Canada’s chief public health officer issued a pre-weekend warning to young people to be cautious to prevent the spread of COVID-19 after an uptick in cases, largely among people in their 20s and 30s.
Dr. Theresa Tam says there’s a worrisome trend of rising infections among people aged 20 to 39. She noted that less than one per cent of Canadians have been infected, which means the population remains highly susceptible to getting sick.
Tam said the peak of new daily cases arrived in early May, when the average daily case count was 1,800. That number fell to 273 in early July but has crept back up to 487 in the last seven days.
WATCH | The challenge to contact trace passengers as Canadian air travel picks up:
As Canadian air travel begins to pick up, some hope a new national contract tracing app that is now in beta testing will help warn people of possible exposure to COVID-19. Others warn limitations in technology and passenger information gathering will hinder it. 1:55
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu has urged Canadians to ask themselves before going out this weekend: “Is what I’m about to do worth the risk?”
Hadju on Friday said the government needs to do a better job of tailoring its public health messaging to younger Canadians. She said her department is working on new language and new ways to connect with an age group the government often struggles to reach.
“I have had a pit in my stomach that I haven’t felt quite frankly since February or March when we saw our numbers start to surge,” she said.
WATCH | Going to a playground during the pandemic: What to expect:
As playgrounds reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, National co-host Andrew Chang walks through the risks and how to keep kids safe. 1:42
More than 15.8 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 638,271 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
In the United States, a world-leading 4.1 million cases have been confirmed and more than 145,000 people have died from COVID-19.
“We have to change our behaviour now, before this virus completely moves back up through the north,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, who is with the White House coronavirus task force.
Fans outside the ballpark stand as the U.S. national anthem is performed inside Fenway Park in Boston on Friday before the shortened season opening MLB baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. The game was played before an empty ballpark because of COVID-19. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
“This first wave that we see now across Florida, Texas, California and Arizona began with under-30-year-olds, many who were asymptomatic and didn’t know they were spreading it,” she said.
Texas was approaching 400,000 cases on Friday, while Florida passed that mark, health officials said.
WATCH | Can kids wear masks all day, and other school questions:
Doctors answer questions about reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic including whether it’s safe and what precautions are needed to mitigate spread of the virus. 5:29
Recovering from even mild coronavirus infections can take at least two to three weeks, according to a study published Friday and led by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
They surveyed 274 patients in several states who tested positive for the virus. After three weeks of having symptoms, about one-third of middle-aged adults had not fully recovered, and for those 50 and older, the rate was almost half. Patients with chronic illness, especially obesity, were more likely to have lingering symptoms.
What’s happening with coronavirus in Canada
As of 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Canada has seen 113,556 confirmed coronavirus cases. There are 5,523 active cases overall in the provinces and territories, with 99,115 listed as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting indicates that 8,918 Canadians have died.
WATCH | Should bars and restaurants be shut down following uptick?
Infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch says indoor spaces like bars and restaurants are contributing to the uptick in coronavirus cases among younger people, but shutting them down may not be the answer. 3:04
Ontario reported 138 new cases on Saturday for a total of 38,543. Thirty-three of those cases were in the Windsor-Essex area, which posted the highest number of new infections in the province on Friday — 57 cases — a majority of them involving agri-food workers.
Premier Doug Ford said his team has been asked to consult a constitutional lawyer to find out if the province can order mandatory testing for migrant farm workers. The province has sent mobile testing units to some farms, but the uptake isn’t as high as Ford would like.
WATCH | COVID-19 is becoming more common in young people:
Whether it’s because they’re returning to work or socializing more, COVID-19 is becoming more common in young people, says infectious disease researcher Craig Jenne. 6:32
Quebec reported 171 new cases on Saturday for a total of 58,414.
Saskatchewan reported 37 new cases and 14 new recoveries on Saturday, or a total of 1,136 total cases and 862 recoveries.
Manitoba, which announced four new cases Saturday,was set to go ahead with a scaled-back Phase 4 plan for reopening.
Casinos and movie theatres will be able to operate at 30 per cent capacity of the site.
The current site capacity of 30 per cent for faith-based services and powwows will be maintained, while the requirement for participants to break into sub-groups has been eliminated.
The draft plan proposed that Manitobans could see walkup counter service when bars, microbreweries and distilleries reopen, but that section has been deferred.
WATCH | What back-to-school might look like across Canada:
Some provinces, including Alberta, have announced back-to-school plans to mixed response, while in Ontario, many parents and teachers are concerned about the lack of clear guidance from their provincial government for September. 4:03
Health officials in British Columbia have announced a new community outbreak of COVID-19 in Haida Gwaii. Until now, the remote islands have managed to avoid any cases, but 13 local residents have now tested positive.
What’s happening in the rest of the world
In the United Kingdom, the government announced that all people arriving from Spain as of Sunday will need to self-isolate to ensure they do not spread the coronavirus. The government is also advising against all but essential travel to mainland Spain.
A spokesperson for Spain’s Foreign Ministry said the country “respects decisions of the United Kingdom” and is in touch with authorities there.
