Canada has crossed the threshold of one million coronavirus cases as the country faces a third wave of infections, forcing several provinces to tighten restrictions in recent days.
With 2,000 new cases of Covid-19 announced in British Columbia on Saturday evening, Canada topped one million cases since the start of the pandemic, according to figures reported by Canadian broadcasters.
Just over 23,000 people have died.
Canada is grappling with a third wave of cases amid the rapid spread of variants, which are more contagious.
The two most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, headed into the Easter weekend tightening public health measures.
Ontario, home to more than a third of Canada’s cases, stepped up restrictions for at least four weeks.
Non-essential businesses are held to 25 percent capacity, while others can accommodate 50% capacity. 
Sports venues and hair salons are closed, though schools remain open and residents have not been ordered to stay home.
The second worst-hit province, Quebec, strengthened restrictions in several regions while maintaining a nighttime curfew imposed in early January that is unprecedented in Canada.
Meanwhile, vaccinations have been slow to get off the ground.
An inoculation program launched in December has been plagued by delays in deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna doses from Europe. In addition, new age restrictions were imposed on the AstraZeneca jab, over safety concerns.
To date, 14.6% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose, according to the Covid-19 Tracker Canada website.
US puts J&J in charge of plant that botched Covid vaccine, removes AstraZeneca
The United States has put Johnson and Johnson in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker AstraZeneca from using the facility, a senior health official said.
J&J said it was “assuming full responsibility” of the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.
The Department of Health & Human Services facilitated the move, the health official said in an email, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has not been approved in the United States, said it will work with President Joe Biden’s administration to find an alternative site to produce its vaccine.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development, first reported by the New York Times, further hampers AstraZeneca’s efforts in the United States. The government has criticised the drugmaker for using outdated data in the results of its vaccine trial. It later revised its study.
Workers at the Emergent BioSolutions plant several weeks ago conflated ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, the Times said earlier in the week.
J&J said at the time the ruined batch had not advanced to the fill-and-finish stage.
The government’s move to have the facility make only the J&J single-dose vaccine is meant to avoid future mix-ups, the Times said, citing two senior federal health officials.
The top US infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday the country may not need AstraZeneca’s vaccine even if it wins approval.
The United States has loan deals to send Mexico and Canada roughly four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made at its US facility.
Australia enjoys Easter with no new local coronavirus cases 
Australians were celebrating Easter Sunday in a relatively unrestricted manner as the country reported no new locally acquired coronavirus cases.
Queensland, the epicentre of a recent, small Covid-19 community outbreak, has had only one infection in the past three days. The state has the tightest restrictions on public gatherings.
Elsewhere, Australians flocked to the beaches, capitalising on the warm weather in many parts of the country, or gathered with families, in a stark contrast to last year’s Easter when a nationwide lockdown kept people confined to their homes.
While many countries have imposed fresh lockdowns or curtailed services for the major Christian holiday trying to keep the third wave of coronavirus from further spreading, Australia’s churches were open and many were attending services during the four-day weekend.
Christianity is the dominant religion in Australia, with 12 million people, and 86% of religious Australians, identifying as Christians, according to the 2016 census.
Australia has been one of the world’s most successful countries in curbing the pandemic, with snap lockdowns, border closures and swift tracking limiting coronavirus infections to just over 29,300 infections, with 909 Covid-19 deaths.
The country has had much less, however, with its inoculation drive, missing a March target by about 3.3 million doses as states and the federal government bickered over the blame.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said today that the country is on track to give a first dose of the vaccine to all Australians who want it by October.
“As the supply has increased with the sovereign vaccine manufacturing, so has the rollout,” he said.
CSL Ltd began production of 50 million doses of the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in March in Melbourne, with most Australians expected to receive that shot.