Italy orders bars, restaurants to close early as COVID infections surge.
Hindu festival season scaled down due to infections.
Ontarioreported 1,042 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, setting a new single-day high for the province since the pandemic began in January and breaking the previous record for a daily count set on Saturday, at 978 new cases.
The latest number comes a day after Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, again sounded the alarm that the most critical health consequences of rising cases across the country have yet to emerge.
Tam said health officials are watching the number of hospitalizations and deaths, which tend to lag behind an increase in cases by one to several weeks.
WATCH |Pandemic adds to mental stress for some heading into winter:
Tim Aubry, professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa, stresses the need to monitor those who feel isolated and prone to suffer seasonal affective disorder. 5:08
She issued the warning on Saturday as the national death toll from infections inched closer to 10,000, and Ontario and Saskatchewan reported their new single-day highs.
The number of active COVID-19 cases rose 16 per cent week over week, according to figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The sharp uptick left an average of 1,010 patients being treated in hospital each day over the past week, about 20 per cent of whom were in intensive care, Tam said on Saturday.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Canada had 215,880 confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 181,381 of those as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting rose to 9,940.
In British Columbia, polling stations were equipped with personal protective equipment, plastic barriers and other now-usual preventative pandemic measures as residents cast their ballots on Saturday, re-electing the NDP under John Horgan, who had called a snap election.
A voter casts a ballot during the B.C. provincial election in Vancouver. (Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters)
In Alberta, a lawyer is calling for action after an outbreak at a Calgary jail leapt to 55 cases, a notable increase after the outbreak was initially reported Thursday.
Saskatchewan reported 78 new cases, the highest single-day increase since the beginning of the pandemic. Meanwhile, three more cases have been recorded at two Regina schools and an outbreak has been declared at Saskatoon’s largest shelter.
Quebec added 879 new cases to its tally on Sunday for a total 100,114 cases. There were 11 new deaths from the respiratory illness, for a total of 6,143.
On Saturday, the province reported 1,009 new cases and 26 more deaths. The average daily case count in Quebec has been higher than any other province but appears to have plateaued for the time being since a peak of 1,364 on Oct. 6, the same week that tight new restrictions went into effect.
People wear face masks as they wait to enter a store in Montreal on Saturday. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)
Despite the rising number of cases in Ontario, politicians from the province’s Halton Region published a letter Saturday pleading for an exemption from stricter public health measures.
The mayors of Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills and Milton, along with Halton’s regional chair, said they “prefer a measured, targeted approach over a blanket approach that unfairly punishes small businesses.”
The provincial government has already moved the long-standing hot spots of Ottawa, Toronto and the neighbouring regions of York and Peel to a modified Stage 2, which includes suspension of indoor dining at bars and restaurants.
However, rising case numbers elsewhere prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to announce Friday that officials would review the situation in Halton, Durham Region and other areas.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported one new confirmed case on Saturday, a man from the Eastern Health region in his 50s who had returned home to the province after working in Alberta.
Nova Scotia reported three new cases, all related to travel outside Atlantic Canada.
New Brunswick announced two new cases in the province, both in the Campbellton region.
In Prince Edward Island, residents of Charlottetown-Winsloe strapped on their masks, sanitized their hands and marked their ballots in the province’s first taste of pandemic-era voting.
2/2 Over the past week, an average of over 74,719 people have been tested for <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> daily across Canada, with 3.1% of these people testing positive as <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/publichealth?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#publichealth</a> continues to <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TestandTrace?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TestandTrace</a>. <a href=”https://t.co/ZArmpJMAM3″>https://t.co/ZArmpJMAM3</a>
According to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the global total of confirmed coronavirus cases stands at more than 42.7 million. More than 1.1 million people have died, while more than 28.8 million have recovered.
The colourful Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Dussehra have been scaled down this year in India, amid fears among health experts that the festive season might lead to a cascade of new coronavirus infections.
The towering displays of religious sculptures are rare, and at many places, prayers have gone virtual, with organizers live streaming the sessions for the devotees.
A Hindu priest performs traditional prayers in front of the idol of 10-handed Hindu Goddess Durga during the Durga Puja festival in Chennai, India. (Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images)
In many states, police barricades have been erected around the usually buzzing places of worship to avoid large gatherings.
India has the second-largest coronavirus outbreak in the world, after the United States.
Last month, India hit a peak of nearly 100,000 cases in a single day, but since then daily infections have fallen by about half and deaths by about a third.
In the United States, Marc Short, the chief of staff for U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence, tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesperson for the vice-president said on Saturday.
Devin O’Malley said Pence himself remains in good health, has tested negative and will maintain his schedule “in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel.”
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has declared a second nationwide state of emergency, which goes into effect Sunday, in a bid to stem a resurgence in coronavirus infections.
His government will use the state of emergency to impose new measures, including a nationwide nightly curfew, except in the Canary Islands.
This past week, Spain became the first European country to surpass one million officially recorded COVID-19 cases. Sanchez said on Friday the true figure could be more than three million, due to gaps in testing and other factors.
Italy on Sunday ordered bars and restaurants to close by 6 p.m. and shut public gyms, cinemas and swimming pools — staring Monday — to try to halt a rapid resurgence in the coronavirus.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte announces new rules to curb the spread of COVID-19 during a news conference in Rome. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via The Associated Press)
The decree encourages people not to go out and to limit contacts at home with anyone outside their immediate family, but it does not impose a mandatory nationwide curfew or lockdown and allows shops and most businesses to remain open. Up to three-quarters of high school teaching is to move online to limit the number of pupils in school buildings.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said it’s hoped the measures will bring the rising curve of cases under control in the next few weeks. On Saturday, Italian authorities reported a new record daily total of 19,644 infections, as well as 151 deaths from the respiratory disease.
France on Saturday reported 45,422 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, a new record, after reporting 42,032 on Friday.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, 75, of Algeria, is self-isolating because some officials in “upper ranks of the government” are sick with COVID-19, he said in a tweet on Saturday.
The country has officially confirmed more than 55,000 cases of the novel coronavirus with nearly 2,000 deaths.
Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email us at COVID@cbc.ca
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
