People in Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia will see some COVID-19 restrictions lifted Monday, while students in more than a dozen public health regions in Ontario who had been learning remotely will venture back into the classroom.
Quebec is again allowing non-essential businesses, including personal care businesses like hair salons, to open their doors.
The province, which over the weekend surpassed 10,000 deaths since the pandemic began, will keep a curfew in place — but “red zone” communities will see their curfew start earlier than communities with fewer cases.
Restaurants and theatres will also be allowed to open in “orange zone” communities as of Monday, though those businesses will stay closed to customers in harder-hit areas for now.
Quebec reported 853 new cases on Monday, its lowest daily case total since Oct. 26, as well as 17 new deaths.
After trending down in recent days, hospitalizations saw a slight increase of six to 969, with 160 in intensive care units, according to a provincial dashboard.
In Ontario, students in 13 public health units will head back into their classrooms on Monday, with students in Toronto, Peel and York regions expected to resume next week.
Premier Doug Ford is expected to offer some detail around how his government will handle a gradual reopening later Monday. The province’s current state of emergency is set to expire on Tuesday.
Ontario reported 1,265 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 33 additional deaths, bringing the provincial death toll to 6,538. Hospitalizations in the province decreased to 901, with 335 people listed as being in intensive care units, according to a provincial dashboard updated on Monday.
WATCH | Ontario expected to take regional approach to reopening:
Ontario’s state of emergency is set to expire this week, but with COVID-19 variants being detected across the province and ICUs still under pressure, a quick end to stay-at-home orders may not be in the cards and a regional approach is expected. 1:46
Businesses and organizations holding events like weddings, funerals, sporting matches and festivals in Nova Scotia will be allowed to increase the number of people in attendance, but the number of people allowed to get together informally and inside a home is holding at 10.
Meanwhile, in Alberta, restaurants will be allowed to reopen for in-person dining. Sports and entertainment-related activities can resume in schools, and youth will be able to participate in lessons and practices for team-based minor sports and athletics.
Not every restriction is rolling back, though, as indoor gatherings are still banned, and outdoor get-togethers remain capped at 10.
As of 11:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Canada had reported 806,378 cases of COVID-19 — with 43,848 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 20,815.
WATCH | Minister in charge of acquiring Canada’s COVID-19 vaccines says supply delays ‘largely behind us’:
The minister in charge of acquiring Canada’s COVID-19 vaccines says the drought is ending and the country will start to see an incline in supply starting Feb. 15. 2:35
Here’s a look at what’s happening across the country:
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 11:30 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
A health-care worker receives the coronavirus vaccine in Surabaya, Indonesia on Monday. (Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images)
As of Monday morning, more than 106.2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with almost 59.2 million of those cases listed as recovered or resolved by Johns Hopkins University, which maintains a case tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 2.3 million.
In Africa, South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health-care workers with the AstraZeneca vaccine after a small clinical trial suggested that it isn’t effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the variant dominant in the country.
South Africa received its first one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and was expected to begin giving jabs to health-care workers in mid-February. The disappointing early results indicate that an inoculation drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful.
The trial results, which aren’t yet peer reviewed, suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine “provides minimal protection against mild-moderate COVID-19 infection” among young adults exposed to the South Africa variant.
Oxford University and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg said in a statement that protection against more severe forms of the disease could not be assessed in the trial because those participating were at low risk. The variant appears more infectious and is driving a deadly resurgence, accounting for more than 90 per cent of COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday night.
In the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea’s daily tally of newly confirmed coronavirus cases has fallen below 300 for the first time in more than two months as authorities slightly ease tough physical distancing rules in the country.
South Korea’s virus caseload has gradually slowed in recent weeks amid stringent physical distancing rules. On Monday, officials began allowing restaurants, coffee shops, indoor gyms and other facilities outside the densely populous Seoul metropolitan region to stay open an hour longer. Authorities say they’ll maintain a ban on social gatherings of five or more people throughout the Lunar New Year holidays.
WATCH | COVID-19 restrictions derail Lunar New Year travel in China:
The Lunar New Year is usually a time of travel across China, but the pandemic is forcing millions to stay put and stay away from celebrations. 2:04
China appears to have stamped out its latest coronavirus outbreaks centred on the northeast, reporting no new cases of local infection in its latest daily report.
