Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of coronavirus deaths in Canada. The error has been corrected.
As the number of coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 25 million on Sunday, Canada’s total grew by 267 cases.
The number of COVID-19 fatalities rose by four.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 9,117 lives in Canada overall, and 127,870 cases have been diagnosed, according to figures released by provincial and territorial governments.
The vast majority of people diagnosed — about 89 per cent — have recovered from the viral illness.
More than 6.3 million tests have been conducted since late January.
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Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said that in the last week just 0.7 per cent of tests administered across the country were positive — roughly one COVID-19 case for every 140 people tested.
But Tam also highlighted a dramatic uptick in cases among young people in recent weeks — nearly 50 per cent of those diagnosed were between 20 and 39.
1/2 Given many weeks of ↑#COVID19 activity in young people, incl. almost 50% of reported cases in 20-39 year olds in recent weeks, there is a very real possibility of the virus reaching higher risk individuals, populations and settings.https://t.co/8oygcKau0B
Nationally, the number of new cases has been largely trending downward since peaking in early May, but western Canada has seen an uptick in new cases in recent weeks.
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There has been a 13 per cent increase in the average daily case count over last week, Tam said.
Since three provinces — B.C., Alberta and P.E.I. — as well as the territories do not release new daily figures on the weekend, Sunday’s numbers paint an incomplete picture.
The number of coronavirus cases in Quebec grew by 120 on Sunday, and the death toll rose by three. Officials said those deaths didn’t occur during the last 24 hours, but happened sometime between Aug. 23 and Aug. 28.
Quebec continues to be the province hardest hit by the virus by far, with 62,352 confirmed cases and a death toll of 5,758.
Ontario added 112 cases of the virus, and officials announced that one additional person lost their life to the illness. Since January, 42,195 people in Ontario have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 2,810 people have died.
Manitoba announced 35 new cases on Sunday, three that are linked to an outbreak at a hospital in Brandon. Among the Prairie provinces, Manitoba has diagnosed the fewest COVID-19 cases, with a total of 1,186 cases and a death toll of 14.
At least 15 of those cases are considered presumptive rather than confirmed through laboratory testing.
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Saskatchewan did not report any new cases Sunday. The province’s total stands at 1,615 and 24 COVID-19 fatalities have occurred.
There were also no additional cases diagnosed in Atlantic Canada.
Overall, Newfoundland and Labrador has had 269 coronavirus cases — only one of which is active — along with three fatalities. New Brunswick has had 189 cases, along with two fatalities. In Nova Scotia, there have been 1,083 cases and 65 fatalities.
P.E.I., which last provided an update on Tuesday, has had 44 cases of the virus.
On Friday, Alberta recorded 158 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the number of total infections to 13,476. No new deaths were recorded in the province.
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British Columbia added 123 lab-confirmed cases of the virus on Friday — its highest ever single-day jump — raising the provincial total to 5,426 cases, plus 70 considered “epidemiologically linked.”
All of Yukon’s 15 confirmed cases have recovered, as have the five cases in the Northwest Territories. No cases have been diagnosed in Nunavut.
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According to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of people around the world diagnosed with COVID-19 surpassed 25 million on Sunday, though experts believe the true number of cases could be significantly higher.
Nearly 844,000 people have succumbed to the illness.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
