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Alberta’s premier is urging people to avoid large private gatherings as the number of novel coronavirus cases in the province climbs, saying “COVID-19 loves parties.”
Jason Kenney, who said Monday that health officials could be forced to cancel elective surgeries if case numbers keep rising, called on people to follow public health guidance and respect restrictions.
“We’re all fed up with this, but now more than ever we need to take this seriously — and the single biggest thing people could do is just stop with the private parties and the social gatherings.”
The issue of large gatherings was also flagged by the premier in Manitoba, who said Monday the province is seriously considering a temporary curfew as part of its plan to try to tackle growing case numbers.
The province reported 103 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday along with five more deaths. While the new case count is lower than figures seen Monday and compared to a high of 480 on Friday, the number of hospitalizations have continued to climb.
There are 130 people in hospital — six more than on Monday, and a record high — and 20 in intensive care, up from 18.
Brian Pallister said Monday there have been reports of large parties being promoted online in Winnipeg, which is now considered a red zone on the province’s pandemic response scale.
WATCH | Manitoba considers curfew as new restrictions begin:
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is considering implementing a curfew to reverse the trend of increased COVID-19 cases in the province as harsh new restrictions came into effect in Winnipeg. 1:46
In British Columbia, which is also seeing rising COVID-19 case numbers, Health Minister Adrian Dix spoke out after social media postings showed a large number of Halloween partiers gather in a Vancouver neighbourhood.
“It’s a very irritating event because I think it was a visible symbol of people not following the rules of gathering, which are limited to 50 people,” Dix said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday again urged people to limit their contacts, follow public health guidelines and download the COVID Alert app. He pointed to increasing case numbers in several European countries, saying surges there show how quickly things can escalate.
Trudeau said he knows the situation is tough now, but cautioned that it’s “going to be even tougher if we give up now.”
Canadians flattened the curve this spring, he said, adding it’s time to do it again this fall.
On Tuesday, new recommendations from the federal government on masks were outlined by Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is now recommending that Canadians wear three-layer non-medical masks with a filter layer to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, Tam said at a news conference.
WATCH | Canada’s top doctor gives new guidance on the type of mask to wear:
Canada’s chief public health officer spoke to reporters during the bi-weekly pandemic briefing on Tuesday. 2:05
The recently updated guidelines recommend that two layers of the mask should be made of tightly woven fabric like cotton or linen and the middle layer should be a filter-type fabric, like non-woven polypropylene fabric.
Tam says she’s not suggesting that Canadians throw out masks they currently own, stating that adding a filter could help.
The World Health Organization has recommended three layers for non-medical masks since June.
What’s happening in Canada
As of 3 p.m ET on Tuesday, provinces and territories in Canada had reported a cumulative total of 242,368 confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 201,970 as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 10,261.
Ontario announced Tuesday that it is launching a new system of criteria for imposing health restrictions on different areas in the province, as a record 1,050 new cases of COVID-19 were reported. Most of those infections are in Toronto and the surrounding regions. Another 14 deaths were also announced.
The seven-day average of new cases of COVID-19 increased to 950.
Ontario is reporting 1,050 cases of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a>. Locally, there are 408 new cases in Toronto, 212 in Peel, 86 in Halton, 76 in York Region and 57 in Durham. There are 837 more resolved cases and nearly 25,300 tests completed.
The new colour-coded model provides clarity on how decisions about restrictions for different industries and businesses are being made at the provincial level, said Premier Doug Ford.
The announcement also means that changes are being made to the modified Stage 2 restrictions for Ottawa, Peel and York regions.
As a result, Ford said that at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 7, those regions will be moved out of the Stage 2 designation and gyms and indoor dining will be allowed again. Those businesses will also reopen in Toronto but a week later, on Nov. 14.
WATCH | Dr. David Williams explains Ontario’s new COVID-19 criteria:
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams explains how the province’s new COVID-19 framework will help residents make decisions based on their own safety assessment and their region’s levels. 1:34
“Mayor Tory has asked us for a little more time in Toronto,” Ford said.
You can read more about the new framework and how businesses have reacted to increased shutdowns this month here.
The number of people in hospital stood at 357, with 73 in intensive care and 47 on a ventilator, the province reported.
Quebec reported 871 new cases on Tuesday and added 34 deaths to its count of COVID-19 fatalities, with five of those reported as occurring in the previous 24 hours.
