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       ‘It’s not a fair game’: Wait-lists for elementary students who may have learning disabilities have ballooned during the pandemic to the point where children in need are looking at up to two years to get assessed Saskatchewan – the province with the worst rate of infection – is delaying elective surgeries and other non-urgent services as COVID-19 hospitalizations put pressure on the health care system Here’s what you need to know about the Mu variant Coronavirus data will be published Monday through Friday

       Coronavirus explainers: Coronavirus in maps and charts ？ Tracking vaccine doses ？ Lockdown rules and reopening

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       Anti-government protesters watch as fireworks are thrown at police at a demonstration in Bangkok on Sept. 12, 2021, as activists call for the resignation of Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha over the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

       LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images

       Coronavirus in Canada This school year, Alberta will only inform parents of a potential outbreak at their child’s school when 10 per cent of students miss class owing to illness – leaving parents scrambling. As the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 soars in Saskatchewan, the province has delayed elective surgeries and other non-urgent services. Some British Columbia community organizations say the province’s COVID-19 vaccine card fails to account for the needs of people who face legitimate barriers to getting a vaccine or proof of immunization. Ontario is reporting 784 new cases of COVID-19 today along with six deaths linked to the virus. Meanwhile, Toronto Public Health will recommend that the city’s school boards implement a “gradual introduction” to extracurricular activities. Quebec is reporting 757 new cases of COVID-19 today and no additional deaths attributed to the virus. Children returning to school have plenty of catching up to do because of disruptions brought on by the pandemic. But students who may have learning disabilities are facing an even greater challenge: Wait-lists to get psycho-educational assessments have ballooned to the point where children in need face wait-lists of up to two years or more in many parts of the country.

       More parents may be asking for appointments after seeing first-hand how their children performed during remote learning last year, said Karen MacMillan, executive co-director of the Foothills Academy Society, a Calgary-based school for children with learning disabilities. The Mu variant: In Canada, the Mu variant has so far been identified in about 200 cases and its share of total cases had waned to a fraction of 1 per cent.

       Coronavirus around the world Britain is planning on scrapping the introduction of vaccine passports despite an increasing number of coronavirus cases. ‘We’re not out of the woods yet’: Australia’s third most populous state, Queensland, said it does not need to order a lockdown after it detected zero COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours. Japan’s vaccine minister, Taro Kono, led a public opinion poll on who should succeed the Prime Minister as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Coronavirus and business Cineworld agreed to buy Toronto’s Cineplex Inc., in December, 2019. But then a global pandemic helped grind box offices to a halt, forcing cinemas to scramble to stay afloat. Now, the two companies are in a legal fight over who is to blame for the dissolution of the $2.18-billion deal.

       The extent to which COVID-19 helped to hasten the deal’s demise is a key question in the case. Like many such contracts, the Cineworld-Cineplex agreement included a “material adverse effect” clause that provided justifications for the parties to terminate it. Also today: Energy stocks are becoming a popular bellwether for concerns over how deeply the Delta variant is expected to affect the U.S. economy – as the reopening trade that boosted some parts of the market earlier this year continues to stumble.

       And: Heading back to the office? An expert says child-care challenges, health and mental-health issues, social unrest and more are affecting the way people will show up when they head back to a physical workspace.

       Information centre Everything you need to know about Canada’s travel restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people Waiting for a second dose? We answer your COVID-19 vaccine questions What is and isn’t ‘paid sick leave’ in Canada? A short primer Got a vaccine ‘hangover’? Here’s why Sources: Canada data are compiled from government websites, Johns Hopkins University and COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group; international data are from Johns Hopkins.

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