But the announcement is expected to deal a blow to Spain, which is trying to recoup its tourism season after the sector took a battering from COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions earlier this year. It will also hit airlines and travel companies struggling to get back to business. Spain has reported more than 272,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 28,000 deaths.
In England, swimming pools and gyms were starting to reopen Saturday for the first time since the U.K. went into lockdown in March. At least a third of public pools were expected to remain closed.
The country’s new rules on mask-wearing took effect Friday, with face coverings required to enter banks, stores and food shops. Refusing to follow the rule can result in hefty fines.
WATCH | Britain’s indoor mask rules go into effect:
Face coverings are now required inside most enclosed public spaces in England. England is also offering most people a free flu vaccine to guard against overwhelming hospitals this flu season. 3:31
A German cruise shiphas set sail for the first time since the industry was shut down because of the coronavirus.
The TUI Cruises ship “Mein Schiff 2” — “My Ship 2” — set sail from Hamburg on Friday night for the weekend cruise in the North Sea, the dpa news agency reported. Occupancy was limited to 60 per cent, or 1,200 people, who will make no land stops before returning to Germany on Monday.
Passengers and crew are required to stay 1.5 metres apart or wear protective masks and won’t serve themselves at the ship’s buffet. All passengers filled out a health questionnaire before boarding and had temperatures checks.
Russia on Saturday reported 5,871 new coronavirus cases and 146 more deaths from the respiratory disease.
The nationwide tally of infections has risen to 806,720, Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said. The death toll now stands at 13,192, and 597,140 people have recovered.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Bulgaria passed 10,000 on Saturday, as the Balkan country reported 270 infections in the past 24 hours, official data showed.
Eight people had died from the virus overnight, taking the official death toll to 337. Total infections stand at 10,123. Some 5,252 people have recovered, data from the official coronavirus information platform showed.
Police officers check documents of commuters in Kokata, India, on Saturday, one of two days during the week when a lockdown has been imposed in West Bengal state to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. India is the third hardest-hit country by the pandemic after the U.S. and Brazil. (Bikas Das/The Associated Press)
Vietnam reported its first local coronavirus infection for more than three months on Saturday after a man in the central city of Danang tested positive four times for the virus, a government statement said.
Thanks to strict quarantine measures and an aggressive and widespread testing program, Vietnam had kept its virus total to an impressively low 415 cases and had reported no locally transmitted infections for 100 days.
Filipinos stranded due to COVID-19 restrictions are crammed inside a baseball stadium on Friday while waiting to be transported back to their provinces through a government transportation program at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila. (Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)
In the Philippines, thousands of people were crammed into a baseball stadium in Manila on Saturday, breaking physical distancing rules despite coronavirus risks, after people wanting to return to their home provinces flooded a government transportation program.
Officials had reserved the stadium as a place to test people before transporting them back to their home provinces under a program to help people who had lost their jobs in the capital return to their families elsewhere.
Officials had planned for 7,500 people to arrive at the stadium from Friday, but were caught out when another 2,000 people who were not yet scheduled to travel headed there anyway.
Hong Kong reported 133 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 126 that were locally transmitted, a record for a daily increase, as authorities warned that the city faces a critical period in containing the virus.
The Asian financial hub reported 123 new cases on Friday after it extended strict social distancing measures this week.
Since late January, more than 2,000 people have been infected in Hong Kong, 18 of whom have died.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.
The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.
Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.
The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.
Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”
“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.
“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”
Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.
The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.
It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.
Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.
It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.
“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.
Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.
The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.
Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.
The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.
“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.
Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.
“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.
“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”
Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.
On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.
That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.
Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”
“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”
French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.
“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.
“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Two years after the failed launch of a lending program, Canada Post is making another foray into banking services.
The postal service confirmed Friday that it will be offering a chequing and savings account in partnership with Koho Financial Inc.
The accounts will be launched nationally next year, though Canada Post employees will be offered early access as the product is tested.
Canada Post spokeswoman Lisa Liu said in a statement that there are gaps in the banking and savings products available that the Crown corporation looks to fill.
“Canada Post is uniquely positioned to fill some of these demands. Many of our existing financial products help meet the needs of new Canadians and those living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, but we believe more is required.”
The MyMoney offering will be a spending and savings account where customers will be able to choose between features like high interest rates, cashback rewards and credit-building tools.
A document briefly posted to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers website said it would use a prepaid, reloadable Mastercard that will use money from the account like a debit card but offer the features of a Mastercard.
It said there will be a range of account tiers, including no-fee accounts and paid accounts with more features.
The plans comes after Canada Post launched a lending program with TD Bank Group in late 2022, only to shut it down weeks later because of what it said were processing issues.
Liu said the postal service has since been exploring other possible financial service offerings.
“Utilizing what we’ve learned, we are making a strategic shift from loans toward products more aligned with our core financial service products.”
The new account will be delivered with financial technology company Koho. A few months ago the company paired with Canada Post to allow its customers to deposit cash into their account through post offices.
Koho is also working to secure a Canadian banking license to expand its services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
