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In Canada, a law has come into force that for a period of 2 years bans foreigners from buying homes in the country, the DPA said.

Only Canadian citizens and those with Canadian permanent resident status have this right. The ban also applies to US citizens.

Some exceptions are allowed, according to which certain categories of foreign citizens can buy residential properties in the country. They apply to long-term resident international students, people who have applied for refugee status, and foreigners with temporary work permits in Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other supporters of the ban say it will help curb rising house prices in the country. Toronto and Vancouver are frequently included in the top 10 most expensive cities in the world to buy a home, notes DPA.

Opponents of the new law point out that in the Canadian province of Ontario, home to Toronto, and British Columbia, home to Vancouver, only 6 percent of residential properties are not owned by “non-Canadians,” according to official government figures. Canadian. . They believe the ban will have little effect on house price growth in the country, the BTA reported.

The sick are in Shanghai about 18 million people

A new highly contagious variant of COVID-19 has appeared in Britain, Western media reported. The mutation, called XBB.1.5, now occurs in one in 25 cases on the island. It has also caused alarm in the USA, where it is responsible for 4 out of 10 patients in the country.

XBB.1.5, which is a variant of Omicron, has mutations that help it avoid protection from vaccination and previous diseases. However, there is currently no indication that XBB.1.5 causes more serious disease. Experts explain that one of its mutations is thought to improve the virus’s ability to bind to cells.

Data from the Sanger Institute in the UK shows that 4% of cases in the week to December 17 were caused by XBB.1.5. It is derived from Omicron’s XBB variant, which was first unveiled in India in August. According to Professor Lawrence Young of Warwick University, the new type of virus is highly contagious and

water a increase at the reception of the hospitals

in New York, especially among the elderly.

Long waits for housing are killing up to 500 people from the coronavirus in Britain every week, health experts warn. The health service cites a lack of staff and hospital beds as the reason.

Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed the new variant was responsible for 41% of cases. Just a week earlier they were 22%.

According to epidemiologist Prof. Paul Hunter, most new variants disappear after a few weeks. However, the rapid increase of XBB.1.5. it’s alarming and could trigger another wave, he adds.

Microbiologist Dr. Simon Clark said the ability of XBB.1.5. to evade immunity is observed only in the laboratory. “It’s hard to figure out how it works in real life,” he observes. According to Clark, it will be interesting to monitor the situation in the coming months, as the usual annual surge in flu hospitalizations is usually highest in January and February. Professor Francois Ballou, an infectious disease expert in London, said cases of the new variant were likely to rise globally in the near future.

At the same time, China has admitted that the number of COVID deaths in the country is high and that 70% of Shanghai residents are infected, or about 18 million people. The sharp rise in infections began after the strict policy to prevent the virus was abruptly ended last month. Health authorities said the country is seeing an increase in serious cases and deaths. However, in an effort to play down the situation, they said the peak was similar to other countries. President Xi Jinping has admitted the errors of his strict COVID policy that

He failed to check the virus

and sparked the country’s first mass protests in decades. However, his new strategy has led to an increase in cases, which are currently peaking. In the first 20 days of December, the government estimates that a staggering 248 million people – 18% of the population – contracted the virus in the country.