Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced 2,206 new cases of COVID-19 detected in B.C. and 74 deaths since Christmas Eve.
Henry announced that as of Tuesday, there are 7,580 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. A record high of 373 people are in hospital, including 80 in intensive care.
Henry choked up when speaking about the 74 lives lost to COVID-19. Their deaths mean that so far, 882 British Columbians have died of the disease.
“Our condolences go out to all the families who are mourning their loss,” Henry said. “To the care providers and to our communities who have lost loved ones.
“We know that this is the most challenging time to deal with these issues. Not only because of COVID, but because of the time of year. We mourn with you and feel your loss intensely.”
Henry reported eight new outbreaks in the health-care system over the last weekend. There are 56 active outbreaks in long-term care and eight in acute care.
While daily case numbers are trending downwards, Henry said her worry is that the trend is in part due to people not getting tested as often during the holiday period as they were before.
Henry said there was no evidence suggesting the new variant is more likely to cause severe illness, nor is there evidence to suggest approved vaccines for COVID-19 will be any less effective.
WATCH | Dr. Bonnie Henry talks about the person who tested positive for the U.K. coronavirus variant:
Dr. Bonnie Henry says the person who tested positive for the new COVID-19 variant was in quarantine after returning to B.C. from the U.K. 1:30
She said the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has been sequencing coronavirus genomes for months to find changes in the virus and to see where variants might be coming from.
Once the U.K. variant was identified, Henry said the B.C. CDC sequenced the genome of viruses from people who had tested positive in recent weeks and so far, no more instances of the U.K. variant have been found.
Other positive tests from people in B.C. who have come through the U.K. are being sequenced now, Henry said.
“It may well be that we will identify additional people who have this variant who are here in B.C. now,” Henry said.
‘Critical period’
Henry added that the suspected increased infectiousness of the U.K. variant drives home the need to follow public health guidelines and orders to stop the spread of the coronavirus — regardless of the strain.
That means keeping hands washed, staying away from others if you are ill, isolating if you’ve been exposed, wearing a mask where required, keeping physical distances and keeping numbers small.
“Right now, that’s also an order: that you need to stay with your household for any social gatherings,” Henry said, adding those who live alone can gather with one or two close friends.
That order is in place until Jan. 8 and must be followed on New Year’s Eve, Henry said. She appealed to British Columbians to do so in order to give health care workers a break.
Raise a glass to 2021, she suggested, get takeout, but keep it within the household or connect virtually.
“This is what we need to do to get over this hump in our pandemic and make sure we enter 2021 positioned to immunize people who are most at risk and to get us through this next hard few weeks,” Henry said.
Moderna vaccine on its way
Henry said 11,930 British Columbians have now been vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The Moderna vaccine began arriving in B.C. on Tuesday, Henry said, with more arriving in coming days. She said as soon as it arrives it will go out to remote and isolated First Nations communities.
She said the groundwork has been laid with partners such as First Nations and the First Nations Health Authority to make sure logistics, training and supplies are in place.
“This is a very exciting and important move for us here in British Columbia,” Henry said.
The Moderna vaccine has less demanding handling requirements, which makes it more suitable for remote communities.
So far, Henry reported, two people have had allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccination. She said this was not unexpected.
Both people who had reactions were treated, she said, and have fully recovered. Both were health care workers.
1 dose instead of 2?
Vaccinations were down over the weekend but Henry said training and logistics were a focus in those days. She said those elements are both important to have right with the “fussy” vaccines, and it’s not accurate to say vaccination-related activity was on pause.
Responding to a question about the head of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine task force calling on Health Canada to “look into” the possibility of providing Moderna’s vaccine as a single dose, rather than two, Henry said such a change would “absolutely” be helpful to get the most out of the vaccine supply.
“It would be just wonderful if people only needed a single dose,” she said. “That would make our lives so much easier.”
A COVID-19 vaccination site is pictured in Vancouver Monday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Henry said experts around the world are looking at data about vaccine efficacy after just the first dose, but right now it is a two-dose program.
For December and January, all the doses B.C. has received of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being used for first doses. None are being held back for second doses because there is greater confidence in the supply chain.
Henry said second doses for some people will occur in February — 35 days after the first — and there is good data suggesting immunity will hold out for that time.
First update in 5 days
Henry and Dix had held their last news conference on Dec. 23. New numbers were released online on Christmas Eve, but the province hasn’t had any fresh data since.
It will still be several days before numbers reflect whether holiday gatherings lead to a spike in new cases, given the virus’s 14-day incubation period.
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.
