TORONTO —
COVID-19 activity in Canada is at its highest level yet, but it appears Canadians are still living as if it’s the tail end of the first wave.
The latest data from Google and Apple suggests that Canadians are spending about as much time at home, in workplaces and visiting stores as they were last May, even though the average daily number of new COVID-19 cases is now more than six times what it was then.
Google has been tracking population-level movement trends since last February by comparing the amount of time its users spend in various locations to pre-pandemic levels.
According to its latest Community Mobility Report for Canada, Canadians spent between 17 and 19 per cent more time at home during the first week of January than they did before the pandemic.
If that doesn’t sound like a lot, keep in mind that the time-at-home increase rarely topped 10 per cent during August and September. Even at the peak of the first wave, it almost never exceeded 25 per cent.
Last week’s pattern was more in line with mid-May 2020, when the number of daily new cases across Canada first fell below 1,500 – a total Ontario and Quebec now each exceed on their own every day.
Time spent at home is time not spent in public, and Google’s other metrics also show that while Canadians are adjusting their lifestyles in the face of escalating COVID-19 spread, it isn’t happening to the extent it was during the first wave.
Time spent on public transit last week was the least seen since last May, according to Google, while time spent in workplaces was at its lowest level since last summer – but still above where it was even after the first wave ended.
Workplaces are considered a major driver of current COVID-19 spread in many parts of the country, in part because some people cannot afford to stay home from work even when they know they are risking their health by going in.
Dr. Lisa Salamon, a Toronto-based emergency room doctor, told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday that she would like to see more governments do more to restrict workplaces from opening in areas where case counts are rising.
“We need to go back to what we did in wave one: only essential workplaces can be open,” she said.
“I think there are a lot of workplaces that are open right now that should be closed, or should [have] people working from home.”
Retail foot traffic is also dying down, based on Google’s reporting, albeit not as much as it did last spring. Its data on time spent in Canadian grocery stories and pharmacies shows a decrease of about 10 per cent from the baseline, putting it in line with the final weeks of the first wave.
However, that decrease only came after a significant spike in activity over the holidays. According to Google’s data, Dec. 23 brought a bigger increase in traffic to grocery stores and pharmacies nationwidethan any other day since the pandemic began. Dec. 24 is third on that list; sandwiched between them is March 13 – the day the federal government advised Canadians not to leave the country, exacerbating a surge of panic-buying that was already underway.
Time spent in restaurants and other service-industry businesses, meanwhile, came out of the holiday period 30 per cent below the pre-pandemic average – again, a similar level to that of last May.
Dr. Brian Conway, the president and medical direction of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, told CTV News Channel on Monday that the current state of COVID-19 in many parts of the country should be giving Canadians more reason to pause before venturing outside.
“Once there is high-level community-based spread, any environment where people are close together for any period of time becomes a risky environment,” he said.
Google is not the only major tech player tracking Canadians’ collective movements during the pandemic.
Apple issues Mobility Trends Reports based on requests for directions in Apple Maps. Its data for last week shows a similar pattern to Google’s: declining activity coming out of the holiday period, with the rate of requests essentially equal to what it was at the end of the first wave.
Most major cities follow this pattern, although there is a clear exception in Halifax, where the post-holiday decline has not been as steep, and Apple is reporting similar activity levels to late June 2020. This matches up with Google’s data for Nova Scotia, which shows more workplace activity and less home activity than at any point in the spring or summer.
The other blip in the national pattern is in British Columbia, where Google does not show any significant post-holiday changes in behaviours. Time spent at home and in workplaces there has been consistent for the past two months, with noticeably more time spent at work and less at home than was the case last spring.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
