TORONTO —
A map released by the federal government Tuesday as part of new COVID-19 modelling data shows that over the last 14 days, the rise in cases has been far from even across the country, with several hotspots bumping up numbers nationwide.
Dr. Theresa Tam stopped short of calling it a second wave on Tuesday, noting that it’s too early to tell whether cases will continue trending upwards or go back down, but cautioned that a new jump in cases could “overwhelm our health system capacity and significantly impact social and economic systems as well.”
According to the latest modelling data, the hotspots across Canada are largely centred around metropolitan areas, but also, in some instances, include regions that saw far lower case levels in the first wave of the pandemic.
WHERE ARE THE NEW CASES?
The map of recent case data shows that the three territories in Canada’s north have had zero new cases over the past two weeks, along with Labrador, northern Manitoba, and some regions of northern Quebec.
The Atlantic provinces have also fared well, with regions ranging from zero cases to four for every 100,000 people.
The darkest regions of the map, which represented areas with 50 to 99 new cases per 100,000 people, were northern Alberta, the Edmonton region, several regions around Quebec City and up the St. Lawrence River, the Gatineau region directly across the river from Ottawa, and in B.C. the region around Vancouver.
One difference from the first wave is that across the country, more cases are thought to be due to community spread, as opposed to outbreaks in long-term care facilities, which pushed numbers up earlier in the pandemic. This likely reflects the fact that Canadians have been returning to workplaces, retail spaces and larger gatherings as provinces have loosened restrictions over the last few weeks.
The map was put together with data from the COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group.
QUEBEC
In Quebec, 489 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday.
The province’s health minister, Christian Dube, announced on Tuesday that two more regions in Quebec were moving from yellow (denoting regions in Level 2 – Early Warning) to orange (Level 3 – Alert). Laval and Outaouais joined Montreal, the Quebec City region and Chaudiere-Appalaches to make five regions of Quebec in Level 3.
Regions in Level 3 have extra measures to “target specific sectors of activity and settings where the risk of transmission is deemed higher,” according to the province.
Outaouais, which has had 1,157 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, is one of the regions with the highest levels of new cases in the province (50 to 99 per 100,000), according to the map released Thursday, along with the Quebec City area, Chaudiere-Appalaches, and Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Bas-Saint-Laurent has had 274 total confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. Capitale-Nationale has had 3,153.
Dube pointed out that the new cases are not necessarily following the same path as the first wave.
“We see that regions that have been spared such as Capitale-Nationale, Chaudiere-Appalaches during the first wave are now very affected by the virus,” he said.
Quebec’s public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda said on Monday that the province had officially hit a second wave after they reported 586 new cases.
ONTARIO
Although vast swaths of Ontario are seeing barely any new cases, in the most populated regions of the province it’s a different story. The province recorded 478 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, which is the highest number for a single day since May 2, when 511 cases were reported.
Most of these new cases are in Ottawa, Peel region and Toronto, with 90, 95, and 153 new cases respectively.
ALBERTA
In the province’s capital, the COVID-19 case count reached the highest it has ever been since the start of the pandemic last week. Including the region around the city as well, the Edmonton area had 751 active cases of COVID-19 last Thursday, which was more than half of Alberta’s active cases at the time.
Within the city, the neighbourhoods with the highest active case count were Northgate with 109 cases, Northeast with 104 and Eastwood with 74.
The province as a whole reported 150 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing them to more than 1,500 active cases.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
On the map showing hotspots, it appears as though two separate regions on British Columbia’s coast are experiencing a surge, but they actually are counted together — both fall under the Vancouver Coastal Health region, and are assessed as one area.
There have been nearly 3,000 cases recorded in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, with more than 4,200 recorded in the neighbouring Fraser Health region. The new modelling showed that the Fraser Health region has had 20 to 49 new cases for every 100,000 people over the last two weeks, putting them in the second highest category on the map.
A new outbreak at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital was discovered Tuesday, according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
