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Alberta reports 195 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths – CBC.ca

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Alberta reported 195 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and 12 more deaths from the illness.

Across the province, 427 people were being treated for the illness in hospitals, including 78 in ICU beds.

More than 124,000 doses of vaccine have been administered so far, with 32,700 people now fully immunized with two doses.

There were 5,831 active cases. A regional breakdown of those cases on Tuesday was:

  • Calgary zone: 2,335
  • Edmonton zone: 1,748
  • Central zone: 656
  • South zone: 325
  • North zone: 758
  • Unknown: 9

One more case of a virus variant was detected over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 104 in the province. Of those, 97 are the strain first identified in the United Kingdom and seven have been the strain first identified in South Africa.

“I know there are concerns about one of these more contagious variants becoming the dominant strain in the province,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday at a news conference. “This is a serious worry for me, too.”

According to statistics posted Tuesday on the Alberta government website, more than half of the 104 cases are in the Calgary zone.

The breakdown shows the Calgary zone with 52 cases of the variant first identified in the U.K., compared to 32 in Edmonton zone and 13 in Central zone. Calgary zone also has five cases of the other variant of concern, with the other two in Edmonton zone.

Hinshaw said it’s important to keep the numbers in context and to understand what they indicate about the spread of the virus.

“For context, the first variant case in Alberta was identified retrospectively in a sample originally taken on Dec. 15 from a returning traveller,” she said. “From that day until now, there have been 104 positive variant cases identified among all the samples that have been taken.”

During that same time, more than 43,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the province, which means variant cases made up one-quarter of one per cent of all the cases identified since Dec. 15.

‘Variants are still very rare’

“This does not in any way minimize the threat that these variants pose or the impact they will have if we let them spread widely,” Hinshaw said. “However, so far, variants are still very rare and we are working hard to keep it that way.”

Hinshaw said there are six classes in five different schools where a student attended while infectious with a variant of the virus.

“To date, there has been no in-class transmission of variants of concern that has been reported to me,” she said.

The precautions in place in schools appear to be protective against in-class spread of the virus, including the variants, Hinshaw said. 

“Alberta Health Services has followed up with all of these locations, has offered double testing to all of the students in those classes, and in some cases their household contacts, when there has been a delay based on the timelines of testing.”

Monday marked the first step on Alberta’s four-stage plan to ease restrictions. 

Restaurants were allowed to open their dining rooms and gyms were allowed to open for one-on-one training sessions. 

Sports and entertainment-related activities resumed in schools. Lessons and practices for youth team-based minor sports and athletics were once again allowed but games remain prohibited.

Indoor gatherings remain banned

Retail stores and churches can operate at 15 per cent capacity. Entertainment venues such as museums and movie theatres remain closed.

All indoor gatherings remain banned. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people.

The four-stage reopening is tied mainly to hospitalization rates. There will be a three-week lag between each stage to assess any impact on infection rates. 

A decision on Step 2 is expected to be made on Feb. 28. If 450 or fewer people are then in hospital with the illness, restrictions could be further eased.

The restrictions have been in place since mid-December, when cases spiked and put dangerous strain on the health-care system. Daily infections topped 1,800 and more than 800 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals.

The total number of deaths now stands at 1,722.

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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