Coronavirus worldwide: Canadians stuck in Mexico after party flight, Portugal opens schools and bars

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More than 299 million people have tested positive for the virus worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 5.4 million infected people have died. More than 9.3 billion vaccine doses have been administered.

A group of young Canadians are apparently stuck in Mexico after a sensational party flight to the country without complying with corona measures. At least two Canadian airlines wanted to deny them return travel because of their behavior on the outbound flight, after another airline canceled the return flight. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called them “idiots.” The Canadian Transport Ministry tweeted Thursday (Jan. 6) that it was investigating the case. Fines of up to $5,000 Canadian per offense could be imposed. Travelers who endangered the lives of others and caused harm could be punished with up to three years in prison and/or fines of up to $1 million, another government statement said. According to media reports, the cases involved influencers and reality TV stars from the province of Quebec. A 19-year-old student told the Canadian Press news agency she won the trip on Instagram. She said she tested positive for the coronavirus in Mexico, as did an estimated 30 other members of the group.

Portugal has adopted relaxations despite high levels of contagion. As Prime Minister Antonio Costa explained at a press conference Thursday (Jan. 6), schools will reopen starting next week. Bars and nightclubs will be allowed to resume operations from January 14. The reason for this, he said, is the number of hospitalizations, which, despite the Omikron variant, is far below the level recorded at the beginning of the pandemic. It is evident that the Omikron variant is less severe, Costa said, and vaccination has proven effective. For these reasons, the number of hospitalizations and deaths is much lower, he said. Portugal has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, at 89 percent. A daily record of nearly 40,000 infections was reached on Wednesday, and 39,074 on Thursday. In one day, 25 people died in Portugal as a result of Covid-19 at last count, compared with more than 300 deaths per day during the pandemic’s last peak in late January 2021.