ANALYSIS | What’s behind Quebec’s targeted approach to 3rd wave and could it work?
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Canada’s two most long-standing coronavirus hot spots marked their second Good Friday in the COVID-19 era by either ushering in or preparing to impose new public health measures to curb resurgent case numbers.
Friday’s tally showed there were 990,620 COVID-19 cases in the country, including 51,174 active cases. Canada’s coronavirus death toll stood at 23,008.
Three regions of Quebec issued a 10-day lockdown that took effect hours before the province reported its highest daily case load since late January.
The province says 1,314 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, marking the third day in a row Quebec reported more than 1,000 new cases.
The news comes as residents of Quebec City, Levis and Gatineau begin a 10-day shutdown that will shutter schools, gyms and most non-essential businesses.
Ontario did not share new case data today, but residents are trying to take advantage of one last day of loosened public health measures before a provincewide shutdown takes effect on Saturday at 12:01 a.m.
Most Canadians are being asked to spend yet another holiday isolated from family and friends, as case counts surge and hospitals are being pushed to the brink.
WATCH | Expert warns of health-care overload across Canada:
Ontario is already experiencing health-care overload due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to infectious diseases specialist Dr. Zain Chagla, and other provinces are headed in that direction. 5:58
Atlantic Canada is the notable exception, where case loads are low.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reported nine new infections a piece on Friday.
Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin says the Easter weekend in his province “is looking very different” than in most other jurisdictions, but said people still need to be careful.
Ontario’s provincewide shutdown will see personal care services such as hair salons close — or remain closed — and restaurants restricted to takeout only.
WATCH | ICUs across Canada seeing younger COVID-19 patients:
The third wave of COVID-19 is putting a lot of strain on ICUs across the country and doctors say this cohort of patients is significantly younger than in previous waves. 2:02
But the Progressive Conservatives stopped short of replicating the stay-at-home order that came into effect in early January, even as they touted its success at slowing the spread of COVID-19.
“We’re not going to be producing a stay-at-home order, because we saw the last time that it had tremendous ill effect on both children and adults,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott. “We of course have to balance any measures that we take with people’s mental health as well.”
Empty pews are seen in 2020 at St. Mary’s Parish Catholic church in Ottawa as Father Mark Goring celebrates the Easter Sunday mass last year in front of an iPhone broadcasting live on YouTube. Many churches across Canada will again offer online services this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Schools and non-essential businesses were closed and the curfew moved to 8 p.m. in Quebec City, Lévis and Gatineau. Premier François Legault said the lockdown would last for at least 10 days.
People enjoy the recently opened Robson Square plaza in Vancouver on Wednesday. B.C. health officials recently gave churches latitude to open, only to revoke it after a surge in COVID-19 cases. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
In Saskatchewan, Premier Scott Moe stopped short of changing any rules, instead asking people to follow public health advice. Still, at least one Saskatoon church is opting for virtual Easter services to be safe.
– From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 6:25 p.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported Thursday that nearly 15 per cent of adult Canadians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the military commander in charge of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution, said about 7.4 million doses have been distributed so far to the provinces and territories. He said he expects that number to rise to 9.5 million by the weekend.
New Brunswick reported nine new COVID-19 cases on Friday. Recently it has led Atlantic Canada in active COVID cases and daily case reports.
Elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador reported one new travel-related case of COVID-19 on Thursday and Prince Edward Island also reported a single new case.
Ontario will not update its COVID-19 figures on Friday due to the Good Friday holiday. On Thursday, health officialsreported 2,557 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and 23 additional deaths. According to data released by the province to the public, hospitalizations stood at 1,116, with 433 people listed as being in ICUs.
WATCH | Ontario announces 4-week ‘shutdown’ as ICUs near limit:
Ontario announced a 4-week provincewide shutdown after ICUs neared their limit and COVID-19 cases surged, but some doctors say the restrictions aren’t enough to control the third wave. 2:43
Quebec on Friday reported 1,314 new cases of COVID-19 and five additional deaths. Hospitalizations in the province stood at 503, including 121 people in intensive care, according to a provincial dashboard.
In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba won’t provide a COVID-19 update on Friday. It reported 59 new cases on Thursday and two additional deaths. Experts there are warning that the province could see a third wave of COVID-19 as cases surge elsewhere in Canada.
In neighbouring Saskatchewan, health officials are reporting254 new cases, and 1 death, an increase from 199 new cases and no additional deaths on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Alberta reported 1,100 new cases on Friday, bringing the total of COVID-19 cases to 150,307 in that province, and 1,994 deaths.
WATCH | Kenney pleads with Albertans to follow health guidance:
Premier Jason Kenney says the province is seeing a new wave of COVID-19 infections and it’s up to Albertans to follow health guidance to bring cases down. Dr. Deena Hinshaw says vaccines offer hope, but Albertans need to keep cases low until more people can be vaccinated. 2:20
In British Columbia, health officials reported 832 new COVID-19 cases and five additional deaths on Thursday, but were not reporting new numbers on the Good Friday holiday.
