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

The latest:

• Trudeau rules out negotiating with COVID-19 protestersoccupying nation's capital.

• Why anOmicron infection alonemight not offer the immune boost you'd expect.

• How Canada can avoid past mistakes as public health measures ease.

• People say they want COVID-19 to become 'endemic.' But what does that really mean?

Several jurisdictions across the country outlined plans to gradually ease COVID-19 measures on Thursday, with some saying Canadians will soon need to live with the coronavirus.

In the Prairies,SaskatchewanPremier Scott says he's committed to ending all COVID-19 restrictions soon.

"What's necessary is your freedom. What's necessary is getting your life back to normal," Moe said in a video posted to social media. "It's time."

Saskatchewan has recently posted its highest level of hospitalizations in the pandemic, and the Saskatchewan Medical Association is warning that loosening health measures would strain the health-care system.

WATCH |What to expect next:

Could Canada start soon to pull back on COVID-19 restrictions?

2 years ago

Duration 6:17

Canada's chief science adviser Mona Nemer joins Power & Politics to discuss the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and what to expect in the months ahead.

Moe said COVID-19 is not going away, but said people are done with having to follow public health orders, so "normalizing" the virus and learning to live with it is the achievable option.

A similar note was struck in neighbouring Alberta, with the chief medical officer of health saying the provincemust prepare to adopt an endemic approach to managing COVID-19.

"I believe that after the Omicron wave has subsided, the risk of our system becoming overwhelmed will be substantially reduced, and this will enable [us] to shift our response," saidDr. Deena Hinshaw.

"We need to continue monitoring severe impacts and any changes to the virus," she added. "But we cannot continue to use restrictions in the long term, once the risk of system overwhelm has passed."

Hinshawalso announced that the province will shorten the recommended quarantine period for unvaccinated, asymptomatic household contacts of confirmed cases. The quarantine will decreaseto 10 days from 14.

WATCH | Moving into an endemic phase:

COVID-19 will not go away, says Alberta's top doc

2 years ago

Duration 2:07

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, says the province will at some point need to move away from a COVID-19 pandemic response into an endemic phase.

In contrast,Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, who is also an orthopedic surgeon, said he understands people are frustrated with lengthy restrictions. But, he said, any changes must be done with caution.

"There are a few out there who believe freedom is identified and defined by what they are unwilling to tolerate as if masks, vaccines and health mandates were fences built to restrict them rather than the very tools used to protect them and give them freedom," Furey said.

That province has dropped its alert level, triggering a loosening of restrictions on businesses and group sizes that start Monday. It is also lifting isolation requirements for arriving travellers.

Yukon also announcedthe looseningof restrictions over the coming month, but Premier Sandy Silver says the moves are contingent onindicators like hospitalizationsstaying down and asked residents for their patience.

The contrasting approaches come as cities across the country prepare for the possibility of rallies against vaccine mandates on Friday. The demonstrations are being organized to mirror the protests in Ottawa and at the U.S. border crossing near Coutts in southern Alberta over the last week.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said nearly 85 per cent of the total population 89 per cent of those who are eligible have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Around 80 per cent of all Canadians are fully vaccinated, she said in a social media post.

What's happening across Canada

With lab-based testing capacity deeply strained and increasingly restricted,experts say true case counts are likely far higher than reported. Hospitalization data at the regional level is also evolving, with several provinces saying they will reportfiguresthat separatethe number of people in hospital because of COVID-19 from those in hospital for another medical issue who alsotest positive for COVID-19.

• Track how many people have been given the COVID-19 vaccine across Canada

For more information on what is happening in your community including details on outbreaks, testing capacity and local restrictions click through to the regional coverage below.

You can also read more from thePublic Health Agency of Canada, whichprovides a detailed look at every regionincludingseven-day averagetest positivity ratesin itsdaily epidemiological updates.

British Columbiareported 13 more COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, while Manitoba registered seven.

Meanwhile, the capitals of the two largest provinces braced for convoy protests.

In Quebec,more than 100 vehicles taking part in a protest arrived in Quebec Cityon Thursday night ahead of a rally planned this weekend in front of the National Assembly, while authorities in Ontario say they are preparing for a similar demonstration scheduled for the legislature in Toronto on Saturday.

WATCH |Protest convoyarrives in Quebec City:

Protest against public health measures arrives in Quebec City

2 years ago

Duration 0:44

More than 100 vehicles, honking horns and flashing lights, rolled into Quebec City on Thursday night as protesters gather to contest public health measures.

In the Atlantic,New Brunswick recorded four more coronavirus-related deathson Thursday, and the number of people in hospital with the virus remainedat a record-high 165;Prince Edward Island's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said there are 12 people in hospital due to COVID-19, including two in intensive care; andNova Scotia announcedfour COVID-19 deathsand 97 people in designated hospital units, including 13 people in ICU.

In the North,Nunavut Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Michael Patterson says the COVID-19 risk for students in schools in Rankin Inlet and Arviat is low, and schools in those communitieswill be reopening fully on Monday.

What's happening around the world

As ofThursday, roughly 387.3million cases of COVID-19 had been reported around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.7 million.

InAfrica,South Africa's Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot, which could be tested in humans before the end of this year, Afrigen's top executive saidThursday.

In Europe,the continent is now entering a "plausible endgame" to the pandemic and that the number of coronavirus deaths is starting to plateau, the director of the World Health Organization's Europe office said.

In theAmericas,COVID-19 infections and deathsare still increasing, but the rise in infections seems to be slowing in places hit earliest by the Omicron variant, the Pan American Health Organization said.

In theAsia-Pacificregion,Novavax Inc. said on Thursday its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine had received provisional approval from New Zealand's medicines regulator for use in adults.