Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Nov. 8

The latest:

• The U.S. land border is open. Here's what you need to know.
  
• Border-town mayors call for end to Canada's COVID-19 test requirement for travellers.
  
• Canada could consider scrapping the pricey COVID-19 PCR test for travellers.
  
• COVID-19spreads through the air. Here's what you can do about it this winter.
  
• Just how effective areplastic barriersin preventing virus spread?
  
• Track how many people have been given the COVID-19 vaccine across Canada.

The European Union's medicines agency on Monday began reviewing Merck's COVID-19 treatment pill so that it can swiftly advise national drug authorities in the 27-nation bloc that want to begin using it before it gets official approval.

The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that it will give "EU-wide recommendations in the shortest possible time frame to help national authorities decide on possible early use of the medicine, for example, in emergency use settings."

The Amsterdam-based agency will give the recommendations while a comprehensive review of the pill, calledmolnupiravir, continues ahead of a possible application to market the drug.

Currently, most COVID-19 treatments require an IV or injection. Merck's COVID-19 pill is already under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after showing strong initial results. On Thursday, the United Kingdom became the first country to OK it.

In the U.K., the pill was approved for adults 18 and older who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or heart disease. Patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 would take four pills of the drug twice a day for five days.

• CBC Explains |What's happening with antiviral drugs to treat COVID-19?

In the United States, the FDA has set a public meeting later this month to review molnupiravir. The company reported in September that its drug slashed rates of hospitalization and death by 50 per cent.

Merck has also submitted data to Health Canada.

The drug targets an enzyme the coronavirus uses to reproduce itself, inserting errors into its genetic code that slow its ability to spread and take over human cells. That genetic activity has led some independent experts to question whether the drug could potentially cause mutations leading to birth defects or tumours.

-From The Associated Press, last updated at 12:40 p.m. ET

What's happening across Canada

Need a passport? Prepare to wait in line

3 years ago

Duration 1:44

Edmontonians hoping to get a new passport are facing day-long lines at the Canada Place office, where officials are triaging applicants based on their date of travel.

Yukon's top doctor says a "rapidly escalating COVID-19 situation" is threatening the territory's health-care system and residents must take steps to control the spread.

Acting chief medical officer of healthDr. Catherine Elliottsaid in a statement that Yukon is at a point in the pandemic it has not seen before.

Her warning came as Yukon reported 80 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed over a three-day period between Friday and Monday, for a total of 169 active infections.

• Hurry up and wait: Edmonton passport offices backed up by rush of travelhopefuls.

• Doctor among 3 Sask. COVID-19 ICU patients who died after transfer to Ontario.

• Ontarioreports480 new COVID-19 cases, a nearly 14% jump over last Monday.

• Inuvik school closed after 11 in community test positive for COVID-19.

• N.S. reports 111 cases of COVID-19 over weekend, outbreak at nursing home.

• 157 new cases of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan on Sundayand 6 more deaths.

-From The Canadian Press, last updated at 9:45 p.m. ET

What's happening around the world

As of Monday evening, more than250.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 tracker. The reported global death toll stood at more than five million.

In theAmericas, theU.S. fully reopened its borders with Mexico and Canada on Mondayand lifted restrictions on travel for most of Europe, setting the stage for emotional reunions nearly two years in the making and providing a boost for the travel industry decimated by the pandemic.

The restrictions, among the most severe in U.S. history, had kept families apart, including some spouses who have not been able to hug in months. Even so, there were fewer crossings at the Mexico-United States border than expected. Officials in the Mexican border city of Tijuana said people did not make the most of restrictions being lifted along the 3,200-kilometreborder due to fears of being caught in traffic.

Meanwhile, Cuba is also preparing to reopen after 20 months of pandemic restrictions. Craft vendors are returning to the streets,transport between provinces is gradually returning to normal and crowds once again line the seafront Malecon boulevard in Havana. Airports will fully open on Nov. 15, and the tourism industryis expected to rebound. All travellers will be requiredto have complete vaccination or a negative PCR test.

So far, Cuba has registered 956,452 infections of the novelcoronavirus and 8,265 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. The vaccination campaign, covering everyone aged twoand older, has given all three scheduled doses to 7.3 million people on this island of 11 million people.

InEurope,Slovakia has expanded strict coronavirus restrictions to nearly half of the country amid a record surge of infections. Slovakia, which has a population of nearly 5.5 million people, is one of the countries in the European Union hardest hit by the pandemic. It has registered about521,650 cases and 13,269 deaths.

Greece reported a new record high for daily COVID-19 infections on Monday as vaccination appointments shot up after new restrictions on unvaccinated people kicked in over the weekend.

InAfrica,health officials in South Africa reported205 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and 13 additional deaths.

In theMiddle East, Iran on Sunday reported7,554 new cases of COVID-19 and 126 additional deaths.

• INTERACTIVE |Where is the coronavirus pandemic getting better or worse?

In theAsia-Pacificregion,Japan recorded no daily deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in more than a year on Sunday, according to local media.

Australia will begin administering booster shots of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine onMonday as millions in its largest city, Sydney, woke up to more freedom amid an accelerating immunization drive against the coronavirus.

-From Reuters, The Associated Press and CBC News, last updated at 7:15 p.m. ET