Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Thursday - CBC.ca

The latest:

Alberta is lifting almost all COVID-19 restrictions Thursday in the third and final stage of its reopening plan.

It comes two weeks after the province hit a threshold the government set for reopening — 70 per cent of the eligible population receiving first vaccine doses. That number is now up to almost 72 per cent, while more than 38 per cent have received the recommended two shots.

Large events like the Calgary Stampede have the green light to go ahead, and there are no more caps on indoor or outdoor gatherings in restaurants, stores and places of worship.

Edmonton's mask rule lifts Thursday, in lockstep with the repeal of the provincial mandate, but Calgary's will continue until July 5.

Masks will still be required while on public transit, in taxis and ride-hailing services like Uber, as well as in continuing care and acute care facilities.

While shoppers in the capital don't have to wear masks, many store managers have said that their staff will keep them on for now. 

Jonn Gluwchynski, owner of the Cutting Room hair salon in Edmonton, says until most people have two vaccine doses, he's taking extra precautions.

"I can't cut hair from six feet or ten feet away from a guest, you know, I'm in your face." 

WATCH | Don't take masks off yet, says specialist: 

Masks are our 'last line of defence' against the highly transmissible COVID-19 delta variant as Canada opens up, says respirologist Dr. Samir Gupta. (Ben Nelms/CBC) 1:39

At United Sport & Cycle, operations manager Kelly Hodgson says people in the store should stay two metres apart, even though the province no longer mandates it.

"We'll still have social distancing signs on the floor, up on our doors."

Hodgson is letting his staff and customers decide about masks but says he fully believes it's not the end of masks, and while staff will be taking the signs down, "Let's just say we won't be throwing them away."

Alberta reported two additional deaths and 76 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

British Columbia has entered the next phase of its reopening plan due to a growing COVID-19 vaccination rate and a dramatic drop in cases.

Starting Thursday, residents can go to dinner indoors and outdoors without a limit on numbers, and attend fairs and festivals with a communicable disease plan, such as staying away if they're sick. The province is also allowing outdoor gatherings of up to 5,000 people.

Masks will no longer be mandatory before further restrictions are removed in September. Although masks aren't mandatory, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry encourages people to continue wearing them in all indoor places.

Ian Tostenson, president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said those still in the industry are worried about a "significant" labour shortage, resulting in restaurants having to make decisions like reducing hours or shortening menus.

B.C. saw about 30 per cent of restaurants close their doors in the last 16 months, he said. The industry employed about 190,000 people before the pandemic began but "straw polls" showed about 40,000 left, he said.

British Columbia reported 44 new cases of COVID-10 and no new deaths on Wednesday.

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What's happening across Canada

As of 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, Canada had reported 1,415,284 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 7,087 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 26,295. More than 37.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far across the country, according to CBC's vaccine tracker.

In Manitoba, health officials reported 70 new cases on Wednesday and two additional deaths. To the west, Saskatchewan reported 31 new cases.

Ontario on Wednesday reported 14 additional deaths and 184 new cases of COVID-19.

In Quebec on Wednesday, health officials reported 126 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional deaths.

In Atlantic Canada on Wednesday, New Brunswick reported three new cases of COVID-19, as Nova Scotia reported four new cases. P.E.I. had not reported any new cases.

WATCH | The psychological impact of the pandemic and the struggle to return to 'normal': 

Psychiatrist Dr. Steven Taylor and biomedical engineering professor Danilo Bzdok discuss how self-isolation has changed our brains, and why that's making it difficult for some Canadians to get 'back to normal.' 5:11

Newfoundland and Labrador, meanwhile, reported one new case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a day before the province was set to begin welcoming more travellers from Canada.

Across the North, there were no new cases reported in Nunavut or the Northwest Territories on Wednesday. Health officials in Yukon did not report figures for the day.

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What's happening around the world

As of Thursday morning, more than 182.2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported around the world, according to data published by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. The reported global death toll stood at more than 3.9 million.

A 10-week decline in new COVID-19 cases across Europe has come to an end and a new wave of infections is inevitable if citizens and legislators do not "remain disciplined," the head of WHO in Europe, Dr. Hans Kluge, told a news briefing on Thursday.

WATCH | Europe sees surge in COVID-19 cases: 

COVID-19 cases jumped 10 per cent last week across Europe and a new deadly wave of the virus looms, says Hans Kluge, the regional director of the World Health Organization office in Europe. 1:02

Kluge cited a 10 per cent increase in infection numbers over the last week because of "increased mixing, travel, gatherings and easing of social restrictions."

He cautioned that the highly transmissible delta variant is on track to be the dominant one by August in the 53-country region.

Some 63 per cent of people in the region haven't had a first vaccine jab, he said.

"The three conditions for a new wave of excess hospitalizations and deaths before the autumn are therefore in place: New variants, deficit in vaccine uptake, increased social mixing," he told reporters from Copenhagen.

Vaccine promises for Africa fail

In Africa, the African Union special envoy tasked with leading efforts to procure COVID-19 vaccines for the continent is blasting Europe as Africa struggles amid a crushing third wave of infections.

Strive Masiyiwa on Thursday said that "not one dose, not one vial, has left a European factory for Africa."

Masiyiwa also took aim at the global COVAX effort to distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, accusing COVAX of withholding crucial information including that key donors had not met funding pledges. He didn't name which donors.

The African continent of 1.3 billion people is now in the grip of a third wave of infections the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls "extremely aggressive."

Masiyiwa said COVAX had promised to deliver 700 million vaccine doses to Africa by December. But at mid-year, Africa has received just 65 million doses overall. Less than 50 million doses via COVAX have arrived.

In the Asia-Pacific region, hundreds of vaccinated foreign tourists arrived on Thailand's resort island of Phuket on Thursday, the first visitors under a pilot program designed to revive a tourism industry devastated by the pandemic.

Hotel drivers wait for passengers at the airport in Phuket on July 1 as the Thai resort island lifts quarantine rules for overseas tourists who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. (Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Under the "Phuket sandbox" plan, foreign tourists fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not have to spend any time in quarantine and can move around the island freely.

After 14 days, provided three coronavirus tests they must take are negative, they can travel elsewhere in the country.

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Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Thursday - CBC.ca
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