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Good evening, here are the coronavirus updates you need to know tonight.

Top headlines:

  1. Global fears are mounting over a new variant found in Brazil as case counts in the country increase sharply
  2. A total of 72 tennis players are being forced to quarantine in Australia ahead of the Australian Open after fellow passengers on their charter flights test positive for COVID-19
  3. Cases of the novel coronavirus in Canada surged past the 700,000 mark over the weekend

In the past seven days, 47,580 cases were reported, down 17 per cent from the previous seven days. There were 1,064 deaths announced, down 2 per cent over the same period. At least 4,459 people are being treated in hospitals and 615,325 others are considered recovered.

About 71 per cent of the 802,160 doses of vaccine distributed to provinces have been administered. That’s 1.5 doses for every 100 people in Canada.

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Sources: Canada data is compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data is from Johns Hopkins University.


Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts Lockdown rules and reopeningCanada’s vaccine distribution planDeveloping/approved vaccinesPfizer’s vaccine, explained Essential resources


Photo of the day

Open this photo in gallery:

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria cries as he greets nurse Nurse Monica Calazans, 54, after she got a shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., at the Hospital das Clinicas in Sao Paulo, Brazil, today.Carla Carniel/The Associated Press


Coronavirus in Canada


Elderly long-term care residents with dementia, who have a tendency to wander as well as a need for social connection and physical touch, are posing a challenge for nurses and are increasing the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

  • Residents with dementia are more likely to enter other patients’ rooms or common areas where they could contract or transmit the virus, say doctors and advocates.
  • A woman whose grandmother died of COVID-19 in a Vancouver care home said she was on a Zoom call with her sick grandmother when another resident entered the room and began hugging her and kissing her on the forehead, raising concern.

Vaccine delay: Provincial governments are scrambling to adjust vaccine rollout plans after Pfizer announced it must temporarily delay deliveries to Canada and elsewhere.

Screen time: The amount of time children are spending on screens has increased dramatically, but experts who helped establish Canada’s screen time guidelines say we should instead be considering the quality of time spent in front of screens.


Coronavirus around the world


Coronavirus and business

Nine Dollarama stores have been fined by Quebec’s workplace safety board for inadequate sanitation practices.

  • The announcement comes after Dollarama workers held protests last year decrying a lack of sanitary measures at the company’s facilities.
  • Dollarama workers described a lack of personal protective equipment and inadequate physical distancing at the company’s warehouses. They also complained of improper barriers between staff and customers at retail stores.

Also today: Almost one in three Calgary offices are sitting empty, according to a recently released report, and vacancy rates are likely to go even higher, because of takeovers and mergers in the oil and gas sector.

And: Many companies are in the process of rewriting employment contracts to include pandemic-related issues, such as mandatory vaccines, according to an employment lawyer.


Globe opinion


More reporting

  • Two married doctors say the coronavirus pandemic tested their marriage and taxed their bodies and minds – yet it also left them strangely thankful for the way in which the year had taught them how to live.

Information centre

Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

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