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Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…
Tourism operators face heavy debt, even as business roars back
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Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Friday – CBC News
The latest:
With COVID-19’s latest wave showing few signs of abating, concerns are deepening as more and more workers in vital sectors are sidelined by the pandemic.
Health officials in Ontario said Friday that hospitalizations had risen to 2,472 due to the illness. The update showed 42 additional deaths, though provincial officials noted the reported deaths occurred over a 10-day span. The province, which reported 11,899 new lab-confirmed cases, is in a period of online schooling and ramped up restrictions as officials try to limit the spread of Omicron.
As of Friday, the number of patients in ICU stood at 338.
“We still have very, very sick people. We still have a very large number of people being admitted to intensive care,” Anthony Dale, president of the Ontario Hospital Association, said this week. “I don’t know where the ceiling will be.”
The situation inside hospitals is compounded by the rising number of doctors, nurses and other staff who have to isolate because they’ve contracted the virus or been exposed to it.
Dale said his organization doesn’t keep track of the number of staff off from work, but numerous hospitals are reporting significant absences due to COVID-19 diagnoses and some have started making tough decisions to accommodate.
Outbreaks in the province’s long-term care homes have led to staff absences of 20 to 30 per cent in some areas as COVID’s highly infectious Omicron variant drives up case counts
In Quebec, the government said earlier this week about 20,000 health-care workers are off the job after testing positive or being exposed to the virus. And four federal prisons in the province say they are now “very close” to experiencing staff shortages for the same reasons.
The province on Friday reported 27 additional deaths and 2,133 hospitalizations — with 229 in ICU. The update came as the province reported 16,176 additional cases.
Hospitals in New Brunswick say they, too, are struggling with staffing issues due to coronavirus infections.
“As challenging as our current situation is, without vaccines it would be much, much worse,” New Brunswick’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell said Friday, as she again urged people to get their booster as soon as they are eligible.
The health-care sector is not alone in its struggles, as organizations across the country struggle to meet staffing needs as people get sick or isolate due to exposure. Businesses in every sector are dealing with similar issues, as are governments.
Police forces in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, for example, are facing similar staffing problems, as is Winnipeg Transit, GO Transit in Ontario and the fire department in Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 11:25 a.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | How to deal with COVID-19 at home:
With lab-based testing capacity deeply strained and increasingly restricted, experts say true case counts are likely far higher than reported. Hospitalization data at the regional level is also evolving, with several provinces saying they will report figures that separate the number of people in hospital because of COVID-19 from those in hospital for another medical issue who also test positive for COVID-19.
For more information on what is happening in your community — including details on outbreaks, testing capacity and local restrictions — click through to the regional coverage below.
You can also read more from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which provides a detailed look at every region — including seven-day average test positivity rates — in its daily epidemiological updates.
In the North, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok warned on Thursday that workers in critical sectors in the territory are “close to the breaking point” as they deal with Omicron and staffing shortages and health system strain.
“Staff are exhausted, balancing work as well as child care, which is unsustainable for many,” he said, as he pleaded with daycare operators
In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador health officials on Thursday reported four hospitalizations and no additional deaths. The province, which recorded 503 lab-confirmed cases, is dealing with significant health system strain as large numbers of health workers are out of work sick or isolating.
Health officials in Nova Scotia — which on Thursday reported 48 hospitalizations, no additional deaths and 745 lab-confirmed cases — moved to restrict visitors at some hospitals as they dealt with COVID-19 outbreaks.
New Brunswick, meanwhile, saw one additional death and 63 hospitalizations on Thursday, as provincial health officials urged people in the province to get their booster dose as soon as they are eligible. The province, which had not yet lowered the eligibility age to those under the age of 50 in the general population, on Thursday said there were 672 additional lab-confirmed cases.
Health officials on Friday, however, announced that the age of eligibility for a booster dose would drop to 18 as of Monday.
In Prince Edward Island, the province’s chief provincial health officer announced changes to isolation protocol on Thursday, as the province reported that four people were in hospital for COVID-19, and three more were in hospital for other reasons who had tested positive. The province, which has not reported any COVID-19 deaths, recorded 204 additional lab-confirmed cases.
In the Prairie provinces, hospitalizations in Manitoba rose to 263, health officials reported on Thursday, as they announced six additional deaths. The province, which recorded 2,548 additional lab-confirmed cases, is seeing staffing struggles in several key sectors, including home care and local government.
In Saskatchewan, the province’s top doctor on Thursday urged people not to gather as the province reported one additional death and 100 hospitalizations. The province, which recorded 913 new lab-confirmed cases, is making contingency plans for increased strain on health-care systems, the health authority said.
In Alberta, health officials on Thursday reported three additional deaths and 498 hospitalizations. The province recorded 4,869 additional lab-confirmed cases — a new single-day high, even with restricted access to lab-based testing.
In British Columbia, health officials on Thursday reported three additional deaths and 324 hospitalizations. The province, which recorded 3,223 additional lab-confirmed cases, is preparing for staffing shortages in schools as students prepare to return to in-person learning.
