The latest:
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out some six million jobs in the European Union, according to a study released on Thursday, with temporary contractors, young and female workers at times hit harder than in the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The Eurofound study said teleworking, short-time work schemes and other state support helped protect jobs but also meant more people slid into protracted professional inactivity rather than figuring in unemployment statistics.
“There were 5.7 million fewer people in employment in the EU by spring 2020 than at the end of 2019, and 6.3 million fewer compared with the trend growth that could have been expected before the COVID-19 pandemic,” Eurofound said.
The fourth-quarter 2019 employment figure stood at 201 million workers, according to Eurofound, compared to some 450 million people living in the bloc. The corresponding change in the EU unemployment rate was more modest, from 6.6 per cent to 6.7 per cent.
“In the 12 months leading up to spring 2020, EU employment declined by 2.4 per cent, the weekly hours of those still in work dropped by nearly one hour and the share of workers employed but not working more than doubled to 17 per cent,” it said.
Eurofound, an EU agency dedicated to monitoring and improving living and working conditions in the 27-nation bloc, said the number of temporary contracts sank by 17 per cent, with Spain, France, Poland, Italy and Greece particularly hit.
“Younger workers experienced the sharpest declines in employment,” said the report, stressing that youth employment levels in the pandemic shrank more than during the financial crisis that started in 2008, risking another “lost generation.”
Unlike the financial and economic crisis more than a decade ago, it noted the pandemic disproportionately affected female-dominated sectors including accommodation, food and travel.
With about half of the EU workforce switching to telework, better-educated workers in urban centres were more likely to keep their jobs than others, further exacerbating inequalities.
–From Reuters, last updated at 7:20 a.m. ET
What’s happening in Canada
From trips, to big parties and plenty of hugs, Ontario seniors who recently got their first COVID-19 vaccine reveal what they want to do and how this pandemic year has impacted their lives. 3:51
Canada will mark the one-year anniversary today of the “global pandemic” declaration made by the World Health Organization regarding COVID-19.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will address the House of Commons this morning with a statement on this national day of observance to commemorate those who’ve died from the novel coronavirus.
The government has also asked Canadians to think about the health-care and other essential workers who have been on the front lines treating our illnesses, cooking our food, cleaning our stores, schools and workplaces, and delivering countless items to us.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, urged caution on Wednesday, saying in a statement that the vast majority of Canadians are still susceptible to COVID-19.
“Although COVID-19 activity had been declining nationally from mid-January through mid-February, daily case counts have since levelled off,” Tam said.
“With the continued increase of cases and outbreaks associated with more contagious variants, we must all remain vigilant with public health measures and individual precautions to prevent a rapid shift in trajectory of the epidemic.”
As of early Thursday morning, Canada had reported 896,744 cases of COVID-19, with 30,442 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 22,335.
In Atlantic Canada, health officials in Nova Scotia reported one new case of COVID-19 on Wednesday. There were no new cases reported in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick or Newfoundland and Labrador — which is loosening lockdown rules.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s chief medical officer, said health officials recognize that COVID-19 variants “put us in a very different place than we were when these levels were developed last.”
In Quebec, health officials reported 792 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and 10 additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 581, with 112 COVID-19 patients in the province’s intensive care units.
Ontario, meanwhile, reported 1,316 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths on Wednesday. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital stood at 678, with 281 people in intensive care units.
In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba reported 77 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death on Wednesday. In neighbouring Saskatchewan, health officials reported 111 new cases and one additional death.
Alberta reported 399 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and two additional deaths. COVID-19 hospitalizations stood at 254, with 37 people in intensive care units.
In British Columbia, health officials reported 531 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and one additional death.
There were no new cases of COVID-19 reported in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut on Wednesday.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 7:15 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
As of early Thursday morning, more than 118.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide with 66.9 million cases listed as recovered on the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 2.6 million.
