Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Indonesia extended its COVID-19 restrictions by a week to Aug. 2 on Sunday to try to curb infections, after the government said it would add more intensive care units amid a rise in deaths.
Indonesia has become Asia's COVID-19 epicentre with hospitals deluged, particularly on the densely populated island of Java and on Bali, where oxygen supplies are running thin.
"I'd like to thank all Indonesians for their understanding and support for the curbs that have been effective for 23 days," President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, said, adding that COVID infections and hospital bed occupancies had declined, without specifying by how much.
Considerably looser than the previous curbs, Jokowi said the government would gradually adjust some restrictions, while allowing traditional markets and restaurants with outdoor areas to open, with some limitations, such as giving customers 20 minutes to finish their meals.
Some businesses, from salons to vehicle repair shops, are now allowed to open.
Senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who oversees the COVID response on Java and Bali, said the curbs would apply in 140 regions across Indonesia, including the capital Jakarta.
Fewer curbs would be imposed in areas deemed safer, including allowing malls to reopen at 25% capacity and factories to operate, with limitations, Luhut said.
Indonesia will allow free value-added tax for mall tenants, who have been badly hit by the curbs, for their June to August rent, said chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto.
Faisal Rachman, an economist with Bank Mandiri, said the extension had been expected. Should the restrictions remain throughout August, annual economic growth could be seen at 3.69%, slightly below the government's forecast of 3.7%-4.5%
Indonesia last week reported record-high deaths on four separate days, the last of which was 1,566 deaths on Friday, bringing cumulative deaths to more than 83,000.
Total infections have climbed to more than 3.1 million, though health experts say both deaths and case numbers have been undercounted.
"On principle, it's a good intention from the government to prolong the restrictions. But the same good intention could be applied to counting the real number of infections," Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono, a University of Indonesia epidemiologist, said.
The average number of COVID-19 deaths reported each day in Indonesia has been increasing for 10 days straight, a Reuters tracker shows.
Luhut said on Saturday that full hospitals and patients dying in self-isolation had resulted in higher death tolls, adding that ICUs would be added in areas which have reported the highest number of deaths.
Fewer than 7% of Indonesia's population of 270 million has been fully vaccinated, with Southeast Asia's largest country primarily reliant on shots produced by China's Sinovac Biotech .
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Tabita Diela; Additional reporting by Bernadette Christina; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Nick Macfie)
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.