-From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 9:15 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
As of early Friday morning, roughly 300.3 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 5.4 million.
In Europe, British troops are deploying to hospitals in London that are struggling to cope with “exceptional” staff shortages amid the surge in COVID-19 cases fuelled by the Omicron variant. The Ministry of Defence said Friday that it is sending some 40 military medics and 160 general duty staff to plug staffing gaps caused by National Health Service personnel who are either ill or self-isolating amid the spike in coronavirus cases in the capital.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to meet regional leaders to agree on new measures, including tighter restrictions on restaurants and bars.
In the Americas, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider requests by Republican state officials and business groups to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for employers with more than 100 workers and a similar requirement for health-care facilities.
Argentina and Brazil continued to report record spikes in daily cases, while Mexico braced for a grim death milestone, even as several nations raced to vaccinate residents amid doubts over lasting effects of booster doses.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Thailand has announced it is tightening some entry restrictions while expanding its “sandbox” quarantine program, and has urged people to follow social distancing and mask rules to control the spread of COVID-19 fuelled by the omicron variant. The government did not announce any lockdown, but issued restrictions on alcohol consumption in restaurants. It also called on people to avoid public gatherings, public transportation and travel around the country. Most schools will stay open, while bars and nightclubs will remain closed.
In Africa, health officials in South Africa on Thursday reported 9,860 additional cases and 551 additional deaths, though health officials noted the significant jump in reported deaths was “due to the ongoing audit exercise conducted by provinces across the country to address a backlog of COVID-19 mortality and new cases.”
In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates on Thursday reported 2,687 additional cases of COVID-19, with no additional reported deaths.
-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 9:15 a.m. ET
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Published Apr 23, 2024 • 3 minute read
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Canadian tourism operators says the tourism sector hasn’t returned to what it was pre-COVID.
Many businesses report carrying a heavy debt load, with Vancouver-based ecotourism company Maple Leaf Adventures saying it’s carrying it’s heaviest debt load in 38 years.
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Co-owner Maureen Gordon says while she and her competitors are recovering, higher interest rates are putting a damper on the post-COVID rebound.
Tourism Industry Association of Canada C-E-O Beth Potter says while the sector brought in 109-billion dollars in revenue last year, the federal government must help out by bringing in a new low interest loan program.
Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada has said tourism operators have been affected by the warmest winter on record, but will be helped by the federal carbon rebate.
Here’s what else we’re watching …
Trudeau to make announcement in Saskatoon today
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in Saskatoon today, where he will make an announcement highlighting measures focused on youth, education, and health that were contained in last week’s budget.
Joining Trudeau at the announcement in Saskatchewan’s largest city are minister for northern affairs Dan Vandal and Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien.
Trudeau has faced conflict with the Saskatchewan Party government, whose leader, Premier Scott Moe, has been a vocal and long-standing opponent of the federal carbon levy.
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Moe is one of several premiers who have asked Trudeau to host a meeting to discuss alternatives to the consumer carbon price.
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‘Perfect storm’: Quebec farmer protests continue
Quebec farmers are continuing a series of protests that have brought slow rolling tractors to communities across the province’s agricultural regions.
The president of Quebec’s farmers union Martin Caron says producers are struggling with higher interest rates, growing paperwork and fees on plastic products, like containers of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides.
His organization is asking the current Coalition Avenir Quebec government to ensure farmers can get loans with interest rates of three per cent.
A spokesperson for Quebec’s agriculture minister says farmers can get emergency financial aid through a new program and that the government is consulting with the farmers union about reducing paperwork.
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Study shows caribou growth at wolves’ expense
New research suggests western Canada’s caribou population is growing.
But the same study also shows the biggest reason for the rebound is the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, a policy which will likely need to continue.
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Thirty-four researchers compared notes on herds in Alberta and British Columbia based on a study in Ecological Applications and found between 1991 and 2023, the caribou population dropped by half.
However, over the last few years the numbers have begun to slowly rise, as it’s estimated there are now more than 1500 caribou than there were had not restoration effort been made.
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Second World War hangar in Edmonton burns in fire
An aircraft hangar built during the Second World War at Edmonton’s former municipal airport has been destroyed by fire.
A spokesman for the City of Edmonton says in an email firefighters were called to Hangar 11 just before 7 p.m. Monday.
The city’s email says 11 fire crews were dispatched to the scene to deal with the heavy smoke and flames and the wooden building later collapsed.
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How a Newfoundland town shaped creepy ‘King Tide’
A new movie shot in Newfoundland showcases a community heavily reliant on a magical child.
“The King Tide” is about an isolated villagers having their lives forever changed after a mysterious infant washes up on their shores, the sole survivor of a devastating boat wreck.
They name the baby Isla, raise and learn she has healing powers promising immunity from injury and illness.
As the years pass, they become reliant on Isla’s abilities, but when her powers start to fade, a panic sets in as the community begins to fracture.
The movie was shot by Newfoundlander Christian Sparkes in Keels, Newfoundland, a former bustling fishing community which he says he’s been looking to film in for years, but couldn’t until recently due to the cost.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.