The National Health Commission said Monday that 14 newly confirmed cases had been brought from outside the country but no new cases were registered in the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin that have seen China’s latest clusters. While China has relaxed some physical distancing rules, extensive testing, electronic monitoring and periodic lockdowns remain in place.
In the Americas, Texas Republican Rep. Ron Wright, who had battled health challenges over the past year including lung cancer treatment, has died more than two weeks after contracting COVID-19, his office said Monday. He was 67.
Wright died Sunday, spokesperson Matt Langston said. He did not know the cause of death but said Wright and his wife, Susan, had been admitted to a Dallas hospital in the previous two weeks after contracting COVID-19.
In Florida, fans — many of them maskless — took to the streets and packed sports bars on Sunday evening as the clock inside Raymond James Stadium ticked down on a hometown Super Bowl win for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“It is a little frustrating because we have worked so hard,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said during a Monday morning news conference with the Super Bowl Host Committee. “At this point in dealing with COVID-19, there is a level of frustration when you see that.”
Some 200,000 masks were handed out ahead of the game, and “a majority” of people and businesses followed the rules, she said.
To meet coronavirus protocols, the NFL capped the crowd at under 25,000 in a stadium that normally holds some 66,000 fans, and required masks.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans celebrate after the team’s Super Bowl win on Sunday. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
But outside the stadium, crowds of fans who weren’t wearing masks or practising social distancing could be seen celebrating Tampa’s 31-9 win over Kansas City on Sunday night. Folks cheered, crammed into bars and hugged in several hotspots around the city — and swarmed the streets — all without masks.
In hopes of curbing so-called super-spreader events, Castor had signed an executive order requiring people wear face coverings during the Super Bowl festivities, even while they’re outdoors. She pleaded with people to celebrate safely.
Florida has recorded 1.7 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 28,000 deaths, according to state health records. State officials said Sunday that 667,830 people in Florida had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Chicago schools could gradually start to reopen for in-person learning this week under a tentative agreement with the teachers union on a COVID-19 safety plan.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador returned to his daily morning news conferences following a two-week absence after contracting coronavirus, but vowed not to wear a mask or require them.
Lopez Obrador revealed Monday that he received experimental treatments, which he described as an “antiviral” medication and an anti-inflammatory drug. The president revealed he twice tested negative in rapid tests widely used in Mexico, before a more thorough test — apparently PCR — came back positive.
Lopez Obrador has held the news conferences almost every working day for more than two years, and this was the longest he has been absent from them.
Corpses in Bolivia have begun to pile up as a fierce second wave of the coronavirus has overwhelmed funeral homes and cemeteries, according to officials, stoking fears the growing backlog could become yet another focal point of infection.
The bodies of the dead, wrapped in impromptu Andean alpaca wool blankets and blue plastic bags or even packed into suitcases, have inundated funeral parlours in the capital La Paz, the hardest-hit region of the Andean nation.
In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates will temporarily only vaccinate residents and citizens who are elderly or who have certain health conditions.
In Europe, schools, shops, hairdressing salons and museums are reopening in Austria after the country’s third lockdown, but concerns linger about infection rates and the spread of new coronavirus variants.
The relaxation of measures taking effect Monday is far from complete. People going to the hairdresser will need to show a negative test result that’s at most 48 hours old. In shops, customers have to wear full protective masks rather than just fabric face coverings. Restaurants and hotels remain closed, and authorities say they won’t reopen this month.
Slovenia will reopen ski resorts and some shops, and has eased restrictions on people entering the country after coming under pressure over its handling of the pandemic.
Children look outside windows in a classroom at a primary school in the Hague on Monday. The Dutch government allowed primary schools to reopen Monday after seven weeks of closure as part of COVID-19 restrictions. (Bart Maat/ANP/AFP/Getty Images)
The Netherlands on Saturday surpassed a million confirmed coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic.
Britain, meanwhile, said it will not introduce COVID-19 vaccine passports, but people will be able to seek proof from their doctor if needed for travel to other countries.
–From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 11:30 a.m. ET
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.
