 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | ** Morning Brief will be away Thursday and Friday. We'll be back in your inbox on Monday. **
What to know about EG.5, the latest Omicron subvariant in Canada | | |  | A new coronavirus subvariant that's being monitored by the World Health Organization has become the most common strain in the United States. While it's unclear how widespread subvariant EG.5 is in Canada, experts say people should look to get a booster shot and wear masks in crowded indoor areas. (CBC) | | | A new coronavirus subvariant on the rise in some parts of the world has also been circulating in Canada since at least May, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
While experts say this latest strain, EG.5, appears to be more infectious and able to sneak past our immune defences, there's also not much evidence to suggest it causes more severe illness.
"It's something to certainly keep a close eye on, but I'm not significantly worried about it at this point," said Dr. Syra Madad, an epidemiologist at Harvard's Belfer Center in Cambridge, Mass.
EG.5 subvariants are predicted to have made up 36 per cent of cases in Canada between July 30 to Aug. 5, according to an email PHAC shared with CBC News.
The agency also said it is aware of EG.5 being found 36 times in municipal wastewater between May 15 to July 21.
Last month, EG.5 was listed as a variant under monitoring by the World Health Organization (WHO) — though it is not considered a variant of concern or interest at this time.
Modelling data from the U.S. estimates that it has made up 17.3 per cent of all cases in the country over the last two weeks, making it the most common strain.
Currently, some parts of Canada are seeing a slight increase in COVID-19 cases, according to recent data.
Earlier this summer, most of the country's wastewater had some of the lowest levels of COVID-19 since analysis began in 2020. But as of July 27, at least seven of the 39 sites tracked by Canada's COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard have reported an increase. | | | | | Reaching out | | |  | (Yara Nardi/Reuters) | | | | Pope Francis greets people during his weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Wednesday. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Ontario's auditor general is set to release the results of her investigation digging into Premier Doug Ford's controversial Greenbelt land swap today. The Ford government removed environmental protections on approximately 2,995 hectares of Greenbelt land in December — while adding more land elsewhere — to build 50,000 homes. It's part of its plan to build 1.5 million new homes in the next decade to ease Ontario's housing crisis. Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk agreed in January to look into the financial and environmental impacts of that decision following a request from the leaders of all three opposition parties. The Greenbelt was created in 2005 to permanently protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands from development and covers some 810,000 hectares of farmland, forest and wetland from Niagara Falls to Peterborough. As CBC Toronto first reported, several well-established developers were among the owners of the land that was removed from the Greenbelt. Some of those developers have made financial donations to the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario or its politicians. Read the full story here.
A power outage on Monday evening left hundreds of people stuck on top of Banff National Park's Sulphur Mountain, while more were stuck on the gondola that takes people to the summit. At the time power was cut, there were between 400 and 500 people atop the mountain, said Mark Hendrikse, a spokesperson with Pursuit, the company that runs the operation in the Alberta mountain town. Those stuck in the gondola cabins were helped off Monday evening, but the company was unable to operate the lift to bring down the many guests who remained at the summit of Sulphur Mountain at the Above Banff Interpretive Centre, Hendrikse said. Helicopters with Parks Canada flew all remaining guests off the summit by 11 a.m. MT Tuesday, he said. Some patrons opted to hike down the 5 1/2-kilometre trail Monday evening, while others slept on the floor of the centre overnight. Some chose to hike down Tuesday morning. Read more on this story here.
A judge in California sentenced Canadian rapper Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for shooting and wounding hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence to the 31-year-old Lanez, of Brampton, Ont., who was convicted in December of three felonies, including assault with a semi-automatic firearm. Herriford said it was "difficult to reconcile" the kind, charitable person and good father many people described Lanez as being during the sentencing hearing with the person who fired the gun at Megan. "Sometimes good people do bad things," the judge said. "Actions have consequences, and there are no winners in this case." Read the full story here.
Two sharks are popping up in Toronto's harbour — but it's garbage, not people, who should be afraid of heading into the water. PortsToronto has brought in two WasteShark aquadrones to add to its larger trash-trapping program. "It's essentially a Roomba that operates on the surface of the water," said Jessica Pellerin, manager of media relations and public affairs for PortsToronto. "[It] cleans up microplastics, debris … things that we don't want on the surface of the water. And then we're able to dispose of it properly afterward." CBC Toronto visited the city’s Outer Harbour Marina to see the sharks in action. Read more on this story here.
Now here's some good news to start your Wednesday: After devastating wildfires across Nova Scotia earlier this summer, a silver lining is emerging — and it's very blue. Blueberry grower Peter Sutherland, of Barrington, N.S., lost his main harvester, two tractors, three buildings and about 20 per cent of his crop when forest fires raged in Shelburne County. But when CBC News visited his farm last week, he pointed to green shoots more than five centimetres high. "We've got blueberry plants that high already growing," he said. David Percival, a professor in Dalhousie University's faculty of agriculture, says blueberry plants have a massive root and rhizome system that makes them different from other plants. Rhizomes are underground stems that produce shoots and roots of new plants. Percival explained that when fire tears across a crop, it causes a release of nutrients into the soil and the rhizomes quickly draw on those nutrients. "And as a result of this, blueberries can fill into an area quite quickly after a burn event has occurred," he said. Read the full story here. | | | FIRST PERSON | A stranger at the end of the line gave me strength when I was at the end of my rope | For 37 tearful minutes, Helena Wiest unpacked her story of being a caregiver to her husband to a support-line worker who did not offer solutions, but provided the relief of being heard. Read her First Person column here. | | | | | | |  | Worldcoin's utopian aims, dystopian fears | Worldcoin is a new crypto project that scans the eyes of people around the world for verification. Is this a solution to scams, or a step into a dystopian future?
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: August 9 | | | 1842: The signing of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty ends the so-called Aroostook War. The dispute — the result of a disagreement between lumberjacks from New Brunswick and Maine over forests — had simmered through the 1830s. Under terms of the treaty, the present-day boundary between Maine and New Brunswick was established.
1930: Canadian sprinter Percy Williams sets a new 100-metre world record of 10.3 seconds in Toronto.
1945: The United States drops its second atomic bomb on Japan, destroying part of the city of Nagasaki.
1988: In perhaps the most stunning trade in NHL history, Wayne Gretzky and two other players are traded by the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for three players, three draft picks and more than $10 million US. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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