Students across Canada are returning to class following the holiday break, with some provinces opting to delay bringing kids back into classrooms amid COVID-19 concerns, while others are resuming in-person instruction right away.
In British Columbia, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said there was no need to delay school after the holidays and that a task force was working to ensure a safe return.
But some B.C. parents remain concerned about sending their kids back to school without more precautions in place to protect against the spread of COVID-19, with more than 50,000 people signing a petition calling on the province to pause in-class learning for two weeks.
“If schools were to reopen the same way that they did prior to the holiday, I am concerned,” said Dr. Amy Tan, a physician and organizer with Masks for Canada. Tan said she wasn’t sure if she would be sending her 11-year-old son back to school in Victoria.
She wants the province to release more information about recent spread of COVID-19 locally as well as within the province so that parents can make an informed decision. She also wants to see asymptomatic and more general, widespread testing in schools.
WATCH | Educators find innovative ways to teach outside of the classroom:
The pandemic has forced educators across Canada to find innovative new ways to teach from a distance. 2:06
In Ontario, where thousands of elementary and secondary school students are returning to remote learning on Monday, the Official Opposition is similarly calling for widespread testing in schools.
Marit Stiles, the NDP’s education critic, said in an interview with CBC Toronto that the Ontario government doesn’t know how many students in publicly funded schools are asymptomatic across the province and that a “comprehensive testing strategy” is needed.
In an open letter to parents released on the weekend, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said “schools are not a source of rising community transmission,” according to medical experts. He said a province-wide lockdown imposed on Dec. 26 has helped to ensure that schools remain safe.
Ontario elementary students, as well as secondary students in northern public health units, will learn remotely for the first week of January but can return to classrooms on Jan. 11. Secondary students in the rest of the province can return to classrooms on Jan. 25.
Meanwhile, Quebec elementary and high schools will remain closed to in-person instruction until Jan. 11.
Roxane Borgès Da Silva, a public health professor at Université de Montréal, told Radio-Canada on Sunday that she is concerned about reopening schools and returning to normal when there are so many new cases every day.
She said 11 per cent of tests are coming back positive while the World Health Organization recommends a lockdown at just five per cent.
“As we have a very high positivity rate of COVID-19, we may have to do a strict lockdown,” she said. “I am very scared for the children.”
What’s happening across Canada
As of 7 a.m. ET Monday, Canada’s COVID-19 case count stood at 601,656, with 80,817 of those cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 15,865.
In Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador‘s active caseload has dropped to single digits after reporting no new cases and two recoveries on Sunday. The province, which hasn’t recorded a new infection in five days, now has nine active cases.
New Brunswick announced seven new cases on Sunday, while Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia did not report any new cases.
Quebec issued its first COVID-19 update of the new year on Sunday. It shows a total of 7,663 people have tested positive since Dec. 31 and 121 have died.
Ontario reported 2,964 new cases and 25 additional deaths on Sunday. On Monday, the first five health-care workers to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the province are returning to Toronto’s University Health Network to receive their second dose, 21 days after the first.
WATCH | One-third of Ontario LTC homes dealing with COVID outbreaks:
There are COVID-19 outbreaks in one-third of all Ontario long-term care homes, and critics say residents are not being vaccinated quickly enough. 1:48
In Alberta, the province’s chief medical officer of health on Sunday reported an estimated 400 new cases of COVID-19. Dr. Deena Hinshaw added that Alberta’s hospitalization and ICU totals remained stable, and the province’s death toll stayed at 1,046.
In British Columbia, which doesn’t provide COVID-19 data on weekends, the government has given the green light for the Vancouver Canucks to play home games in the province during the upcoming 2021 NHL season.
WATCH | B.C. gives green light for in-province NHL games:
B.C is now the second province to approve the NHL’s COVID-19 safety plans to host games in the province once the season begins on Jan. 13. With three more provinces still to decide, a doctor weighs in about those plans. 1:33
In the North, Nunavut is reporting zero active cases after going from zero to 266 cases of COVID-19 in less than two months. The territorial government announced Sunday that 265 of those cases are now recovered, while one case resulted in a death.
Yukon also did not report any new cases on Sunday, while N.W.T. did not provide updated figures over the weekend.
Here’s a look at what’s happening with COVID-19 across the country:
What’s happening around the world
As of early Monday morning, more than 85.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide with more than 47.9 million cases considered recovered or resolved, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 1.8 million.
In Europe, Britain began vaccinating its population with the COVID-19 shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca on Monday, as it looks to curb a sharp rise in cases in recent weeks fuelled by a new and more transmissible variant of the virus.
Britain is the first country to roll out the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, which can be kept in refrigerators rather than ultra-cold storage, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks on as Jennifer Dumasi receives the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during his visit to the Chase Farm Hospital in north London on Monday. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool/Reuters)
Meanwhile, France’s cautious approach to its vaccine rollout appears to have backfired, leaving just a few hundred people vaccinated after the first week and rekindling anger over the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
President Emmanuel Macron is holding a special meeting with top government officials Monday afternoon to address the vaccine strategy and other virus developments.
In France, a country of 67 million people, just 516 people were vaccinated in the first six days while Germany’s first-week total surpassed 200,000 and Italy’s was over 100,000.
In Asia-Pacific, Sri Lankan authorities on Monday announced that the schools will partially reopen starting next week, after being closed for nearly three months due to a COVID-19 surge. The education ministry has decided to keep schools closed in the capital Colombo and surrounding suburbs.
Mask wearing has become mandatory is some circumstances in Australia’s largest city due to the pandemic risk. People risk a 200 Australian dollar ($196 Cdn) fine in Sydney if they don’t wear masks in shopping malls, on public transport and in various indoor areas.
Thailand has registered 745 new coronavirus cases, with a new death reported in Bangkok, where a semi-lockdown went into effect. The government has ordered all schools closed from Monday but has not yet closed down shopping malls or stores, while restaurants are still allowed to operate but cannot serve alcoholic beverages.
A government worker gestures as another worker sprays disinfectant on a street in Bangkok on Monday. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)
In the Americas, the U.S. health and human services secretary is shooting down the idea of expanding the number of Americans getting a COVID-19 vaccine by giving them only one dose instead of the two being administered now.
Alex Azar told ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday that the U.S. is “holding in reserve that second dose” because that’s what the science says to do. The two vaccines approved in the U.S. so far, one by Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech and the other by Moderna, each require double doses.
Some health experts have suggested that, with vaccine supplies short, people might get partial protection from a single dose and that should be considered as a way to reach far more people faster. But Azar said “the data just isn’t there to support that and we’re not going to do that.”
Azar said the U.S. has reported 1.5 million vaccinations in the last 72 hours, a “very rapid uptick” that he predicts will continue.
Medical team members conduct COVID-19 testing in Bogota, Colombia, last week. The capital will implement strict two-week quarantines in three neighbourhoods beginning on Tuesday. (Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters)
Colombia’s capital, Bogota, will implement strict two-week quarantines in three neighbourhoods beginning on Tuesday to try to control a second wave of coronavirus.
In the Middle East, Jordan has struck a deal with Pfizer and partner BioNTech to buy one million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine and another two million doses from the World Health Organization’s s COVAX program.
In Africa, South Africa is aiming to get COVID-19 vaccines by next month but is still in talks with pharmaceutical companies and no deals have been signed yet.
The country remains the hardest hit on the continent, with more than 1.1 million cases and more than 29,000 deaths reported since the start of the pandemic.
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.
