On Thursday, senior BJP leaders including chief ministers of the party ruled states offered prayers at temples across the country for the well-being and long life of Prime Minister Modi after his security was breached in Punjab on January 5.
In addition to the health-care sector, police forces in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg are facing similar staffing problems, as is Winnipeg Transit and the fire department in Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia.
Tam says the average daily case count rose 65 per cent from last week, with an average of close to 42,000 cases being reported daily over the past seven days up to Wednesday.
The Canadian economy added 55,000 jobs in December before COVID-19 cases began spiking at the end of the month, prompting public health restrictions that forced many businesses to close or curtail operations.
A pediatrician who has researched COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among parents in Canada, the United States and Israel is urging people concerned about getting their children vaccinated to talk to a health-care provider as the Omicron variant pushes cases to all-time highs.
British Columbia's seniors advocate is asking the province to designate one person as an essential visitor for every long-term care resident as the facilities move to stem the spread of COVID-19. Isobel Mackenzie says in a news release that the need to limit visitors has left a majority of long-term care residents without visits from loved ones.
