ontario Ontario reports 4,227 new cases of COVID-19, nearly topping single-day record Admissions of COVID-19 patients to ICUs continue to climb Ontario reported another 4,227 cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the second-most on a single day at any point during the pandemic. The province logged 4,249 new infections on January 8, but 450 of those were attributed to a data delay. The Ministry of Health has not indicated that today's figure includes any older cases. New cases today include 1,218 in Toronto, 762 in Peel Region, 532 in York Region, 247 in Durham Region, 246 in Ottawa, 174 in Halton Region, 159 in Middlesex-London, 133 in Hamilton and 107 in Niagara Region. The seven-day average climbed to 3,256. The pandemic peak for that average was 3,555 on Jan. 11.

brazil Brazil poses global health threat as its hospitals buckle under COVID-19, experts warn Scientists predict Brazil could surpass U.S. death toll by July despite smaller population Inside a COVID-19 unit in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, Dr. Tarsila Vieceli said she is seeing firsthand the collapse of the country's health-care system under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic. Heart attack and car accident victims, she said, aren't guaranteed an ICU bed, and surgeries are being cancelled. There's a waiting list for ICU beds that are filled with COVID-19 patients who, unlike early in the pandemic, are younger and have no underlying medical conditions. "In one shift I did in February in the ICU, out of 10 patients I was taking care of, all of them were on mechanical ventilation — six of those patients were less than 35 years of age," Vieceli said in an interview with CBC News on Skype during a break in her shift. This week, Brazil set a new one-day record for COVID-19 deaths, with the health ministry reporting 4,195 dead on Tuesday. Scientists are warning the country could surpass the record wave of deaths set in January in the U.S.