Should Canada continue on its current trajectory, the country could see between 12,000 to 14,000 daily coronavirus cases by January, according to new national public health modelling.
It emphasizes the need for all large provinces to strengthen their COVID-19 response, according to Theresa Tam, Canada’s top doctor.
“We have yet to see the kind of sustained daily decline that would indicate we have the pandemic under control,” Tam said at a press conference on Friday.
“There’s little indication this upward trajectory would change without further intensified public health measures.”
Cases have been rising in a number of provinces over the past few months. Infections continue to climb in the six provinces west of the Atlantic region, with rates rising precipitously in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba,
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Outbreaks have also popped up in provinces and territories that once saw few to no cases daily.
Tam said the incidence of COVID-19 has been “consistently high for all age groups for several weeks,” but that it is highest and escalating among adults 80 years and older, who are at highest risk for severe outcomes, including death.
This speaks, in part, to the increasing number of outbreaks — and size of outbreaks — at high-risk settings like long-term care homes, she said. While these outbreaks range in size, it’s a “difficult cycle of spread,” Tam said.
“It can’t be managed through outbreak response alone,” she said. “Bringing infection rates down to stop the spread into schools and high-risk settings require individual and public health authorities working together.”
0:54 Coronavirus: Canada’s top doctor welcomes vaccine supply announcement, stresses following public health measures
Coronavirus: Canada’s top doctor welcomes vaccine supply announcement, stresses following public health measures
It’s why Tam and her counterparts are insisting that now is the time for provinces to act to slow the spread of the virus. Ending the curve of this resurgence will require “immediate, consistent and strong combined efforts” of both individual Canadians and public health authorities, she said.
“For local authorities, implementing restrictions, closures, and control measures are required to achieve a reduction in contacts necessary to address rising numbers,” Tam said.
Without that collaboration, cases and deaths are on track to increase, the data shows.
Based on data up to Dec. 5, short-term forecasting shows Canada’s national tally of coronavirus cases could rise to between 531,300 and 577,000 by Christmas Day. For deaths, that could be 14,410 to 14,920.
The daily tally of new cases nationally could cross the 10,000 mark later this month.
As of Thursday, an additional 6,739 cases of COVID-19 were reported by health authorities, bringing Canada’s total number of infections to 442,069. To date, over 355,000 patients have recovered. More than 15.9 million tests have been performed.
2:45 Toronto, Ottawa first to receive COVID-19 vaccine in Ontario
Toronto, Ottawa first to receive COVID-19 vaccine in Ontario
The grim outlook comes on the heels of more positive news about vaccines in Canada.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that the government will foot the bill for COVID-19 vaccines, including the costs of supplies to administer them.
The government expects a limited rollout to begin to priority groups “within days” after arrival with vaccination of the general population slated to start in April.
While the introduction of a vaccine is “the best news we’ve heard in some time,” Tam and Njoo are concerned it might lead people to believe that COVID-19 is “no longer a problem.”
“The reality is very different,” Tam said. “Nationally, we remain in a rapid growth trajectory.”
The experts suggested measures could only continue to tighten, despite the gradual rollout of vaccines.
“Winter is going to be very difficult,” Njoo said.
“But throughout the winter, we have to continue our efforts. … We have to continue to follow public health measures.”
— with files from Global News’ Rachel Gilmore and the Canadian Press
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.
