Canada reported another 2,499 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus cases Wednesday, as the fall surge continues to surpass the first wave of the pandemic.
The daily count — which included 359 previously uncounted infections in Quebec due to a technical issue — brought the country’s total number of cases to 189,190.
Even with those historical cases removed, over 2,100 tests came back positive in 24 hours. It’s the 13th straight day that new cases have topped 2,000, yet cases have been falling slightly from the record high of over 2,500 reported on Oct. 9.
Wednesday also saw nine more deaths reported, bringing the death toll to 9,663. A total of 159,351 patients have recovered, leaving 20,176 active cases.
In addition to the 359 historical cases, Quebec reported 844 new cases on Wednesday and six additional deaths, although just one of those patients died over the past 24 hours.
The province remains the jurisdiction hardest hit by the pandemic, with 88,994 cases and 5,976 deaths to date. A total of 74,483 people have recovered so far.
Ontario reported 721 new cases and no new deaths. The province has now seen 61,413 total infections while the death toll sits at 3,017.
2:29 Coronavirus: Ontario Premier Ford responds to Trudeau comments on testing, says ‘province kicking everyone’s butts’
Coronavirus: Ontario Premier Ford responds to Trudeau comments on testing, says ‘province kicking everyone’s butts’
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick reported eight new cases, with the province seeing a new surge due to outbreaks at multiple special care homes. A total of 292 cases have been reported so far, with two deaths and 200 recoveries.
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No other Atlantic provinces reported new cases Wednesday. Nova Scotia has seen a total of 1,092 cases and 65 deaths, while 283 cases and four deaths have been reported to date in Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island has three active cases out of 63 total infections, with no deaths so far.
In Central Canada, Manitoba saw a new record of 146 positive tests, bringing its total to 2,925. The death toll rose to 37 after two more people died, while 1,514 people have recovered from the virus.
Saskatchewan reported 25 new cases and no new deaths. The province has seen 2,199 cases and 25 deaths to date, along with 1,920 recoveries.
Further west, Alberta added another 243 new cases and one more death, taking the province’s totals to 21,199 cases and 287 deaths. A total of 18,223 patients have recovered.
British Columbia reported 158 new cases, five of which are considered “epidemiologically linked,” meaning they have not been confirmed though laboratory testing. The province has seen 10,697 confirmed cases and 195 epi-linked cases to date.
No new deaths were reported in B.C., keeping the death toll at 250, while 9,112 recoveries have been confirmed.
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1:40 N.S. premier says no changes to provincial border as N.B. COVID-19 cases rise
N.S. premier says no changes to provincial border as N.B. COVID-19 cases rise
None of the three territories reported new cases on Wednesday.
The Northwest Territories has seen five cases to date, all of which have recovered. The territory’s last case was reported over six months ago.
The Yukon said Wednesday that a presumptive case has come back negative, keeping its total at 15 cases — all of which have recovered.
While Nunavut says it has seen no local confirmed cases, several positive cases have been confirmed in out-of-territory workers at a pair of local mines. All of those cases have been counted by their home jurisdictions.
With daily cases at an all-time high as the weather turns colder, Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam is urging everyone to get their flu shot to protect themselves from influenza this fall and winter.
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“Although the (flu shot) doesn’t protect against infection with the virus that causes (COVID-19), it helps reduce your risk of getting the flu,” Tam wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “Having both illnesses close together in time, or at the same time, could put you at higher risk for severe illness.”
Worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has infected at least 38.4 million people to date, over 1.09 million of whom have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
While the United States continues to lead the world in cases and deaths, India has recently surpassed seven million cases and is approaching the U.S. total of 7.9 million at an alarming rate.
Over 216,000 people have died in the U.S., well above the world’s second-highest death toll of 151,000 in Brazil, which has the third highest number of cases at 5.1 million.
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.
