Ottawa Public Health (OPH) reported 41 new cases of COVID-19 and six more deaths Friday. Provincewide, health officials reported 1,396 cases Friday.
The province also made changes to its colour-coded COVID-19 system today, and put several regions into its red “control” zone which has more severe restrictions. Ottawa remains in the orange “restrict” zone.
The new testing sites, which will be operated by The Ottawa Hospital and OPH, will be located at the National Arts Centre (NAC) parking garage and the McNabb Recreation Centre on Percy Street.
Ottawa-area health officials have begun discussing what a potential COVID-19 vaccine rollout could look like, while also urging people to keep their expectations in check.
WATCH | Alarming new modelling projections, especially for Ontario, frustrating for many doctors:
Canada’s COVID-19 second wave is accelerating. Frightening new modelling projections, especially for Ontario and B.C., make it more frustrating for many Canadian doctors who say health guidelines are still contradictory, vague or just plain weak. 2:01
How many cases are there?
As of Friday, 7,766 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 493 active cases and 6,917 resolved cases.
The city’s death toll has now climbed to 356.
Public health officials have reported more than 12,100 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 10,600 resolved cases.
Eighty-six people with COVID-19 have died elsewhere in eastern Ontario, along with 63 in western Quebec.
(The Eastern Ontario Health Unit decreased their death count by five Friday, due to a change in how they define a COVID-19 death. The health unit said that some of the positive patients died of something other than COVID-19.)
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit is in yellow, with slightly different measures such as later alcohol serving hours and more people allowed at restaurant tables.
The rest of eastern Ontario is green, the lowest level.
The medical officer of health for the Kingston, Ont., area is flagging a bump up in its curve and asking residents to stay within the region to avoid more “spillover” from Toronto and Ottawa.
Indoor dining at that area’s restaurants remains prohibited, while gyms, cinemas and performing arts venues are all closed.
The rest of western Quebec is orange, which allows private gatherings of up to six people and organized ones up to 25 — with more in seated venues.
Travel to another region is discouraged throughout the Outaouais. Ontario says people shouldn’t travel to a lower-level region from a higher one.
What about schools?
There have been about 200 schools in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region with a confirmed case of COVID-19:
Few have had outbreaks, which are declared by a health unit in Ontario when there’s a reasonable chance someone who has tested positive caught COVID-19 during a school activity.
Distancing and isolating
The novel coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, breathes or speaks onto someone or something. These droplets can hang in the air.
People can be contagious without symptoms.
Alarming projections from Ontario’s new COVID-19 modeling show hospitals could be dangerously overloaded with cases in just weeks. Premier Doug Ford defends his ‘balanced’ approach to managing COVID-19, as doctors and medical groups call current measures inadequate. 2:05
This means people should take precautions such as staying home when sick, keeping hands and frequently touched surfaces clean, socializing outdoors as much as possible and maintaining distance from anyone they don’t live with — even with a mask on.
Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate, as should those who’ve been ordered to do so by their local public health unit. The duration depends on the circumstances in both Ontario andQuebec.
Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions and/or weakened immune systems stay home as much as possible.
Anyone who has travelled recently outside Canada must go straight home and stay there for 14 days.
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
COVID-19 can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell.
Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pink eye. Children candevelop a rash.
Ontariorecommends only getting tested if you have symptoms, or if you’ve been told to by your health unit or the province.
Anyone seeking a test should now book an appointment. Different sites in the area have different ways to book, including over the phone or going in person to get a time slot.
Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, says optimistic news about a COVID-19 vaccine may offer hope for residents who are tired of pandemic restrictions, though loosening those measures too early would lead to a rapid rise in cases. 1:03
People can arrange a test in Bancroft and Picton by calling the centre or Belleville and Trenton online.
Renfrew County residents should call their family doctor or 1-844-727-6404 for a test or with questions, COVID-19-related or not. Test clinic locations are posted weekly. There are none on Remembrance Day.
In western Quebec:
Tests are strongly recommended for people with symptoms or who have been in contact with someone with symptoms.
Outaouais residents can make an appointment in Gatineau seven days a week at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond or 617 avenue Buckingham.
Call 1-877-644-4545 with questions, including if walk-in testing is available nearby.
First Nations, Inuit and Métis:
Akwesasne now has 30 known active cases of COVID-19, its highest of the pandemic.Ten of them are on the Canadian side of the international border.
Its council is asking residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
Aswesasne schools are temporarily closed to in-person learning and its Tsi Snaihne Child Care Centre has also closed. It has a COVID-19 test site available by appointment only.
Anyone returning to the community on the Canadian side of the international border who’s been farther than 160 kilometres away — or visited Montreal — for non-essential reasons is asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
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, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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.
