By Canadian Press

A look at the latest COVID-19 developments in Canada

Jan 10, 2022 | 2:12 PM

A look at the latest COVID-19 news in Canada:

— Health experts and government critics are calling on the prime minister and premiers to fix cracks in Canada’s health system and improve surge capacity as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was speak with provincial and territorial leaders Monday afternoon to discuss the mounting health crisis posed by the Omicron variant of COVID-19. In a press conference Monday, Conservative ethics critic John Brassard said Canadians have been dealing with lockdowns and restrictions for two years while very little was done to address surge capacity in hospitals. Ontario Premier Doug Ford plans to raise the provinces’ plea for more federal health-care funds with the prime minister.

— Opposition MPs want the House of Commons ethics committee to investigate the Public Health Agency of Canada’s decision to collect data from millions of mobile phones to understand travel patterns during the COVID pandemic. Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs want the committee to hold emergency meetings this month while the House of Commons is still on its holiday break because the agency is seeking to extend the practice. Tory MP John Brassard says the pandemic is being used as an excuse to undermine the privacy of Canadians who were unaware a government agency has been collecting cellphone data.

— Ontario will allow retired teachers to work more days in light of ongoing pandemic-related staff shortages. The new agreement with the Ontario Teachers’ Federation will allow retirees to be re-employed in the public school system for 95 days until the end of June, nearly double the previous limit of 50. Education Minister Stephen Lecce says in a statement that school boards were affected by staff shortages even before the Omicron variant drove up absence rates.

—  The City of Toronto is reporting average unplanned absence rates of more than 10 per cent across its divisions, including its emergency services, amid the surging Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg says the city’s emergency and essential services operated with an average unplanned absence rate of 12.8 per cent on Sunday. Between Dec. 23 and Jan. 9, Pegg says these services operated with an average unplanned absence rate of 11.9 per cent.

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— A few members of the Canadian Armed Forces are arriving to Bearskin Lake First Nation in northern Ontario to assist the community amid a COVID-19 outbreak that has infected half of its population. A spokeswoman for federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair says four Rangers are there to co-ordinate, help with logistics, and distribute food, water, firewood and care packages. Annie Cullinan says more Rangers will be deployed in the community during the coming days. 

— Quebec is reporting 26 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus today and a rise of 118 COVID-19-related hospitalizations. Health officials say there are 2,554 people in hospital with COVID-19 — a new record — after 351 patients entered hospital in the past 24 hours and 233 people were discharged. The number of patients in intensive care dropped by nine, however, for a total of 248. Officials are reporting 10,573 new COVID-19 cases today and say just under 20 per cent of tests came back positive. The test-positivity rate has been under 20 per cent for the last two days, after hitting more than 30 per cent last week.

— BC Ferries says a combination of the fast-spreading Omicron COVID-19 variant, a global shortage of mariners, severe weather and the flu season has the potential to disrupt ferry service over the next few months. The company says in a statement that the problem may hit inter-island routes hardest. It says crewing regulations require that positions on ferries be filled with the appropriate crew or a vessel can’t sail. 

— Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers has been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. The 25-year-old ranks third on the Jets in scoring this season with 13 goals and 25 points in 33 games. Ehlers joins forward Jansen Harkins, defenceman Dylan DeMelo, goalie Arvid Holm and video coach Matt Prefontaine in protocol after they were added last week.

— The Edmonton Oilers have placed prospect Dylan Holloway into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. The forward joins a long list of teammates currently in isolation, including captain Connor McDavid and defenceman Tyson Barrie. The move came 24 hours after the NHL pushed back Monday’s game against the Ottawa Senators at Rogers Place until Saturday because of coronavirus issues involving the Oilers.

— Newfoundland and Labrador health officials are reporting another 1,135 new cases of COVID-19. They say in a news release that 455 new cases were identified since Sunday’s update and 680 new cases were identified by labs outside the province over the past two weeks. Officials say provincial testing capacity was overrun by a recent surge in cases and tests were sent to out-of-province labs between Dec. 29 and Jan. 6 to deal with the backlog.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2022.

The Canadian Press