Coronavirus: What’s happening in Canada and around the world on Wednesday

Previous nationwide lockdowns in March and October of 2020 were announced by Macron in televised speeches. His office said Wednesday that Macron will address the nation at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET), without offering any details of what he might say.

Ahead of his weekly coronavirus strategy meeting Wednesday with ministers and aides, Macron was under intensifying pressure to close schools and further restrict people’s movements to ease growing pressure on hospitals.

The total number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care in France surged past 5,000 on Tuesday, the first time in 11 months that the figure has been that high.

Short of a full lockdown, Macron is running out of alternatives to make a major dent in the renewed surge of infections that has led to growing questions about his government’s virus strategies. With presidential elections scheduled for 2022, Macron is having to weigh both political and health considerations.

An overnight nationwide curfew has been in place since January. In Paris and other regions where the virus is spreading rapidly, residents already also have extra restrictions on movement and non-essential stores are closed.

School closures were among options being considered Wednesday. They’d previously been described as a last resort by the government.

“What we needed earlier was a strict lockdown and huge vaccination drive, but it’s still not too late,” Gilbert Deray, a senior clinician at the Pitie-Salpeterie hospital in Paris, told Europe 1 radio.

According to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University, France has seen more than 4.6 million cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and more than 95,400 deaths.

-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 7 a.m. ET

What’s happening across Canada

WATCH | Worries grow about Regina’s COVID-19 outbreak spreading throughout Saskatchewan:

Regina’s ICUs are operating above capacity as younger, sicker COVID-19 patients flood in, amid a surge in cases there. And now there are concerns the problem could spread provincewide. 2:04

As of early Wednesday morning, Canada had reported 976,604 cases of COVID-19, with 46,395 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 22,926.

In Atlantic Canada, health officials reported 22 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with 14 of them in New Brunswick. Three new cases were reported in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, while Newfoundland and Labrador health officials reported two new cases.

In Quebec, health officials reported 864 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths on Tuesday. Hospitalizations in the province stood at 487, with 126 people in intensive care.

Ontario reported 2,336 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional deaths on Tuesday. According to a provincial dashboard, COVID-19 hospitalizations stood at 1,090, with 387 COVID-19 patients listed as being in intensive care units. Data from Critical Care Services Ontario, which puts together daily internal reports, showed 410 patients in ICU.

Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday that he is “extremely concerned” about rising infections and stressed that residents must follow public health rules. The premier said that he would “lock things down” if he had to — but didn’t offer specifics on what measures are being considered, saying he plans to consult the province’s top doctor before making a decision.

WATCH | Uncertainty surrounds Ontario’s plan to tackle 3rd COVID-19 wave:

Ontario’s third wave of COVID-19 is hitting younger and middle-aged people the hardest. Case rates are still rising, ICUs are already full and it’s not clear what the province plans to do about it. 3:35

In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba reported 77 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and no additional deaths. 

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, reported 164 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and one additional death. The province said 91 of these infections are from in and around Regina, which is battling a spread of more infectious variants. There are 160 people in hospital in the province, with 22 of the patients in intensive care.

Premier Scott Moe on Tuesday urged people to be “very diligent” in following public health orders, and called on all eligible people to make an appointment to get their vaccine.

“I believe that we will be able to get our case numbers under control in the few communities where they’re increasing  without further … restrictions, but we all need to do our part,” Moe said. 

In Alberta, health officials reported 576 new cases and four additional deaths on Tuesday. Hospitalizations in the province stood at 301, with 58 people listed as being in intensive care.

British Columbia reported 840 new daily cases on Tuesday but no additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 312, with 78 in intensive care. 

Across the North, there were no new cases reported in residents of Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut.

-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 7:05 a.m. ET

What’s happening around the world

As of early Wednesday morning, more than 128.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to the tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.8 million.

Japan is the latest nation calling for further investigation into the origins of COVID-19, saying the report released this week at a WHO briefing was based on work that faced delays and lacked access to essential virus samples.

“In order to prevent future pandemics, it is indispensable to carry out prompt, independent and experts-led investigations that are free of surveillance,” chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters. “We are concerned that the latest investigation faced delays and the lack of access to virus samples.”

The report was released Tuesday after experts travelled to Wuhan, China, the city where illnesses from the coronavirus were first detected in late 2019.

WATCH | How exactly did COVID-19 begin?

China has touted its co-operation with WHO and warned that attempts to politicize the matter would cost lives. The U.S. and other countries say the WHO report lacked crucial information, access and transparency and further study was warranted.

Kato called for additional investigation and analysis and said Japan will encourage WHO to consider additional investigation inside China.

“We will further co-operate with other countries in carrying out additional studies that are still necessary,” Kato said.

The report said the virus most likely came from bats and spread to an unidentified mammal before being transmitted to people.

In the Americas, Ecuador’s health system is under severe strain from a spike in COVID-19 and some hospitals in the capital Quito are working above capacity to treat patients, doctors said on Tuesday.

In Africa, South Africa on Tuesday more than doubled the number of people who can gather indoors for Easter religious services because COVID-19 transmission remains relatively low.

In Europe, Poland reported its highest number of deaths related to COVID-19 so far this year on Wednesday, as concern mounts that the health system is cracking under the strain of the pandemic’s third wave.

Spain has decided to extend AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccination to essential workers over 65 years old to protect a small group of people who have not yet retired, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

In the Asia-Pacific region, China carried out about 3.7 million vaccinations on March 30, bringing the total number administered to 114.69 million, according to data released by the National Health Commission on Tuesday.

The southwestern Chinese city of Ruili that borders Myanmar ordered a one-week home quarantine for residents of the city’s urban area, and mass COVID-19 testing, after reporting six new locally transmitted cases.

-From Reuters and The Associated Press, last updated at 6:55 a.m. ET