With her husband recovering from the new coronavirus in Wuhan, China, Amelia Pan has a single mission: getting her two-year-old daughter home.
The Canadian citizen was unable to travel with her family to the Hubei province last month when her husband’s father fell gravely ill, but planned to follow them once she got a Chinese travel visa.
That plan was dashed when the fast-spreading virus led to a lockdown of the province. Since then, things have continued to change dramatically.
“I didn’t (think) the coronavirus would affect us,” Pan told Global News from her Richmond, B.C., home.
“I was enjoying myself without the toddler and the husband around. Oh my gosh, that freedom. But the price I paid for that freedom …”
Shortly after his father was rushed to hospital, Pan’s husband came down with the coronavirus. Pan says he’s now doing well and is recovering under quarantine, but is still testing positive for the respiratory illness.
Their daughter was set to be among the 213 Canadians evacuated by plane to CFB Trenton in Ontario on Friday. But then she, too, came down with a fever.
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“I was just hoping that it’s not the virus and that my daughter would come out of it alive and healthy as her normal self,” Pan said.
On Saturday morning, Pan got the good news she wanted that her daughter has tested negative for coronavirus. She had been sick with an unrelated flu, but has since recovered.
“I feel bad for my husband, my heart goes out to him … but I’m glad my daughter is OK,” Pan said.
Pan has been thankful for the generosity of family members and neighbours who have taken care of her daughter while her husband is in quarantine.
The young girl herself has also been in and out of quarantine, as many of those caregivers have been in contact with Pan’s sick husband.
Pan is now hoping her daughter’s temperature remains normal enough that she can get on the next Canadian charter flight out of Wuhan, which is scheduled to leave on Monday.
But that’s not a guarantee either: the toddler will have to be accompanied by a caregiver with Canadian visas, and none of her extended family members — all Chinese nationals like her father, who is a permanent resident — can travel.
Pan is hoping a temporary caregiver can be provided at the airport to accompany her daughter home. The county government has already agreed to drive the girl from the hospital to the airport, she said, but those officials will not continue on to Canada.
When she asked Global Affairs Canada if she could be flown on the flight to Wuhan and meet her daughter to bring her back, Pan says she was told “repeatedly” that’s not possible.
“I’m sure they have their concerns, I totally understand,” she said. “But I’m just thinking, what else can we do? What else can I do? I could enter another part of China, but how am I going to enter the city to get to my daughter in time?”
Global News has reached out to Global Affairs Canada for comment on Pan’s case.
The flight that arrived at CFB Trenton Friday included 13 permanent residents and six Chinese nationals with Canadian visas who were allowed to escort the 34 Canadian minors returning home.
The death toll due to the coronavirus has climbed to 723 in mainland China, with a majority of the deaths in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.
Across mainland China, the number of cases stood at 34,598 as of Saturday, according to the World Health Organization.
The virus has spread to 27 countries and regions, according to media counts based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China, in Hong Kong and the Philippines. Both victims were Chinese nationals.
U.S. officials announced Saturday that an American citizen in Wuhan died of the virus on Thursday, marking the first non-Chinese death of the illness.
As she awaits word on whether her daughter will be allowed onto the flight, Pan is doing her best to keep her spirits up but admits it’s difficult.
“I am prepared for the worst but I’m hoping for the best,” she said.
“I keep looking forward to the day I can see my daughter, hold her in my arms, and laugh and cry together. I’m really hanging my breath on that.”
MONTREAL – One expert says entry-level pay under the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement.
Under their current contract, pilots earn far less in their first four years at the company before enjoying a big wage increase starting in year five.
The Air Line Pilots Association had been pushing to scrap the so-called “fixed rate” provision entirely.
But according to a copy of the contract summary obtained by The Canadian Press, the proposed deal announced Sunday would merely cut the four-year period of lower pay to two years.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, says as many as 2,000 of Air Canada’s roughly 5,200 active pilots may earn entry-level wages following a recent hiring surge.
After the airline averted a strike this week, Gradek says the failure to ditch the pay grade restrictions could prompt pushback from rank-and-file flight crew and jeopardize the deal, which is up for a vote next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
ROME (AP) — Salvatore “Totò” Schillaci, the Italy striker who was top scorer at its home World Cup in 1990, has died. He was 59.
Schillaci had been hospitalized in Palermo following treatment for colon cancer.
The Palermo Civico hospital said in a statement that Schillacci died on Wednesday morning after being admitted 11 days ago.
Schillaci scored six goals for Italy during the 1990 World Cup. He came on as a substitute during Italy’s opener against Austria, scored in a 1-0 victory, and went on to earn the Golden Boot awarded to the tournament’s top scorer. He only scored one other goal for Italy in his career.
Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina announced that a minute of silence would be held in memory of Schillaci before all games in the country for the rest of the week.
“The uncontrollable celebrations, in which his face was the symbol of shared joy, will remain forever part of Italian soccer (history),” Gravina said. “Totò was a great player, a symbol of tenacious desire and redemption. … His soccer was full of passion. And that fearless spirit made everyone appreciate him and will make him immortal.”
Schillaci also won the Golden Ball award at the 1990 World Cup as the tournament’s top player ahead of Lothar Matthaus and Diego Maradona.
Schillaci played for Messina, Juventus, Inter Milan and Japanese team Jubilo Iwata during his club career.
“You made an entire nation dream during the Magical Nights of Italia ’90,” Inter said on its social media channels.
West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, beating Argentina in the final, while Italy beat England for third place with a winning penalty kick from Schillaci.
Roberto Baggio, who scored Italy’s opening goal in the third-place match, wrote on Instagram, “Ciao my dear friend.”
Having been born and raised in Palermo, the Palermo soccer team announced that it would hold a public viewing of Schillaci at its Renzo Barbera stadium ahead of the funeral, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
French soccer player Wissam Ben Yedder will stay free ahead of his trial on charges of sexual assault while intoxicated, one of his lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Marie Roumiantseva said Ben Yedder will remain under strict judicial supervision after a woman filed a lawsuit for sexual assault earlier this month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker in the French league, was briefly detained then released after the alleged incident in his car on the French Riviera. Ben Yedder had been stopped by police after he first refused to do so. He was then put in a jail cell.
After he was summoned to appear in court on Oct. 15 and placed under judicial supervision, the Nice prosecutor’s office appealed the decision not to remand the player in custody. The investigative chamber of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence did not grant this request and kept Ben Yedder under judicial supervision.
Ben Yedder attended a hearing Tuesday during which he offered to go to rehab. He has admitted he drove while under the influence of alcohol but has denied any sexual assault.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with “rape, attempted rape and sexual assault” over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
