Alberta is not bringing in any new health measures, despite Friday’s announcement of a record 1,155 new cases of COVID-19.
“Our current situation is grim,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said at a news conference.
But Hinshaw said officials are waiting to see if measures announced one week ago have an effect on case numbers before pursuing further restrictions to slow the spread.
“Of course, I am concerned,” she said. “The measures that we have put in place over the past several months may have somewhat slowed the growth, but they have not bent the curve as much as we need to.
“And we do need everyone to pull together to follow all of those measures to the letter, or unfortunately we will need to put in additional restrictions.”
Alberta has one of the highest infection rates in the country, but has among the fewest restrictions.
On Friday, Ontario restricted shopping, closed high schools, restaurants and bars, while other provinces mandated face masks.
‘Even if you don’t like them’
Hinshaw urged Albertans to follow mandatory and voluntary health measures.
“This weekend, I encourage everyone to abide by all public health measures even if you don’t like them, even if they’re inconvenient or even if you don’t agree with them. We must all do our part to bend the curve, prevent the health-care system from being overwhelmed and prevent more restrictive measures from coming into effect.”
WATCH | Alberta’s chief medical officer of health says health measures need to strike right balance
When asked about potential further restrictions, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says it’s important to control COVID-19 spread while having “minimum impacts on people’s health in other ways.” 1:39
There were 11 deaths new deaths attributed to the disease, bringing the total number of deaths to 462.
Hinshaw dismissed the idea that only the elderly are vulnerable, pointing out two individuals in their 30s were among the deaths announced this past week. She also made it clear that people with co-morbidities include a significant number of Albertans of all ages.
“Severe outcomes are not limited just to those already at the very end of their lives, and it is a mistake to think so,” Hinshaw said,
“Having a chronic medical condition is very common,” she said. “These conditions include things like high blood pressure and diabetes. In Alberta, almost one-quarter of all adults over the age of 20 have a chronic condition. That is almost 800,000 people.
“When looking just at men in Alberta, more than half of men over 50 and almost 70 per cent of men over 65 have high blood pressure. That should not be a death sentence.”
Currently, 310 people are being treated in hospital, of which 58 are in intensive care units.
Hinshaw said that there are 173 general adult ICU beds in the province. While 70 have been designated for COVID-19 patients, more beds can be shifted if the need arises, she said.
“Alberta Health Services manages ICU beds and staff depending on demand from both COVID-19 patients and patients with other conditions that require intensive care,” she said.
“These beds can be used for many patient types. I want to assure Albertans that as more COVID-19 patients require intensive care, AHS is able to add additional intensive care capacity.”
AHS has prepared more ICU beds in the Edmonton and Calgary zones to be ready if needed, Hinshaw said.
“This is where most of the capacity is likely to be required, but creating this capacity means stopping or delaying other services, and this is the impact we want to avoid.”
Hiding symptoms, risking health workers
Hinshaw said she has heard of people who have the disease covering up their symptoms while visiting hospitals to see loved ones.
“I understand that it is hard to not be able to see a loved one or accompany them to hospital, but we must all think beyond ourselves right now,” she said.
“If a provider or other member of a health care team gets sick, it means they are not available to treat patients for at least two weeks, which translates to a lack of staff to care for all patients.
“Ultimately if this behaviour continues, Alberta Health Service will have to consider limiting designated family and support and visitation even further. And that is not something we want AHS to have to do.”
The number of active cases now sits at 10,655, the highest number in Alberta since the pandemic began in March.
Here is how the active cases break down in the zones:
Edmonton zone: 4,520 cases
Calgary zone: 4,272 cases
North zone: 651 cases
South zone: 569 cases
Central zone: 564 cases
Unknown: 79 cases
The 11 deaths reported Friday include:
A woman in her 90s from Edmonton, linked to the outbreak at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
A woman in her 80s, also linked to the outbreak at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
A man in his 80s, linked to the outbreak at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
A woman in her 60s from Edmonton, linked to an outbreak at Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
A woman in her 90s from the Edmonton zone, linked to the outbreak at Covenant Care Chateau Vitaline.
A man in his 90s, also linked to an outbreak at Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
A man in his 70s from the North zone, linked to the outbreak at Grande Prairie Care Centre.
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.