The province, which has recorded more than 108,000 cases since the pandemic began, reported 526 COVID-19 hospitalizations with 85 in ICU.
The Quebec government said Tuesday that regions including Quebec City and Montreal are improving but others, such as Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Mauricie and Lanaudière, are seeing increased levels of COVID-19 transmission.
Dr. Horacio Arruda said at a news conference that Quebec is looking at its own recommendations for masks, as the federal Public Health Agency recommended Canadians choose three-layer non-medical masks on Tuesday.
In Atlantic Canada, there was one new COVID-19 case reported in Nova Scotia on Tuesday. There were no new cases in New Brunswick or Newfoundland and Labrador.
In Prince Edward Island, which has no active cases, a state of emergency was renewed on Tuesday for another 30 days.
Premier Dennis King urged people to maintain their efforts at keeping the province safe, saying the “simple things” Islanders are enjoying right now “could be very quickly and easily ripped from us if we aren’t vigilant.”
Saskatchewan reported 81 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. A total of 28 people are in hospital, with 21 of them receiving in-patient care, the province announced on its website.
Across the North, there were no new cases reported in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut on Monday.
In Manitoba’s update Tuesday, Premier Brian Pallister called on residents to volunteer at COVID-19 testing sites and within the province’s health-care facilities to help with the response to the virus.
NDP Leader Wab Kinew criticized Pallister’s need for volunteers, saying the government should instead be spending the money needed to hire more health-care workers.
When asked about this at the news conference, Pallister said the province is looking to access help quickly and volunteers are more readily available to assist with low-skills tasks.
What’s happening around the world
WATCH | U.S. COVID-19 management a ‘mess’ at several levels, infectious disease expert says:
There was poor cohesion between leaders at the state and federal levels in the U.S. over managing COVID-19, says infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch, who also hopes that voting on Tuesday won’t cause a major superspreading event. 1:32
As of Tuesday morning, more than 47 million cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported worldwide since the pandemic began, according to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The tool maintained by the U.S.-based university listed more than 31 million of those as recovered and put the global death toll at more than 1.2 million.
In the Americas, huge voter turnout was expected in the U.S. despite mounting cases of the novel coronavirus and political rancour.
In and around polling places across the country, reminders of an election year shaped by a pandemic, civil unrest and bruising political partisanship greeted voters, although more than 90 million ballots already have been submitted in an unprecedented wave of early voting.
Many wore masks to the polls — either by choice or by official mandate — with the coronavirus outbreak raging in many parts of the country.
As of Tuesday afternoon, lines already extended by social-distancing rules could get worse if large numbers of voters who requested a mail ballot show up at the polls after deciding they would rather vote in person.
In Nebraska alone, the surge in COVID-19 cases has led to record-high hospitalizations that are straining the state’s health-care system, officials said Monday.
Dr. Cary Ward, chief medical officer for CHI Health’s network of 14 hospitals across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, said during a video call with reporters that there had been a doubling of COVID-positive patients in the last several weeks in the network. He said if the trend continues “every hospital in the state could be at capacity in a very short period of time.”
Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has began self-isolating after a close coworker tested positive for the coronavirus.
Colorado is also reporting 775 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 — the highest numbers seen since April. Gov. Jared Polis said Monday that he’s concerned about “alarming” trends in the state but did not issue any new public health orders.
In Europe, the French government will reimpose an evening curfew on Paris, and possibly the Ile-de-France region around the capital, to tackle worsening COVID-19 figures, government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday.
Supermarkets in France are banned from selling flowers and books but can sell essential products like items used for baby care, according to new rules imposed Tuesday.
A sign with instructions for delivery and click-and-collect is stuck to the window of a shop in Paris on Tuesday as non-essential businesses are closed due to the new lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images)
The decree outlines how only essential items are allowed to be sold as France is in the midst of a strict lockdown that requires residents to stay in their homes at all times, with a few exceptions, including an hour of exercise per day.
Small businesses like florists and bookstores say they are being unfairly punished because they were forced to close. The country is reporting tens of thousands of new cases per day and COVID-19 patients occupy 73 per cent of ICU beds.
Greece announced it will impose a two-week lockdown in northern regions and suspend flights, while Italy will tighten restrictions but is holding back from reintroducing a nationwide lockdown as infections, hospital admissions and deaths surge.
Russia’s coronavirus cases could peak in the middle of November, the country’s consumer health watchdog estimated on Tuesday, as authorities reported more than 18,000 new infections nationwide.