Across the North on Thursday, there were no new cases reported in Nunavut or the Northwest Territories. Yukon did not have any new cases to report on Thursday, but a case was reported overnight on Wednesday.
– From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 6:25 p.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
As of Friday, more than 130.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to a coronavirus tracking tool maintained by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 2.83 million.
The United States has reported 30.6 million cases since the start of the pandemic.
But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nearly 100 million Americans — or about 30 per cent of the U.S. population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
California announced Friday it would allow indoor concerts, theatre performances and other private gatherings starting April 15 because the rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus in the state is nearing a record low.
Also starting April 15, young adults aged 16 and over will be eligible for the vaccine.
To attend gatherings, people will have to either be tested or show proof of full vaccination. California has administered nearly 19 million doses and nearly 6.9 million people are fully vaccinated in a state with nearly 40 million residents.
Also Friday, the CDC updated its guidance to say fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus or going into quarantine afterward.
In the Middle East, Christians in the Holy Land marked Good Friday without the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the days leading up to Easter because of the coronavirus. Worshippers in many other predominantly Christian countries where the virus is still raging observed their second annual Holy Week with tight restrictions on gatherings.
In Jerusalem, many holy sites were open, thanks to an ambitious Israeli vaccination campaign. It was a stark contrast to last year, when the city was under lockdown.
In neighbouring Lebanon, Christians observed Good Friday under a lockdown in sparsely-attended church services and heavy rain ahead of a three-day curfew starting Saturday to discourage family get-togethers over the Easter holiday.
.In Latin America, penitents from Mexico and Guatemala to Paraguay carried tree branches covered with thorns and large crosses in Passion Plays reenacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis presided over a torch-lit Way of the Cross ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, foregoing for a second year the traditional Colosseum procession that draws thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Filipinos marked Good Friday, one of the most solemn holidays in Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation, with deserted streets and churches following a strict lockdown to slow down the spread of the coronavirus.
Major highways and roads were eerily quiet after religious gatherings were prohibited in metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces. The government placed the bustling region of more than 25 million people back under lockdown this week as it scrambled to contain an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.
Police patrol as Roman Catholic devotees gather in front of Quiapo church during Good Friday in Manila, Philippines, on Friday, after the government imposed strict lockdowns to cope with a surge in COVID-19 infections. (Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images)
In Africa, Namibia will for the first time receive $271 million from the International Monetary Fund to address its deteriorating fiscal position, which has been worsened by the pandemic, its Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
In Europe, the British government is adding four more countries — Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines — to its travel ban list amid concerns over new variants of the coronavirus. The Department for Transport said the latest restrictions will take effect in England from April 9.
Under the terms of the travel bans, international visitors who have departed from or travelled through through the countries in the preceding 10 days will be refused entry into England.
British and Irish nationals, and those who have residence rights in the U.K., can enter but must quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days, at their own expense.
When the four countries are added, there will be a total of 39 nations on the government’s so-called “red list.” They include Brazil and South Africa, where two of the variants of the virus have been identified.
The other nations of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — have similar lists to those that apply in England.
Coronavirus infections and deaths in Ukraine reached new records on Friday, with health authorities reporting 19,893 cases and 433 confirmed deaths.
Ukraine began vaccinations in late February after receiving 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. However, reluctance to take the shots has been strong despite the influx of new infections and the strain on the health-care system.
In the Netherlands, meanwhile, the government says it is temporarily halting AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccinations for people under age 60, following reports of a very small number of people suffering unusual blood clots after receiving the shot.
The Dutch decision comes three days after authorities in Germany also stopped using AstraZeneca’s vaccine in under-60s.
In the Americas, Brazil has been grappling with a surge in cases that has left the hospitals and health care system struggling to keep up, the WHO said on Thursday. There are currently 12,839,844 active cases and 553,980 deaths. In March alone, over 66,000 Brazilians died of the virus, and cemeteries extended services to all hours to accommodate burials.
Brazil’s cemeteries struggle to keep up with record COVID-19 casualties, extend services to all hours and attempt to accommodate new caskets. 1:23
Chile has closed most of its borders to control surging coronavirus cases despite a region-leading vaccine campaign.
The government says Chilean citizens would be unable to come and go through April. Truck drivers bringing essential goods would need to show a negative test for the coronavirus. Domestically, Chileans will be limited to permits for a single trip out of the home per weekend to buy essential goods.
Passengers who just landed wait to be transferred to designated facilities to comply with a 10-day quarantine imposed on travellers at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, on Thursday. (Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)
– From The Associated Press and Reuters, last updated at 8:39 p.m. ET
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.
