NEW What Canada is doing about the toxic forever chemicals in drinking water
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Unvaccinated people across Germany will soon be excluded from nonessential stores, restaurants and sports and cultural venues, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Thursday, and parliament will consider a general vaccine mandate as part of efforts to curb coronavirus infections.
Merkel announced the measures after a meeting with federal and state leaders, as the nation again topped 70,000 newly confirmed cases in a 24-hour period. She said the steps were necessary to address concerns that hospitals could become overloaded with patients suffering from COVID-19 infections, which are much more likely to be serious in people who have not been vaccinated.
"The situation in our country is serious," Merkel told reporters in Berlin, calling the measures an "act of national solidarity."
She said officials also agreed on a nationwide requirement to wear masks, new limits on private meetings and a goal of 30 million vaccinations by the end of the year -- an effort that will be boosted by allowing dentists and pharmacists to administer the shots.
Merkel said authorities plan to require staff in hospitals and nursing homes to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and she backed the even more contentious idea of imposing a general vaccine mandate. She said parliament would debate the proposal with input from the country's national ethics committee. The mandate could take effect as early as February.
"In light of this situation, I really think it's necessary to pass such a mandate," Merkel said, adding that she would have voted for it if she were still a lawmaker.
Just months ago, Merkel suggested that a vaccine mandate would not be effective, but she did not rule out the possibility.
About 68.7% of the population in Germany is fully vaccinated, far below the government's minimum goal of 75%.
Austria, which recently imposed even stricter measures on unvaccinated people as part of a 20-day lockdown, also plans to have a vaccine mandate by February.
In Germany, unvaccinated people will still be able to meet in private settings, but only in very limited numbers. A household with an unvaccinated person over 14 can meet with only two people from another household; the limit does not apply when everyone is vaccinated.
There have been large protests against pandemic measures in the past in Germany, and the proposed vaccine mandate is likely to be opposed by some, though opinion polls show most Germans are in favour.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who is expected to be elected chancellor by a centre-left coalition next week, has also backed a general vaccine mandate, but he favours letting lawmakers vote on the issue according to their personal conscience rather than party lines.
"If we had a higher vaccination rate, we wouldn't be discussing this now," he said.
The rise in COVID-19 cases over the past several weeks and the arrival of the new Omicron variant have prompted warnings from scientists and doctors that the country's medical services could become overstretched in the coming weeks unless drastic action is taken. Some hospitals in the south and east of the country have already transferred patients to other parts of Germany because of a shortage of intensive care beds.
Germany's disease control agency reported 73,209 newly confirmed cases Thursday. The Robert Koch Institute also reported 388 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 102,178.
The discussion over new measures has been complicated by Germany's political structure, which leaves the 16 states responsible for many regulations, and the ongoing transition between the old and new governments at the federal level.
Scholz, whose Social Democrats narrowly beat Merkel's centre-right Union bloc in September, defended the latest steps as a political compromise.
"We are reacting to the current situation with very far-reaching, very drastic but precise measures," he told reporters. "Decisive action is being taken here and, what is particularly important to me, by mutual agreement."
To reduce the pressure on hospitals, the sale of fireworks traditionally set off during New Year's in Germany will be banned. Each year, hospitals treat hundreds of people with serious injuries because of mishandled fireworks.
The new measures -- which are considered a nationwide minimum -- will take effect once the 16 states incorporate them into existing rules, likely in the coming days.
Merkel, who took part in what is likely to be her last news conference as chancellor, made clear her displeasure about leaving office at a time when Germany has an infection rate of almost 440 new weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
"If we had an average incidence of 130, like Italy, or 150, then I'd feel much better about it," she said. "I want to say this quite clearly."
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
Calgary police have arrested a man and a charge is pending in connection with the death of a toddler in 2022.
Prince William will return to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Mainstream political parties failed to act on European farmers' complaints for decades, one farmer says. Now the radical right is stepping in.
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.
B.C. resident Robert Conrad spent thousands of hours on Crown land developing an unusual bond with deer.
A Sudbury woman said her husband was bringing the recycling out to the curb Wednesday night when he had to make a 'mad dash' inside after seeing a bear.