Weekly update. Reported cases remains the same as last week, reported deaths are up a bit
In total 4.04 million new cases were reported last week (4.03 million last week)
Also another 14,410 deaths were reported (up from 12,726) to a total of 6,684,332
USA reported 459K new cases (slightly down from 489K) and 2,969 more deaths (down from 3,265)
Europe reported 1.03 million new cases (slightly down from 1.08 million) and 5,732 more deaths (up from 4,326)
The continents
Europe, North America and Africa slightly down, Asia, South America, Oceania slightly up.
Corners of the world
Japan continues its slow and steady rise, Brazil as well.
China's reported numbers are completely useless now.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/a-very-hard-road-ahead-for-china-as-covid-19-cases-spiral-1.6206734
Nearly three years after it was first identified in China, the coronavirus is now spreading through the vast country. Experts predict difficult months ahead for its 1.4 billion people.
China's unyielding "zero-COVID" approach, which aimed to isolate all infected people, bought it years to prepare for the disease. But an abrupt reopening, which was announced without warning on Dec. 7 in the wake of anti-lockdown protests, has caught the nation under-vaccinated and short on hospital capacity.
Experts have forecast between a million and 2 million deaths next year.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/packed-icus-crowded-crematoriums-covid-roils-chinese-towns-1.6208143
As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds.
Over two days, Associated Press journalists visited five hospitals and two crematoriums in towns and small cities in Baoding and Langfang prefectures, in central Hebei province. The area was the epicentre of one of China's first outbreaks after the state loosened COVID-19 controls in November and December. For weeks, the region went quiet, as people fell ill and stayed home.
Many have now recovered. Today, markets are bustling, diners pack restaurants and cars are honking in snarling traffic, even as the virus is spreading in other parts of China. In recent days, headlines in state media said the area is "starting to resume normal life."
But life in central Hebei's emergency wards and crematoriums is anything but normal. Even as the young go back to work and lines at fever clinics shrink, many of Hebei's elderly are falling into critical condition. It could be a harbinger of what's to come for the rest of China.
Locally no Family Christmas dinner again, this time due to the ongoing winter storm and travel advisory doh. The highways are closed here, storm is said to last until tomorrow afternoon. Blowing snow, whiteouts can happen at any time, plus a nice ice layer under a thin layer of snow on the local roads.
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/winter-storm-creates-blizzards-whiteouts-across-ontario
A historic winter storm has been sweeping through much of Ontario since Thursday, disrupting travel across the province and leaving thousands without power.
On Thursday, a powerful winter storm moved into Ontario, bringing with it rain, snow, high winds, and freezing temperatures. The storm, caused by a surge of Arctic air clashing with warm, moist air over the Mississippi Valley sparked a weather bomb over the Great Lakes, leading to this historic event.
One concern early in this event was the potential for flash-freezing in parts of southern Ontario after much of the region saw rainfall on Thursday. As the storm continued to move through the region on Friday, bringing with it cold Arctic air, snow, and high winds to create blizzard and whiteout conditions. Paired with the layer of ice caused by the earlier rain, this created very slippery and dangerous conditions for commuters and travellers.
Widespread road closures have occurred across the province, including all roads in Perth county remaining closed as of Saturday morning. The Ontario Provincial Police are continuing to urge people to avoid any travel, as road conditions are still dangerous.
