Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world April 21

The latest:

• Case ofcoronavirusvariant first detected in India confirmed in Quebec.
• The U.S. is looking to help Canada procure more COVID-19 vaccines.
• ICU admissions near 800 as Ontario sees record day for vaccinations.
• Alberta will provide paid leave for people to get vaccinated.
• Nova Scotia's vaccination strategy picks up speed following early criticism.
• CFL delays start of season to August, cuts schedule to 14 games.
• Report delves into Indigenous women's struggle to find adequate health care during pandemic.
• As of early Wednesday afternoon, more than 10.6 million vaccine had been administeredin Canada. Get the latest updates from CBC'svaccine tracker.

Health officials in Quebec have confirmed afirst case of B1617, the coronavirusvariant first detected in India.

The variant was detectedin a patient in theMauricieCentre-du-Qubecregion, between Montreal and Quebec City,according to public health.

B1617 is known for transmitting easily and causing more severe symptoms. The Quebec patient had received a first vaccine dose in Januarybutbecame infected a couple of months later,according toDr. Gaston De Serresof Quebec's public health institute (INSPQ).

The health authority says the patient has recoveredand is doing well.

Quebecon Wednesday reported1,217 new cases of COVID-19and sixadditionaldeaths. Hospitalizations stood at716, with178 people in ICU.

Whatelse is happening in Canada

WATCH |Ontario government criticized for 'inconsistent policies':

Ontario government criticized for inconsistent policies to control COVID-19 crisis

3 years ago

Duration 2:00

As two Ontario regions take action into their own hands to close workplaces with COVID-19 outbreaks, the provinces advisors publicly criticized Premier Doug Fords government for its inconsistent policies during the crisis.

As of 8p.m. ET, Canada had reported 1,147,469confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 89,167considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 23,763.

Ontario on Wednesday reported 4,212 new cases of COVID-19 and 32 additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 2,335, according to provincial data, with 790 people in ICUs due to COVID-related illness.

The Ontario government, meanwhile, has saida paid sick-leave program for essential workers was under consideration. The possible shift comes after repeated calls by public health experts to do more to protect essential workers.

Meanwhile, Premier Doug Ford isin isolation after a staff member tested positive for the virus. Ford has since tested negative.

WATCH | N.L. premierreassures residents:

N.L. premier thanks medics for plan to help Ontario

3 years ago

Duration 1:05

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey has thanked medical staff from the province who plan to help Ontario during its pandemic crisis and tried to assure his citizens that the departure of staff would not have an impact at home.

In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labradorwas the first province to report updated figuresWednesday, announcingone additional case. The province is working with Ontario to sendmedical personnel to help in the hard-hit province, which is raising concerns from N.L.'s nurses' unionabout nursing shortages at home.

New Brunswick reported seven new cases and one additional death Wednesday. Health officials there are asking peopleto be patient as the65+phase of its vaccination plan rolls out.

"These appointments can fill up quite quickly," Health Minister DorothyShephard said Tuesday in announcing the neweligibility."We know that the phones start ringing from the time we announce it at this press conference."

Nova Scotia reported 25 new cases Wednesday, the highest number in five months. The news came the same daytheInternational Ice Hockey Federationand Hockey Canada announced the women's world championship,scheduled for May 6-16 in Halifax and Truro, would be cancelled.

WATCH | Who's eligible for vaccination in Manitoba?:

Manitoba expands access to vaccines, promotes use of AstraZeneca

3 years ago

Duration 4:30

COVID-19 vaccines are now available to people age 50 and over, and First Nations people age 30 and over in Manitoba. Dr. Joss Reimer of the Manitoba Vaccine Task Force also emphasized the safety of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, saying the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Across the North,Nunavuton Wednesday reported one new case of COVID-19. Premier Joe Savikataaqsaid in a tweet there are still 33 active cases in the territory.

In the Prairie provinces, the Manitoba government is expanding its COVID-19 vaccine program to prioritize first responders, teachers and other front-line workers.Front-line police officers and firefighters of all ages are now eligible. The province reported 164 new cases Wednesday, along with one additional death.

Health officials in Saskatchewan, meanwhile, reported 231new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and fouradditional deaths.The province continues to expand eligibility for vaccination, but says opening it up to everyone over18 by mid-May remains "a very ambitious target."