The peak would be roughly mid-November, Alexander Gorelov, deputy director of a research institute at Rospotrebnadzor, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
A municipal worker wearing protective equipment sprays disinfectant on a bus stop near the Novodevichy convent in Moscow on Tuesday. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images)
“It is difficult to give a more accurate forecast as many factors affect the development of the epidemiological process,” he said.
Officials have repeatedly said that Russia does not intend to reimpose the strict lockdown restrictions that were in place in the spring, despite a surge in cases and deaths across the country.
The situation with the coronavirus in Ukraine is close to catastrophic and the nation must prepare for the worst, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Tuesday, as the country registered a record 8,899 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
Nursing students disinfect each other at the COVID-19 testing facility on the Spoor Oost site in Antwerp on Tuesday. Belgium is in a second lockdown as hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients reach record highs. (Dirk Waem/Belga/AFP/Getty Images)
In Africa, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has tested positive for COVID-19, but his condition is gradually improving as he receives treatment in a German hospital, the presidency said on Tuesday.
Mozambique will receive €100 million in coronavirus-related aid from the European Union, EU Ambassador Antonio Sanchez-Benedito Gaspar said. South Africa remained the hardest-hit country in Africa, with more than 727,000 cases recorded and more than 19,400 deaths.
In the Asia-Pacific region, authorities in Sri Lanka have extended the school holidays for two more weeks, postponing the opening of classes amid a surge of COVID-19 patients from two clusters in Colombo and the capital’s suburbs.
Schools were suddenly closed last month as a precautionary measure after a new cluster of coronavirus infections centred on a garment factory erupted in the densely populated Western province, where the capital is. Another cluster centred on the country’s main fish market arose later.
Security personnel stand at a checkpoint in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday following a one-week curfew extension for the Western province to contain the spread of COVID-19. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)
India has registered 38,310 confirmed coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, maintaining an overall downturn even as fresh infections continue to appear in its capital, New Delhi. The Health Ministry on Tuesday also reported 490 more fatalities from COVID-19, raising the overall death toll to 123,097.
With a total of 8.2 million coronavirus cases during the pandemic, India is the second-worst-hit country behind the United States. But it has been witnessing a steady fall in daily cases.
Still, health officials say New Delhi remains in the grip of its third and worst wave of infections yet. In the past week, there were more than 5,200 cases on average every day. The Health Ministry attributes the city’s surge to the festival season, with people crowding markets for shopping.
In the Middle East, Iran reported on Tuesday a record daily total of 8,932 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the overall figure to 637,712 for detected infections in the Middle East’s worst-hit country, the Health Ministry said.
Health Ministry spokesperson Sima Sadat Lari told state television that 422 patients had died in the past 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 36,160.
CALGARY – Pembina Pipeline Corp. says it earned $385 million in its third quarter, up from $346 million a year earlier.
The Calgary-based company says its revenues rose to $1.84 billion, up from $1.46 billion during the third quarter of 2023.
Earnings per diluted share were 60 cents, up from 57 cents a year earlier.
The company narrowed its adjusted earnings guidance range for the year, citing prevailing forward commodity prices and the volume outlook for the fourth quarter.
Pipeline volumes during the quarter rose six per cent, which the company said was primarily due to its increased ownership interest in the Alliance Pipeline and the reactivation of the Nipisi Pipeline in late 2023.
The company says it’s poised to deliver a record financial year thanks in part to recent acquisitions and growing volumes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
REGINA – Two women told a jury trial Tuesday that a Regina chiropractor pulled their breasts during appointments.
Ruben Manz is accused of sexually assaulting seven women between 2010 and 2020 while they were under his care. The complainants cannot be identified due to a publication ban.
A 47-year-old woman, who described herself as a professional athlete, testified she went to see Manz in 2011 to treat pain in her neck, shoulders, lower back and hips.
She said she was sitting on an exam table when Manz placed a hand on her shoulder, pulled her head to one side and put a hand in her shirt.
He asked if she was OK, she said, and she replied yes but was hesitant.
Manz then moved his hand into her bra and pulled her breast, she told the jury.
“He said, ‘Just relax. It’s part of the treatment,’ And I said, ‘The hell it is,’” the woman testified. “I got up, grabbed my stuff and left the room.”
The woman said what happened to her was wrong and no other chiropractor had touched her that way.
She stopped seeing Manz immediately, she said.
“I didn’t trust him. He violated me.”
