EDMONTON —
Alberta is reporting 61 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, including 16 variant cases, during the chief medical officer of health’s last scheduled COVID-19 update.
Alberta currently has 1,132 active COVID-19 cases, the lowest number since Aug. 26, according to Dr. Deena Hinshaw. The positivity rate for the province is sitting at 1.6 per cent after 3,453 tests on Monday.
“Across the board our numbers are moving in the right direction. Cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and our positivity rate are the lowest they’ve been since last summer,” said Hinshaw. “We should all be proud of these numbers and take heart in them.
“If we all keep making wise choices and more people get vaccinated, active cases could fall below 500 in a few short weeks.”
She also added that there are only five COVID-19 cases in all the continuing care facilities across Alberta.
There are currently 170 Albertans in hospital due to COVID-19, including 36 in intensive care. There have been four new deaths due to the disease, bringing Alberta’s total to 2,299.
“It is to prevent outcomes like this that immunization is so important,” said Hinshaw.
The province is changing the data it uses to report the percentage of Albertans who have been vaccinated to be in line with the federal government and many other provinces in Canada, according to Hinshaw.
The province will now use the Statistics Canada July 2020 population data for vaccination rate reporting, rather than Alberta Health’s 2021 population data.
Tuesday, the province reported that 72.7 per cent of eligible Albertans have received a single vaccine dose and 40.7 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
Vaccine trials are underway for children under 12, who are not eligible for any COVID-19 vaccines yet. Hinshaw said there is no timeline yet for if or when a vaccine will be approved for that age group.
She advised that the best way to protect younger Albertans is for people in their lives who are eligible to get vaccinated to do so.
Hinshaw added that crowded indoor spaces tend to be higher risk spaces, rather than outdoor spaces.
Many municipalities in the province are set to lift their own mandatory mask bylaws on July 1, like the province, but still recommend wearing masks.
RARE VACCINE SIDE EFFECT
Hinshaw addressed reports from Israel and the U.S. of “a rare side effect” that caused heart lining and heart muscle lining inflammation after Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses.
“This side effect is being seen most often in younger people, mostly males,” said Hinshaw.
“The heart inflammation reported after the second dose is almost always very mild, resolving with anti-inflammatory treatment.”
She said Canada and the U.K. had not seen similar numbers to the U.S. and Israel, “possibly due to the fact that second doses in younger people have not yet been given in large numbers.”
“Young people who get infected with COVID-19 have about 100 times greater risk of experiencing heart inflammation than what is being seen after the second dose in Israel and the U.S.,” said Hinshaw.
She added that advisory bodies in the U.S., Israel and Alberta determined that the benefit of being immunized “far outweighs” the risks.
“I continue to recommend that all Albertans 12 and older get the vaccine, first and second doses, to be protected.”
Hinshaw added that since January, 95 per cent of people infected with COVID-19 had not received a dose of a vaccine, “or hadn’t yet developed immunity from the first dose.” The same is true for 92 per cent of people hospitalized with the disease in that time frame.
“Vaccines are safe,” said Hinshaw.
ALBERTA IN STAGE 3
Alberta is set to remove all public health restrictions on Thursday. Masks will still be required under provincial regulations in certain circumstances, including on transit, in taxis and ride shares.
“While cases are dropping and spread is declining, COVID-19 is not going away completely. It remains a potentially serious illness that we must keep respecting,” said Hinshaw.
She reminded Albertans who feel “even a little unwell” to stay home and get a COVID-19 test.
Beginning on July 5, two designated support people will be allowed to visit patients at the same time at AHS acute care facilities in the province, according to Hinshaw.
Hinshaw also advised Albertans to do research before travelling as some places may still require incoming travelers to quarantine.
“There will be challenges in the months ahead. We will still identify new cases and outbreaks will occur, but we are watching closely, ready to act as needed, and I am confident that we will get through this, as we always have, together,” said Hinshaw.
Contact tracing and variant screening will continue to happen. Hinshaw added that COVID-19 will become one of many illnesses and risks Albertans deal with every day, not the main one.
Hinshaw announced June 22 that she would stop giving twice-weekly COVID-19 updates. Data will be announced online going forward unless a live update is “needed.”
An increase in cases and hospitalizations could prompt a live update from the chief medical officer of health, but she added that there could be “good news stories,” such as lifting more restrictions, that would prompt one as well.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
