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

The latest:

• Nurse in Germany may have injected people with saline instead of COVID-19 vaccine, police say.

• As delta variant spreads, Canada's top doctors say mandatory vaccination for some workers is on the table.

• O'Toole says all Canadians should get a shot, as Conservative MP calls mandatory vaccination 'tyrannical.'

• B.C. orders mandatory COVID-19 vaccinationfor workers in assisted living and long-term care.

• Transplant patients see boost in COVID-19 protection after 3rd vaccine dose, study suggests.

• Pregnant people in the U.S. urged to get vaccinated as serious COVID-19 illness rises.

• Australian capital insnap 1-weeklockdownafter 1st COVID case in a year.

Dr. Anthony Faucisays Americans can expect to see more children infected with the coronavirus as the highly transmissible delta variant extends its hold across the country.

"Quantitatively, you will see more children in the hospital," the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert said at Thursday's COVID-19 briefing. Fauci said at least 117 countries around the world including Canada are facing the delta variant, which is more than twice as transmissible than the previous strain of coronavirus.

However, it's still not clear whether the delta variant leads to more severe illness in children, Fauci said.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the best way to protect young children not yet eligible for vaccines is for their parents to get shots.

The CDC is also studying so-called "long COVID" in children. Early data suggests those lingering symptoms are not nearly as prevalent among children as adults, but Walensky said more study is needed.

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California wasthe first state in the U.S. to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testingas schools return from summer break amid growing concerns about the delta variant.

Houston's public schools were expected on Thursday to defy a state ban on mask mandates, joining other districts in Texas and Florida requiring face coverings in classrooms to fight a surge of COVID-19 infections, despite threats from state leadership.

COVID-19 case levels are soaring across the U.S., driven by thehighly contagious virus variant that mostly infects unvaccinated people, according to public health experts. U.S. President Joe Biden and others have pleaded with Americans to get the shots.

The CDC reports that 71 per cent of U.S. adults have received at least one dose.

What's happening in Canada

WATCH | What's being done toimprove indoor air quality for students:

The efforts to improve indoor air quality for students

3 years ago

Duration 7:37

As Canada enters a fourth wave of COVID-19, work is underway to improve air quality in schools and help keep students safe by doing everything from upgrading ventilation systems to bringing in portable air filters.

• University of Guelph joins growing list of schools to mandate COVID-19 vaccines.

• Edmonton defence lawyer cited for contempt after refusing to wear mask in court.

• N.L.'s return-to-school plan aims for normal classroom experience, includes options based on risk of community spread across province.

• Winnipeg Jets games to go ahead at full capacity, attendees must be fully vaccinated.

• Yukon's state of emergencyto end in 2 weeks, with COVID-19 situation 'stabilizing.'

• B.C. reports3-month highof536 new cases of COVID-19, 1 more death.

• Ontario reveals new rules on managing COVID-19 cases, outbreaks, including in schools.

• No classroom bubbles or masks in class when Quebec students return this fall.

What's happening around the world

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 204.9million cases of COVID-19 had been reported around the world, according to the coronavirus tracker maintained by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.3million.

In the Asia-Pacific region, akey medical adviser to Japan's prime minister says surging infections in the Tokyo area are severely affecting medical systems, and he is urging the government to take stricter measures to drastically reduce people's activity. Daily cases tripledduring the Olympics that ended Sunday. Tokyo on Thursday logged 4,989 new cases, and hospital beds are rapidly filling up.

Australia's capital is going into lockdown for a week beginningThursday after a single case of COVID-19 was detected and the virus was found in wastewater. Canberra joins Sydney, Melbourne and several cities in New South Wales state that are locked down due to the delta variant.

The infection is the first locally acquired case in the city of 460,000 since July 10 last year.The source of the infection was unknown,Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerryn Coleman said.

Later Thursday, ACT Healthtweeted that it hadbeen notified of another three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the territory, all of whom are close contacts of the first case.

New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as it looks to open its borders again after nearly 18 months of pandemic-induced isolation.

In the Middle East,Turkey is considering mandating regular negative PCR tests from vaccine-hesitant parents as the country prepares to return to face-to-face education. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the government was determined to reopen schools on Sept. 6.

Israeli Health Ministry experts recommended on Thursday dropping the minimum age of eligibility for a COVID-19 vaccine booster from 60 to 50, hoping to curb a rise in delta variant infections.Israelis aged 60 and up began receiving the booster two weeks ago effectively turning Israel into a testing ground before any third-dose approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or other regulatory body.More than 700,000 seniors in Israel have received their third shot.

In Europe, Russia on Thursday reported a record-high 808 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours and 21,932 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,294 in Moscow. Russia's daily reported cases have gradually dipped from a peak in July that authorities blamed on the infectious delta variant and a slow vaccination rate.

Britain reported 33,074 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily rate since July 23.

France will share 670,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses with Vietnam to help the Asian country tackle the virus, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

In the Americas,Argentina saidit has begun to produce and distribute the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine.Argentina was the first country to authorize Sputnik V in December 2020 and the first to enter full production, although Mexico produced a pilot lot of the vaccine last month.

In Africa, the Kenyanoxygen production firm Hewatele is doubling production this year to keep up with surging demand from hospitals treating critically ill COVID-19 patients, it said.

Nigeria received 177,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as it looks to vaccinate more citizens.