Kirt Browne, left, and Calvin Langille, clean the subway touch points with disinfectant during a visual demo of the enhanced cleaning measures being used by the TTC at the Wilson Yard in North York on March 3, 2020. Passengers who don’t show symptoms and are not contacted by health authorities have no need to seek medical attention, officials said.
Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail
A man diagnosed with COVID-19 used Toronto’s local transit system on three days this week after returning from a trip to Las Vegas, sparking an internal effort to identify the specific vehicles he rode.
The case was announced Friday and is the first known instance of someone carrying the novel coronavirus being on the Toronto Transit Commission, which transports about 1.7 million riders daily. His travels Monday through Wednesday also included rides on GO Transit buses and coincides with transit workers agitating for the right to wear masks on the job.
Public health officials said the risk to other transit riders and to staff remains low and that no extra precautions have been ordered. The city’s chief medical officer of health said her family would continue to use transit.
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“This information is being provided out of an abundance of caution. We’re talking about low-risk situations,” said Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s top public health doctor, in a briefing.
The man boarded the subway at Bathurst station each morning around 8:50. He travelled westbound to Islington station before transferring to a 108N Mississauga Way express bus, which he took to his workplace. The man got back on transit around 6:10 each evening, taking the 27 Milton GO bus to Yorkdale station. He continued from Yorkdale to St. George station followed by Bathurst station. On March 4, the man also rode the 511 Bathurst streetcar. Dr. de Villa said more details would be provided once they are available.
Passengers who don’t show symptoms and are not contacted by health authorities have no need to seek medical attention, officials said.
“The TTC takes the health and safety of its employees and customers very seriously and is in daily communication with Toronto Public Health,” the transit agency said in a statement. “At this time, the direction is that no additional measures are required. The TTC continues to be a safe method of travel.”
On Friday, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health confirmed four new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 26. The virus is not circulating locally, officials said.
Also Friday, Royal Bank of Canada was investigating a “possible presumptive case” of COVID-19 at its Meadowvale office building in Mississauga. The investigation is focused on an RBC employee, who the bank has not identified. There is no evidence at this time that the cases are linked.
“We have taken a number of steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, and are working with Ontario Public Health to understand the case and the next steps,” said RBC spokeswoman Gillian McArdle.
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The bank declined to detail the steps it has taken, but contingency plans to continue serving clients “are already in progress,” Ms. McArdle said. The Meadowvale building has not been evacuated, and work continues at the offices.
“We are committed to providing a healthy and safe workplace, and to following the guidance provided by local, federal and international public health and government authorities,” she said.
Toronto Public Health began investigating the case of the transit user Thursday night, and that probe is still ongoing. The city’s public health team is in “constant communication” with health authorities in Peel Region, Joe Cressy, chair of the Toronto Board of Health and a city councillor, said in an interview.
Toronto Public Health is also “ in touch with [RBC],” he said, but “it is too early to say or to speculate as to whether there may be a link” between the two cases.
Cities around the world are rushing to protect public confidence in the safety of their transit systems, implementing cleaning regimes as frequent as every four hours.
One study suggests, though, that transit, in spite of its inherent crowding, may have a modest role in the spread of infectious disease. A 2011 paper in the Journal of Urban Health that modelled an influenza epidemic in New York City found that just 4.4 per cent of infections would occur on the subway. Close to one-third of infections would occur in other community spaces, such as bars and restaurants, 30 per cent would occur in the household and about one-quarter would occur at work.
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Metrolinx, the regional transit agency that oversees GO Transit, reported its first COVID-19 case nearly a week ago, saying it was a passenger who took the bus from the airport. Both agencies have stepped up their cleaning efforts, but both prohibit their employees wearing masks, arguing they are ineffective and might alarm the public.
Union leaders representing employees at both Metrolinx and the TTC are pushing for the option of masks, saying that they should be allowed if they provide even a small amount of protection.
The TTC and Metrolinx say they are being much more aggressive at cleaning their vehicles and facilities. The TTC has moved from a once-weekly cleaning of stair rails, grab poles and other touch points to doing it every day. Metrolinx has been distributing hand sanitizer throughout GO stations and buses and is applying a long-acting, anti-microbial agent to surfaces across its fleet.
With files from Carly Weeks
Toronto officials announced two more cases of the novel coronavirus in Toronto on Friday. Toronto Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said in one case a man rode Toronto and Mississauga transit for three days, but stressed that the risk of transmitting the virus was still low for people who shared vehicles with him.The Canadian Press
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