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We're still stockpiling reusable bags. Big grocers have adopted solutions, but experts have concerns – CBC News
Canada’s plastic bag ban has had an unintended consequence: a proliferation of reusable bags piling up in basements, closets and, eventually, landfills.
“They’re everywhere,” said environmental researcher Tony Walker. “We’re drowning in them, and we shouldn’t be.”
To combat the problem, several of Canada’s big grocers have introduced solutions. Last week, Walmart launched a free national recycling pilot program for the retailer’s reusable blue bags. Competitors Sobeys and chains owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd. use recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery.
But some environmental experts argue that paper bags are also problematic and that the best solutions are those that help customers actually reuse their reusable bags.
“We just can’t keep giving [them] out,” said Walker, a professor at Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies in Halifax. “We’re only meant to have a few of them, and we’re meant to use them until they fall apart.”
In late 2022, the federal government rolled out a ban on the manufacture, import and sale of several single-use plastics, including checkout bags. The regulations are being contested in court, but in the meantime, they remain in effect.
The regulations have made single-use shopping bags scarce in Canada, but they’ve also led to the proliferation of reusable bags, especially for grocery delivery.
“It just creates more waste, which is what we’re trying to avoid in the first place,” Walmart customer Udi Sela said in a CBC News interview in late 2022.
At the time, Sela, who lives in Maple, Ont., estimated his family had acquired about 300 reusable Walmart bags via grocery delivery.
“We can’t return them, we can’t do much with them.”
Now, a little more than a year later, Walmart has launched a pilot project to address the problem.
It allows customers to pack up their unwanted reusable Walmart blue bags and ship them — at no charge — to a facility where they’ll get a second life.
How it works
According to Walmart, bags in good condition will be laundered and donated to charity, primarily Food Banks Canada. Damaged bags will get recycled into other materials. Reusable bags typically can’t go in blue bins because they’re costly and difficult to recycle.
Customers must sign up for Walmart’s program, and enrolment is limited.
Jennifer Barbazza, Walmart’s senior manager of sustainability, said the retailer will fine-tune the details as the program progresses.
“[We] know that some customers have more reusable bags than maybe they need,” she said. “One of the things that we’re really excited to learn about from the pilot is customer acceptance and customer feedback.”
WATCH | Is your home overrun with reusable bags? Join the club:
Reusable bags are living rent free in closets and car trunks across the country. Most major retailers made the switch away from single-use plastic bags about a year ago, but it’s taking time for some customers to catch on. They’re forgetting to bring their bags with them, and buying more every week.
Udi Sela has already signed up.
“I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It’s something that needed to be done a while ago. God knows we’ve got a ton of bags kind of piled up.”
He said he’s concerned that some customers may find mailing the bags a hurdle. However, it’s not deterring Sela, who soon plans to ship hundreds.
Passing the buck?
Not everyone is keen on Walmart’s project. Emily Alfred, a waste campaigner with Toronto Environmental Alliance, said donating the bags to the food bank is just passing on the problem.
“We need to remove waste from the system entirely, and just sending these somewhere else for someone else to deal with is not really a solution,” she said.
Alfred said a better option is a program Walmart piloted in Guelph, Ont., in 2022. For a fee, customers could check out reusable bags from an in-store kiosk and later return them to be cleaned and reused.
“That’s a real circular reuse system,” she said.
Walmart’s Barbazza said the retailer is continuing to explore different reusable bag programs, including ones placed in stores.
She also said she’s confident Canada’s food banks will make good use of the bags.
“There’s definitely a need for sturdy items to distribute materials to the food bank clients.”
The paper problem
Among Canada’s major grocers, only Walmart offers a reusable bag program for all customers.
Loblaw recently switched from reusable to recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery. Sobeys did not respond to requests for comment, but according to its website, the grocer also uses paper bags and “reusable options” for home delivery.
Several environmental experts say paper bags aren’t a good solution, because their production leaves a sizable carbon footprint.
“Paper bags are a problem,” Alfred said. “It takes a lot of energy to recycle paper, takes a lot of trees and energy to make new paper.”
Loblaw said it continues to explore a variety of more sustainable solutions. “It’s a challenge we’re committed to addressing,” spokesperson Dave Bauer said in an email.
Both Walker and Alfred applaud Metro for its grocery delivery program, because the grocer, which operates in Ontario and Quebec, reuses delivery materials.
Metro said customers can get their goods delivered in a cardboard box or reusable bags, which can be returned and used for another delivery. Or customers can opt for a plastic bin and remove their groceries from it upon arrival.
Metro does not offer similar programs for in-store shoppers.
Alfred said the federal government should introduce regulations that mandate retailers adopt effective reusable bag programs for all customers.
“It’s up to our governments and people to demand that these companies do better,” she said.
But Walker suggested that the regulations would be hard to enforce and that incentives could be a better tactic.
For example, if retailers increased the price of reusable bags, shoppers might be less likely to forget them when they head to the store, he said.
“When the cost is a disincentive to do an activity, people change their behaviour.”
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