A mass vaccination clinic planned at a meat-packing plant in southernAlberta had to be postponeddue to a delay in a shipment of the Modernavaccine.Nearly half the 2,200 workers at Cargill's facility inHigh River, south of Calgary, contracted thecoronavirus and two employees died during an outbreak there last spring.

The province reported 1,699 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Due to technical issues, it did not report whether there were any new deaths. Variants of concern now account for 59 per cent of active cases in the province, according to Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health.

InBritish Columbia, health officials reported 862new cases of COVID-19 and sevenadditional deaths on Wednesday.A total of 483people are in hospital, with 164in intensive care.

-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 6:45p.m. ET

What's happening around the world

U.S. President Joe Biden says the United States plans to helpCanada procure moreCOVID-19 vaccines.

Biden says he spokewith Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday and thatthe White House is looking at what to do with vaccines not currently in use in the U.S.

That's likely a reference to the AstraZeneca-Oxford shot approved by Health Canada, but not by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The U.S. has already provided Canada with about 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and gave 2.5 million doses to Mexico.

The president described Trudeauas someone working hard to help his country deal with the pandemic.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, more than 143.2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than three million.

At least 22 patients died on Wednesday ata hospital in western India after a disruption to their oxygen supply caused by a leaking tank, the health minister said, as a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases soaks up supplies of the gas.

"Patients who were on ventilators at the hospital in Nashik have died," said Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope in televised remarks about the incident in one of India's hardest-hit areas. "The leakage was spotted at the tank supplying oxygen to these patients. The interrupted supply could be linked to the deaths of the patients in the hospital."

The world's second most populous nation reported 295,041 new infections on Wednesday the biggest daily rise reported in any country stretching hospitals to breaking point, officials said.

Hospitalshave been warning thatsupplies of medical oxygen used forCOVID-19 patients are running low as cases pour in.

Max Healthcare, a largeprivate sector health-care provider in Delhi and its suburbs, said in a statement that most of the hospitals in the network "are working on dangerously low levels of oxygen supply."

Television showed images of people with empty oxygen cylinders crowding refilling facilities in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, as they scrambled to save stricken relatives in hospital.

Health experts said India had let its guard down when the virus seemed to be under control during the winter, allowing big gatherings such as weddings and festivals.

India now faces a coronavirus "storm" overwhelming its health system, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a national address overnight, adding that authorities were workingto deliver oxygen with "speed and sensitivity."

Modi is himself facing criticism for addressing packed political rallies for local elections and allowing a religious festival to go ahead in which millions take a ritual bathin the river Ganges, considered sacred by Hindus.

India has so far administered nearly 130 million doses of vaccine, the most in the world after the U.S.and China but still small relative to its population.

In theAsia-Pacific region,Japan's government is preparing to announce a third state of emergency in Tokyo and the area around Osaka following requests from local leaders who say current measures are failing to curb a rapid rise ininfections.

InEurope,German lawmakers have approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to mandate restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly.The legislation to apply an "emergency brake" consistently in areas with high infection rates is intended to end the patchwork of measures across 16 states in the highly decentralized country.

In Italy, thegovernment is opening cinemas, theatres and concert halls to limited numbers of spectators in regions with the lowest level of contagion starting next Monday.Limits were set with a maximum 500 people indoors and 1,000outdoors.

This is the first national loosening of restrictions since a surge lastfall and the arrival of quick-spreading variants.

In theAmericas, the White House is trying to overcome diminishing demand for COVID-19 shots by offering businesses a tax incentive to give employees paid leave to get vaccinated. The move comes as the U.S.is set to meetBiden's goal of administering 200 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office.

With more than half of adults at least partially vaccinated and roughly 28 million doses being delivered each week, a lack ofdemand has becomethe biggest constraining factor to vaccinations in much of the country.

In theMiddle East,Syria's last rebel-held enclave has received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines, with a refrigerated truck offloading over 50,000 United Nations-secured jabs in the overcrowded province.

The delivery Wednesday arrivedhours before a bigger shipment was expectedin the capital of Damascus for inoculations in government-controlled areas. The vaccines come as the war-torn country experiences a new surge in infections, overwhelming hospitalsreeling from conflict and deteriorating health-care services.

InAfrica, South Africa remained the hardest-hit country, with more than 1.5 million reported cases of COVID-19 and a death toll approaching 54,000.

-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 5:20p.m. ET