75% vaccination trigger too low, opening borders 'dangerous,' expert says - Yahoo News Canada

The chief medical officer of health was referring to easing of pandemic restrictions in tandem with rising vaccination rates to keep case numbers relatively low, like they've been through the pandemic.

"It's risky," says Malgorzata Gasperowicz, a biologist at the University of Calgary who studies cell behaviour and who publicly urged other provinces to match Atlantic Canada's strict lockdown measures last fall.

She says the trigger for the province's move to Phase 1 of reopening, 75 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers having a first dose of vaccine, is "totally not enough" given the rising number of COVID-19 Delta variant cases elsewhere in Canada.

Likewise, she says letting Canadians from outside the region with only one dose enter the province without self-isolating in Phase 2 jeopardizes the success so far.

Raywat Deonandan isn't as worried, but says case numbers outside Atlantic Canada should be a major part of New Brunswick's criteria for reopening.

"What's missing there is: what's the rest of Canada doing?" he says?

Premier Blaine Higgs announced Wednesday that the province will move to Phase 2 of its "path to green" literally overnight.

But she said the COVID-19 case rate in the province has tended to be a consistent fraction of the rate elsewhere in Canada, and with cases dropping elsewhere in the country, post-opening cases should also track at the same lower rate.

She also said that she expects cases to rise but thanks to vaccination rates, a lot of people who have COVID-19 will have mild symptoms and won't need hospitalization, making the situation manageable.

"Vaccination is good in that it makes the wood less dry if new sparks come, but it won't stop it by itself," says Gasperowicz.

2, though Higgs said Tuesday the province may get there sooner.

Deonandan says eliminating COVID-19 altogether via herd immunity is likely impossible in Canada because people are unlikely to get vaccinated at a high enough rate and they don't have the patience for the strict measures required to eliminate the virus.

Trudeau's office says he received his negative COVID-19 test Wednesday morning and can now leave the three-star Ottawa lodging?

The defiant words at a news conference Wednesday came after Paul survived another day of party strife when a move to push her out shifted course on Tuesday night, leaving her with a tenuous grip on power ahead of a likely federal elect.

And the Vancouver-raised star says he hopes for more adventures on the horizon, now that he's had his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A car bomb exploded inside a military base in the Colombian border town of Cucuta on Tuesday, leaving 36 people injured, including three in critical condition, officials said.

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:30 p.m.

There are 1,404,093 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Canada: 1,404,093 confirmed cases (14,923 active, 1,363,198 resolved, 25,972 deaths).*The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers.

There were 809 new cases Tuesday.

Unveiling a report on ways to deal with what the Europeans believe is an increasingly authoritarian Russia hostile to the West, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the likelihood that ties will improve anytime soon remains “a distant prospect.” The EU, Borrell told reporters in Brus.

TORONTO — Help for the struggling James Bay community of Kashechewan has been slow in coming, as COVID-19 infections surge through overcrowded homes and isolation facilities remain non-existent, Chief Leo Friday said on Wednesday

The virus has attacked children particularly hard, with those aged 12 and under accounting for more than half the 232 active cases, the chief said

Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh held an 80-minute virtual town hall on Tuesday night to outline plans for the department going forward

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's king said Wednesday that Parliament, which has been suspended under a coronavirus emergency since January, must resume as soon as possible, but stopped short of saying the emergency should end