COVID-19-ravaged nursing homes and entering U.S. on a kayak: In The News for April 28

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of April 28 …

COVID-19 news we are watching in Canada …

Ontario’s auditor general will release a report today on the province’s COVID-19-ravaged nursing homes.

The special report by Bonnie Lysyk is scheduled to be tabled in the legislature mid-morning.

COVID-19 hit Ontario’s long-term care homes with brutal and lethal effect last spring. In all, at least 3,756 residents have died, as did 11 staff.

At one point, the military had to go in to help at the worst-hit homes.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is still counting on the United States to share its COVID-19 vaccine surplus, even as pressure mounts on the White House to help ease a spiralling pandemic crisis in India.

The federal Liberal government says it is in close contact with the U.S. and with diplomatic officials at the Canadian Embassy about procuring more doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not being used south of the border. 

“It is not about taking vaccines from the rest of the world,” Trudeau said, noting Canada’s earlier deal with the U.S. to exchange 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses for a comparable share of Canada’s supply later in the year.

“It is a question of simply moving up timings and exchanging doses so we can get through our vaccination quicker, and all the quicker turn to supporting people around the world.”

Just how many of an estimated 60 million U.S. doses coming online between now and the end of June might end up in Canadian arms, however, remains an open question, given India’s worsening circumstances. 

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We are also watching this …

OTTAWA — Canada’s spy agency is asking a court to toss out the claim of an employee who alleges he endured racial discrimination and physical abuse from colleagues.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says Sameer Ebadi should have turned to internal grievance and harassment processes instead of filing a suit in Federal Court.

Ebadi, who uses a pseudonym due to the sensitive nature of his work, says he pursued his claim in court because he has no faith the spy service’s internal procedures will provide anything close to a fair and impartial hearing.

Ebadi, a practising Muslim who fled to Canada from a repressive Middle Eastern country, has worked as an analyst since 2000 in the Prairie region.

Ebadi’s statement of claim, filed in January of last year, says he was passed over for promotion despite an excellent work record, and that he suffered bullying, discrimination, emotional and physical abuse, and religious persecution from fellow employees.

CSIS has filed a notice of motion with the court asking that Ebadi’s claim be thrown out, saying his employment is subject to internal intelligence service procedures.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

Fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in big crowds. 

And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks in some situations, too.

That’s the word from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the health agency loosened mask guidelines Tuesday. 

The decision marks the government’s latest step toward normalcy, but comes as much of the country already had moved on from mask rules. 

The decision is based in part on research showing that less than 10 per cent of documented instances of transmission of the coronavirus happen outdoors. 

And, with more people getting vaccinated, the trend in case numbers is encouraging.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

NEW DELHI — India crossed a grim milestone today of 200,000 people lost to COVID-19 as a devastating surge of new infections tears through dense cities and rural areas alike and overwhelms health-care systems on the brink of collapse. 

The health ministry reported a single-day record 3,293 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing India’s total fatalities to 201,187, as the world’s second most populous country endures its darkest chapter of the pandemic yet.  

The country also reported 362,757 new infections, a new global record, which raised the overall total past 17.9 million. The previous high of 350,000 on Monday had capped a five-day streak of recording the largest single-day increases in any country throughout the pandemic.  

India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, is the fourth to cross 200,000 deaths, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico. And as in many nations, experts believe the infections and fatalities in India are severe undercounts.  

The first known COVID-19 death in India happened on March 12, 2020, in southern Karnataka state. It took five months to reach the first 50,000 dead. The toll hit 100,000 deaths in the next two months in October 2020 and 150,000 three months later in January this year. Deaths slowed until mid-March, only to sharply rise again.  

For the past week, more than 2,000 Indians have died every day.  

India thought it had weathered the worst of the pandemic last year, but the virus is now racing through its population and systems are beginning to collapse.  

Hospitalizations and deaths have reached record highs, overwhelming health-care workers. Patients are suffocating because hospitals’ oxygen supplies have run out. 

Desperate family members are sending SOS messages on social media, hoping someone would help them find oxygen cylinders, empty hospital beds and critical drugs for their loved ones. 

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On this day in 1996 …

A hockey era ended as the Winnipeg Jets lost their final game. The visiting Detroit Red Wings beat the Jets 4-1 to win their playoff series in six games. The Jets moved to Phoenix for the next season and were renamed the Coyotes. (In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers franchise relocated to Winnipeg and was reborn as the Jets.)

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In entertainment …

TORONTO — Netflix has chosen Toronto as the spot for its previously announced Canadian corporate office.

A publicist for the California-based streaming giant told The Canadian Press Tuesday the company will post a content executive job for the new office in June. 

Netflix said in February it planned to open an office in this country but was still figuring out the location.

It had been eyeing Toronto and Vancouver, since the streamer shoots several productions in both markets.

Toronto is also where Netflix set up a production hub two years ago when it leased studio spaces along the city’s waterfront.

A representative from the company said Toronto made sense for a variety of reasons, including a plethora of talent, partners and international festivals in the city. 

The representative said Netflix hasn’t chosen an exact location and hopes to set up an interim office this summer before establishing a permanent shop, in accordance with COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.

Netflix adds it expects 10 to 15 employees will be based in Toronto. The first hiring priority is the content executive, who will work directly with creators on ideas and pitches for films and series.

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ICYMI …

An Alberta man is awaiting a next court date in Montana for allegedly crossing the border in a kayak and leading officials on a seven-hour chase through tough terrain.

The U.S. Department of Justice says in a release that Tommy Plante of Edmonton faces a criminal complaint of illegal entry into the U.S. and possession of a firearm and ammunition while prohibited.

It says the RCMP spotted the 31-year-old on the evening of April 19 in a kayak on Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir shared by British Columbia and Montana.

Mounties warned the Eureka Montana Border Patrol Station that the man may be trying to cross the border.

The Justice Department says that the next morning a border officer saw a beached kayak, a camp site and a man about a half kilometre south of the border.

It says when the officer approached, the man picked up a rifle, fled into the woods and, after an eight-kilometre chase, was arrested.

Plante appeared in court Friday and U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto ordered he be detained.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press