In Africa, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging “continental capacity” to produce COVID-19 vaccines as Africa tries to vaccinate more of its 1.3 billion people. Dr. John Nkengasong told reporters Thursday that at least five African countries appear to have the capacity to produce vaccines. He mentioned South Africa, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.
He said a meeting is planned for April 12 between the African Union and outside partners to create a “road map” for boosting African capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines. “It’s so important for us to have that,” he said.
Birgitte Markussen, head of the European Union delegation to the African Union, told the briefing that “efforts will be made to support local production” of vaccines. She said solidarity is important “to make sure no one is left behind” in global efforts to stop the pandemic.
At least 22 of Africa’s 54 countries have received COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX program. The continent has set a target of vaccinating at least 60 per cent of its people.
In Europe, Denmark has put using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine shots on hold for two weeks after reports of cases of blood clots forming, including one death in Denmark, Danish authorities said on Thursday.
They did not say how many reports of blood clots there had been, but Austria has stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.
“Both we and the Danish Medicines Agency have to respond to reports of possible serious side-effects, both from Denmark and other European countries,” the director of the Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said in a statement.
The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days, the health agency said. It did not give details of the Danish blood clot victim. AstraZeneca and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) were not immediately available for comment.
WATCH | Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious disease specialist, talks about Denmark’s decision:
There’s no reason to be overly worried after Denmark said it was temporarily stopping inoculations with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to investigate a small number of blood clots, says infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch. 2:16
The European Medicines Agency has recommended that Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine be licensed in the EU.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the J&J shot in late February and Canadian regulators gave the OK for the one-dose shot in early March. Health experts hope that having a one-dose vaccine will speed efforts to immunize the world against the novel coronavirus, especially given the arrival of worrying new variants in recent months.
The EU has struggled to quickly roll out shots and immunize its most vulnerable citizens.
In the Middle East, Jordan’s foreign minister is calling for more support with coronavirus vaccines as his country tries to ensure its own citizens as well as hundreds of thousands of refugees, primarily from Syria, are inoculated.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Germany’s Deutsche Welle that Jordan was far short of the number of vaccines it needed, and was trying to procure doses from China and Russia as well as from Western producers.
Jordan has included its massive refugee population in its virus response and is offering them free vaccines. But he says the onus shouldn’t be on Jordan alone. Safadi said “refugees cannot be the responsibility of host countries only; it is a global challenge and therefore the solution has to be global.”
He says Jordan does “appreciate the tremendous support that we got from our partners in Europe and the U.S. and others,” but that now resources are dwindling for refugees.
In the Americas, new COVID-19 cases continue to fall in North America, but in Latin America infections are still rising, particularly in Brazil where a resurgence has caused record daily deaths.
President Joe Biden is set to mark the one-year anniversary of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic lockdown on Thursday with a prime-time speech commemorating losses from COVID-19 while expressing hope for the future as vaccinations increase.
The Democratic president, who campaigned on a promise to curb the pandemic more effectively than his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, has told Americans since his January inauguration that more deaths and pain were coming from COVID-19.
But with the vaccinated population slowly increasing, Biden is conveying fresh hope even as he urges people to continue to be cautious to prevent further flare-ups.
Roughly 530,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, and just about 10 per cent of Americans have been fully vaccinated.
In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea will vaccinating elders in long-term care settings against the coronavirus this month after authorities approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for adults 65 years old and older.
The decision by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was based on encouraging data from England and Scotland that the vaccine lowered hospitalizations and death rates in the age group.
South Korea delayed approving the AstraZeneca vaccine for people older than 65 when it began its vaccination campaign last month, citing insufficient laboratory data. But health experts accused the government of risking the safety of people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.
The KCDC says 376,000 workers and residents older than 65 at long-term care hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities and rehab centres will begin receiving the shots this month. About 35 per cent of the country’s COVID-19 deaths in 2020 were linked to long-term care facilities.
-From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 9:15 a.m. ET
