Canadian federal health officials are so far offering few updates on the emergence of a new coronavirus strain in the U.K. that the World Health Organization noted on Monday appears to be more infectious.
“This is an extremely serious threat — one we must take seriously,” Ford said during a press conference on Monday in which he said the province will tighten health measures starting on Boxing Day.
The focus on the new strain comes after Canadian officials on Sunday evening announced a ban on incoming flights from the U.K. for three days as health experts work to gather more information on the new strain of the virus, which is not proven to be more deadly or cause more severe symptoms.
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Canadians who either have to travel to the U.K. for essential business or who choose to defy the urging of health officials to avoid any non-essential travel are also being urged to use “extra caution.”
Health officials on Sunday said no cases linked to the new strain have been identified yet in Canada while a statement issued Monday from Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said the government is “closely monitoring” the new strain.
Countries around the world blocked travel from the U.K. over the weekend after reports of a new strain of coronavirus that appears to be transmitted more easily than the strain mainly circulating now.
This is not the first time a new strain has emerged, and it is common for viruses to evolve as they spread through hosts and environments.
But concerns about the potential for quicker spread come as many countries are already struggling to get the second wave of the virus under control, with exploding cases straining global health systems.
Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergencies program, said the indications that the new strain is around 70 per cent more infectious translates to an increase in the virus’s reproduction rate from 1.1 to 1.5, meaning countries may need to fight more to keep the spread contained.
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“In some senses, it means we have to work harder,” he explained.
“Even if the virus has become more efficient at spreading, it can be stopped.”
4:05 Coronavirus: WHO says new virus strain from U.K. being studied
Coronavirus: WHO says new virus strain from U.K. being studied
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto, said it’s important to recognize there are a lot of questions that still aren’t clear about the new strain.
But even if it is more infectious, there’s still plenty people can do to fight it.
“The public health measures will work the same regardless of what variant of the virus is circulating,” he said. “Masks, physical distancing, avoiding confined, crowded settings — these are all very helpful.”
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There have also been questions on whether the variant strain identified in the U.K. could complicate efforts to test and vaccinate against COVID-19, given there appear to be early indications of small genetic changes in the spike protein of the coronavirus in the new strain.
Those spike proteins are a key target of the mRNA vaccines being rolled out in limited supplies in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. over recent weeks, and set to continue through the New Year.
However, there’s no evidence to suggest that’s the case, said another expert.
“I think that’s probably minimal in terms of its ability to complicate how we’re diagnosing COVID-19,” said Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease specialist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
“This protein is hundreds of amino acids long and the changes here are up to 14 amino acids, some less than that,” he continued. “So you still have antibodies that are binding to a lot of different sites and a lot of them that are still preserved in all of this.”
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“So it shouldn’t affect vaccine development and should protect vaccine delivery.”
Ryan offered similar thoughts.
“What no variant has done yet is establish itself as having any higher level of severity or evading our diagnostics or hiding from the effectiveness of vaccines.”
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.
