobareported 86new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and threeadditional deaths, while Saskatchewan reported 193 new cases and one additional death.

In the North, no new cases were reported in Nunavut or theNorthwest Territories.

-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 8:40 p.m. ET

What's happening around the world

As of Wednesday evening, more than 138million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a coronavirus tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 2.9 million.

The director of the Pan American Health Organization warned Wednesday that the Americas are not behaving like a region experiencing an ever-graver outbreak of COVID-19.

WATCH |Brazil's president refuses to lock down:

Bolsonaro refuses to lock down as Brazil approaches grisly milestone

3 years ago

Duration 2:09

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, experts say Brazils death toll from COVID-19 will likely exceed that of the U.S., but President Jair Bolsonaro refuses to implement a lockdown.

Carissa Etienne, the organization's director, told a news conference that the ongoing rise in infections is alarming but not surprising given relaxed restrictions used to curb virus transmission, adding that vaccination will not be enough to stop this wave of contagion.

More people have been infected with COVID-19 in the region during the last seven days than during most weeks last year, Etienne said, while weekly deaths outnumber those of any week in 2020.

InEurope, the European Union signalled Wednesday that it will look to extend a contract to supply the bloc with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

In a sign of confidence in a company that has been a mainstay of Europe's vaccination drive so far, European Commission president Ursula vonderLeyensaid the EU will start negotiating to buy 1.8 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine through 2023.

WATCH | ThePfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the EU:

EU plans huge expansion of vaccine supply

3 years ago

Duration 1:19

The European Union says it is in negotiations to secure 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as it faces a lingering pandemic and new coronavirus variants.

"We need to focus on the technologies that have proven their worth,"vonderLeyensaid.

Pfizer-BioNTech plans to speed up the delivery of50 million doses in the secondquarter of this year, on top of 200 million doses already earmarked for the bloc, she said.The deliveries will be especially welcomed by the EU's 27 member nations considering supply delays and concerns over rare blood clots potentially linked to the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.

Denmark, meanwhile, decided Wednesday not to resume use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after putting it on hold last month following reports of rare blood clots in some recipients. The bulk of the shots given there so far have been the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

In Germany,health authorities were recommending Wednesday that people younger than 60 who have already received one shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine use a different vaccine for their second dose over concerns of blood clots.

Spain's prime minister says his government is maintaining its goal of immunizing 70 per centof the country'sadult population, some 33 million people, by the end of the summer despite the delay in the European rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

In Portugal, lawmakers extended a state of emergency for 15 days as health experts warned that a gradual relaxation of strict lockdown rules now underway could soon lead to a significant jump in coronavirus cases.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin said he had received his second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, thoughthe Kremlin wouldn't reveal which of the three vaccines currently approved for use in Russia the president has taken.

In theAsia-Pacificregion,India's worst-hit and richest state, Maharashtra, will impose stricter restrictions for 15 days on Wednesday in an effort to stem the surge of coronavirus infections that is threatening to overcome hospitals.

India on Wednesday reported more than180,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, about a third in Maharashtra state, and a total of 13.9 million cases in the pandemic.

Thailand reported 1,335 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday a new daily record that brings the number of new cases to nearly7,000 since April 1, when a cluster was linked to nightclubs andbars in central Bangkok.

InAfrica,South Africa's decision to suspend the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to preliminary reports of rare blood clots has left the country without any shots.

That comes as it struggles to combat an aggressive coronavirus variant. South Africa's more than 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases represent more than 30 per cent of all the confirmed cases in Africa.

In theMiddle East,Israel saidit will reopen the country to vaccinated foreign tourists in May, more than a year after closing its borders to most international visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkey reported a record62,797 cases on Wednesday, as 279 deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours.

-From TheAssociated Press and Reuters, last updated at 7:45 p.m. ET