france Covid: France schools to close under third lockdown French schools will close for at least three weeks as part of new national restrictions to fight rising Covid cases, President Emmanuel Macron says. Mr Macron said that schools would move to remote learning from next week. Lockdown measures, introduced in some areas of France earlier this month, are also being extended to other districts. All non-essential shops are to close from Saturday and there will be a ban on travelling more than 10km (six miles) from home without good reason. The country is facing a peak of over 5,000 people in intensive care. brazil Brazil COVID-19 deaths top 66,000 in March alone WHO says Brazil in 'critical condition' as hospitals struggle to meet demand in virus epicentre

alberta B117: Albertans ages 5 to 19 have 2nd-highest COVID-19 case rate in the province Alberta pediatricians are bracing for what could come as variant cases spike, hospitalizations grow and the province falls into the grip of yet another wave of COVID-19. As of Thursday, 175 kids and teens have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. That's up from 37 in November. Total ICU admissions have also jumped, from five to 35, according to provincial statistics. "Fortunately in Alberta, no child or adolescent has passed away from COVID-19," said Dr. Jim Kellner, pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary and member of the national COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. He says the bulk of those hospitalizations occurred during the second wave, and Alberta Children's Hospital — where he treats children — has very few kids admitted with COVID-19 right now. But he's growing increasingly worried as cases rise rapidly in the community, driven by the more transmissible B117 variant.