The woman said she reported Manz to a chiropractors association the next day. In 2021, after reading a news report about criminal charges against Manz, she went to police.
“He did this to somebody else, so I was mad,” she testified.
She said she regularly seeks treatment for muscle strain and adjustments to her shoulders, hips and spine.
“I have to work very hard to find the strength to trust people to put their hands on me,” she added.
Defence lawyer Kathy Hodgson-Smith questioned the woman about what she remembered, including how many appointments she had with Manz, the clothes she was wearing and how many people she told about her allegation.
The woman said she couldn’t remember exactly how many times she saw Manz. She recalled wearing a supportive bra meant to prevent pressure to her chest.
She said she’s been open about sharing what happened with others if the topic of bad experiences comes up.
“I remember that one incident with him like it was yesterday,” the woman testified. “I remembered it this whole time — not because it came up in a news report or because I talked about it.
“Because it wasn’t OK. And I haven’t had a chiropractor before then or since then do that to me.”
Hodgson-Smith said it’s possible the woman didn’t stop the doctor from touching her and didn’t storm out of his office.
“You left that office normal,” the lawyer said.
“I absolutely did not, and I take high, high offence in that,” the woman responded, wiping away tears.
“You’re asking me to defend myself, when I didn’t do anything wrong.”
A 50-year-old woman testified she started seeing Manz in about 2005 to address neck and back pain after getting into a car crash.
At her last appointment with the doctor, she said, one of his hands was inside her shirt while his other hand was pulling her head to one side.
His pinky finger went underneath her bra, she said, and she felt her breast lift.
“I said, ‘My boob, you’re pulling my boob out of my bra.’ And he let go,” said the woman.
“We just kind of, I don’t know, tried to act normal. He said, ‘OK, we’ll see you next time,’ and that was pretty much it.”
The woman said she never booked another appointment with Manz.
“I just felt very uncomfortable.”
The trial is scheduled to continue this week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Alberta’s surging population has the provincial government planning to add more seats to the legislature.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery introduced a bill Tuesday that calls for the creation of two additional electoral districts to bring the province’s seat total to 89 ahead of the 2027 general election.
There could also be widespread boundary changes, as the bill, if passed, would remove a provision that requires riding boundaries respect municipal boundaries as a guiding principle.
When asked by reporters if removing the provision is an attempt to dilute urban ridings with rural voters, who historically favour conservative representatives, Amery said the United Conservative Party government is aiming for manoeuvrability.
“A number of rural or semi-rural communities are very much closely connected to their urban cities that they’re nearby,” Amery said.
“The idea here is to build the flexibility for the commission to identify, for example, communities of interest, communities that share common transportation routes or common themes.”
Amery said the decision to increase seats is driven by Alberta’s recent surge in population, which is now at almost five million.
Government figures show that nine of Alberta’s current 87 constituencies are overpopulated, and Amery said having two additional representatives in the legislative assembly would improve voter representation.
Five of those overpopulated districts are in Calgary, three are in Edmonton, and the last is Airdrie-Cochrane, which covers all of Cochrane — a town that has seen its population grow by over 40 per cent since 2016.
Provincial rules dictate that the population of each constituency must be within 25 per cent of the average population of all electoral districts, though some exceptions are made for a couple rural districts where meeting that target isn’t feasible.
Should the bill pass, the government would establish a five-member commission to study and recommend where the boundaries of existing constituencies should be changed to create the two new districts.
Even if the bill is defeated, Premier Danielle Smith’s government would still need to establish a commission to review the electoral districts before the next election.
The commission would be made up of two members appointed by the Opposition NDP and three, including a committee chair, appointed by the United Conservatives.
NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir said he expects the UCP to go through the boundary redesign in good faith.
“We expect that it’s a fair process and these new ridings are given in the areas where we see the most population and growth pressures, and these are not just used for any political gains,” Sabir said.
The last election in 2023 saw results unfold along geographic lines, with the NDP taking Edmonton, the UCP dominating in rural areas and the two sides effectively splitting the key battleground of Calgary.
Political science professor Lisa Young said she isn’t surprised the government is looking to expand the legislature, as not doing so ahead of the necessary district review might have meant the loss of rural districts in favour of new urban ones where the population growth is being seen.
“It gets the government out of an immediate political problem,” said Young with the University of Calgary.
“If they didn’t, they were going to have to deal with a really messy situation that would have reduced the number of rural ridings, and that would have created problems inside UCP caucus.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
