TORONTO – Canada’s biggest city entered lockdown today in the latest bid to curb coronavirus infections, with case numbers surging across North America even as United States officials said vaccinations could be available within weeks.
Encouraging results from several vaccine trials have raised hopes of a decisive shift in the battle against a disease that has claimed around 1.4 million lives worldwide in the last year.
But seesawing restrictions and lockdowns in countries that successfully contained earlier outbreaks – shattering lives and economies in the process – have highlighted the ongoing risk of contagion.
Toronto banned private indoor gatherings and capped the size of weddings and funerals for four weeks from midnight, with officials warning that hospitals risked being overwhelmed without quick action.
“I've been clear on this: the situation is extremely serious and further action is required,” Ontario premier Doug Ford had told journalists ahead of the lockdown.
Officials had forecast more than 400,000 new infections a week across Canada by the end of the year without new restrictions – more than the total number of cases recorded nationwide since the start of the pandemic.
Australia’s second-largest city, meanwhile, continued its slow emergence from a gruelling four-month lockdown that saw four million people confined to their homes, with authorities lifting a ban on travel across state borders.
British media reports said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was preparing to partially ease social distancing measures in England at the beginning of next month, after concerns about the impact of lockdowns on the economy and mental health.
And staff at Shanghai’s biggest international airport were facing mass testing after the city reported a small Covid-19 outbreak linked to cargo handlers.
Life in China has largely returned to normal after strict testing and harsh lockdowns since the virus first emerged there late last year, but authorities have linked several isolated outbreaks to the import of goods. – AFP, November 23, 2020
