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.
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
A paramedic opens the doors of an ambulance to take a patient into the Royal London Hospital in the Whitechapel area of east London, on Thursday. A string of National Health Service local organizations have declared ‘critical incidents’ in recent days amid staff shortages. (Matt Dunham/The Associated Press)
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.
A medical staff member treats a COVID-19 patient on Thursday in the emergency room at Metropolitano Hospital in Monterrey, Mexico. (Daniel Becerril/Reuters)
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
TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?
It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the arrival of Swifties, the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on the downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.
And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars — the city estimates more than $282 million in economic impact — some worry it could worsen Toronto’s gridlock by clogging streets that already come to a standstill during rush hour.
Swift’s shows are set to collide with sports events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Raptors game on Friday and a Leafs game on Saturday.
Some residents and local businesses have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area and its planned road closures.
Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.
“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window,” he said.
Dayani says the group rescheduled the gathering for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.
“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.
“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”
Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, suggested his employees avoid the company’s downtown offices on concert days, saying he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.
“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” Sinclair said.
“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”
Swift’s concerts are the latest pop culture moment to draw attention to Toronto’s notoriously disastrous daily commute.
In June, One Direction singer Niall Horan uploaded a social media video of himself walking through traffic to reach the venue for his concert.
“Traffic’s too bad in Toronto, so we’re walking to the venue,” he wrote in the post.
Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been working for more than a year on plans to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.
“We are preparing for something that would be akin to maybe the Beatles coming in the ‘60s,” he said.
Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to transit routes around the stadium, and the TTC has consulted the city on potential emergency scenarios.
Green will be part of a command centre operated by the City of Toronto and staffed by Toronto police leaders, emergency services and others who have handled massive gatherings including the Raptors’ NBA championship parade in 2019.
“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.
“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”
Metrolinx, the agency for Ontario’s GO Transit system, has also added extra trips and extended hours in some regions to accommodate fans looking to travel home.
A day before Swift’s first performance, the city began clearing out tents belonging to homeless people near the venue. The city said two people were offered space in a shelter.
“As the area around Rogers Centre is expected to receive a high volume of foot traffic in the coming days, this area has been prioritized for outreach work to ensure the safety of individuals in encampments, other residents, businesses and visitors — as is standard for large-scale events,” city spokesperson Russell Baker said in a statement.
Homeless advocate Diana Chan McNally questioned whether money and optics were behind the measure.
“People (in the area) are already in close proximity to concerts, sports games, and other events that generate massive amounts of traffic — that’s nothing new,” she said in a statement.
“If people were offered and willingly accepted a shelter space, free of coercion, I support that fully — that’s how it should happen.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.
Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.
Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.
Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.
Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.
“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”
The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.
Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.
“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.
Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.
The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.
Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.
But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.
Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.
“It’s literally incredible.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Via Rail is asking for a judicial review on the reasons why Canadian National Railway Co. has imposed speed restrictions on its new passenger trains.
The Crown corporation says it is seeking the review from the Federal Court after many attempts at dialogue with the company did not yield valid reasoning for the change.
It says the restrictions imposed last month are causing daily delays on Via Rail’s Québec City-Windsor corridor, affecting thousands of passengers and damaging Via Rail’s reputation with travellers.
CN says in a statement that it imposed the restrictions at rail crossings given the industry’s experience and known risks associated with similar trains.
The company says Via has asked the courts to weigh in even though Via has agreed to buy the equipment needed to permanently fix the issues.
Via said in October that no incidents at level crossings have been reported in the two years since it put 16 Siemens Venture trains into operation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
