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

According to the province, COVID-19 hospitalizations stood at 1,822, with 626 in intensive care — a record high.

Ontario’s SickKids hospital is already caring for eight adults in ICU — a first for the Toronto hospital, though its top official noted that care for children was not being impacted.

CHEO, a major children’s hospital in Ottawa, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that it is also readying beds for adults if needed.

“This is unprecedented in CHEO’s 47-year history and reflects how serious the third wave of the pandemic is,” Alex Munter, CEO and President of CHEO said in a statement. “We need to do everything we can to stop the uncontrolled spread that is making so many people ill.”

The updated figures come a day after Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced that students across the province will be shifting to remote learning after the spring break. Child care for non-school-aged children and children of front-line workers will continue during the closure.

In Quebec, which recently saw protests after tightening some public health restrictions, health officials on Tuesday reported 1,490 new cases and 12 additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 643, the province said, with 150 people in intensive care.

–From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last update at 11:35  a.m. ET

What’s happening across Canada

WATCH | Being outdoors reduces, doesn’t eliminate COVID-19 risk, experts say:

The risk of catching COVID-19 remains low outdoors, but experts say infection is possible especially because of the variants of concern. 1:58

As of 11:15 a.m. ET, Canada had reported 1,076,188 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 78,183 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 23,383.

In Atlantic Canada, the premiers of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island on Tuesday suggested the so-called Atlantic bubble, which was set to resume in the days ahead, may be delayed. 

Atlantic premiers will meet either later Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss the issue, Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin said at a briefing. Rankin also said border restrictions between his province and New Brunswick were being restored in the face of rising caseloads and variants of concern cases in that province.

Nova Scotia on Tuesday reported six new cases of COVID-19, while there were no new cases reported in Prince Edward Island. 

In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba reported 114 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. Dr. Brent Roussin, the province’s top doctor, said Manitoba is looking at a number of possibilities around restrictions, including an outdoor mask mandate and tighter restrictions on private gatherings.

In Saskatchewan, meanwhile, health officials on Monday reported 300 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death.

Alberta on Monday reported a slight dip in new COVID-19 cases with 1,136 infections. The province, which reported five additional deaths, said hospitalizations stood at 390, with 90 people in intensive care.

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

British Columbia on Monday reported 3,289 cases over the last three days as active cases neared 10,000 and there were 18 more deaths. A total of 368 people were hospitalized, with 121 of them in intensive care units.

Henry said health-care workers are feeling the impact of the third wave, which has led to some cancelled surgeries for the first time since the province launched its surgical renewal plan in May.

Health Minister Adrian Dix, meanwhile, said some health-care staff have been redeployed to hospitals in areas with the highest number of cases.

“It is critical to keep our hospitals open and safe for everyone to be able to come in. And to do that, we all need to ensure that we’re following public health orders,” he said.

-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 11:15 a.m. ET

What’s happening around the world

WATCH | U.S. pauses use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine over blood clot reports:

The U.S. investigation of whether six cases of rare blood clots are linked to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may help give Canada modified guidance on the shot before it reaches Canada, says Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist in Toronto. 7:34

As of early Tuesday morning, more than 136.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a coronavirus tracker administered by Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 2.9 million.

In the Americas, health officials in the U.S. are recommending a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as investigators look into six reports of rare blood clots.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said all of the cases happened in women between the age of 18 and 48, the statement said, with symptoms occurring between six and 13 days after people were vaccinated.

According to the statement, as of Monday the U.S. had administered more than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine. Canada has approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but has not yet received any doses.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi appealed for people to adhere to physical distancing rules after Islamabad reported one of its highest single-day totals of COVID-19 fatalities in recent months. Alvi also said on Twitter he has recovered from his own case of COVID-19, but was still feeling weakness.

India reported 161,736 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, hitting the world’s highest daily tally once again, for a total of 13.69 million cases, health ministry data showed.

In Europe, France’s prime minister has announced the suspension of all flights between Brazil and France amid concerns over coronavirus variants.

“We note that the situation is getting worse and so we have decided to suspend all flights between Brazil and France until further notice,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said. France has had 5.1 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, the highest number in Europe, and more than 99,000 people have died.

In Africa, South Africa, meanwhile, extended by a further three months the deadline of a loan scheme central to efforts to counter the economic impact of COVID-19.

In the Middle East, hard-hit Iran’s reported case total has risen to more than two million, with more than 64,700 reported deaths.

–From The Associated Press, CBC News and Reuters last updated at 10:35 a.m. ET