Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning that Canada’s future hangs in the balance if people don’t reduce their contacts to prevent dire new COVID-19 projections from becoming a reality.
“This is the future of our country, this is the future of our children, it’s the future of our loved ones and our seniors, it’s our economy, it’s our businesses, it’s everything all together,” Trudeau said Friday.
Trudeau also warned that a “normal Christmas” this year is “right out of the question” with cases across the country spiking. National modelling is predicting a worst-case scenario of 60,000 cases per day by the end of the year.
An average of 4,800 cases are being reported daily, an increase of about 15 per cent from last week, said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer.
WATCH | Dr. Tam on having ‘The Talk’ with relatives as holidays approach:
Canada’s chief public health officer spoke with reporters during the pandemic briefing on Friday 2:13
“We are not on a good trajectory,” Tam said Friday. “I think across the board, across Canada, we have to say the time is now, with urgency, that we limit contacts.”
Toronto and the neighbouring Peel Region are going back into lockdown, as of Monday, and several other regions of Ontario are moving to higher restriction levels now that the province has surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
The shutdown will last a minimum of 28 days, equal to two incubation periods for the coronavirus, and the province says it will fine people $750 for violating public-health rules.
WATCH | Ontario puts Toronto and Peel Region into lockdown:
Toronto and Peel Region will be are now in lockdown on Monday. No indoor gatherings with anyone outside the immediate household, are allowed. Businesses of all kinds are moving to takeout, delivery, curb-side service or closure and breaking the rules comes with fines. 3:43
Non-essential retail stores must close and only offer curbside pickup or delivery. Grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores, hardware stores and liquor outlets will stay open, operating at 50-per-cent capacity.
WATCH | Doctor concerned about gatherings, panic purchases ahead of lockdown:
CBC News medical contributor Dr. Peter Lin discusses the lockdown restrictions coming to Toronto and Peel region and whether they’ll be sufficient to address rising COVID-19 cases. 9:11
Schools and daycare centres will also remain open. Gyms, hair salons and other personal services must close. Restaurants can only offer takeout and delivery. Big-box retailers and discount stores that sell groceries will can remain open.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced up to $600 million in relief for business impacted by the new measures.
The province reported 1,418 more cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including 393 in Toronto, 400 in Peel Region and 168 in York Region. The newly confirmed infections push the seven-day average up to 1,373 after three straight days of declines.
Ontario also announced that eight more people with COVID-19 have died since the last update, bringing the official death toll to 3,451.
Quebec is planning ahead for the holiday season, with a focus on the period from Dec. 24-27. It recommends people keep social gatherings to no more than 10 people during that time. If they’re planning get-togethers, Premier François Legault says they should limit their contacts “as much as possible one week before and one week after.”
Quebec reported 1,259 new cases of COVID-19 and 32 more deaths on Friday, a day after Legault proposed a “moral contract” for the season.
What’s happening across Canada
Canada’s COVID-19 case count — as of Friday evening — stood at 320,719, with 52,739 of those considered active cases. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 11,334.
An Edmonton doctor says people coming into her hospital with COVID-19 are sicker than patients in the first wave. Dr. Neeja Bakshi helped set up the COVID-19 unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. She says medical staff are in danger of burnout as the number of new cases begin to spike in Alberta.
Alberta reported a record 1,155 new cases on Friday. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, also announced 11 more deaths.
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller announced $120.3 million in funding to support Indigenous communities and organizations in Alberta and Saskatchewan amid a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
Surge capacity and infrastructure needs are the priority when allocating COVID-19 funds to First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and organizations in Alberta and Saskatchewan, according to Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller. 2:59
Miller said he has been in contact with First Nations leaders in those provinces, and that today’s measures are in direct response to their requests.
“Listening to what people need has been a key part of the COVID-19 response for the Government of Canada to date and will continue to inform the way forward,” he said at a news conference.
British Columbia had 516 new COVID-19 cases and 10 more deaths on Friday, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
The new numbers come one day after Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced wide-ranging new restrictions.. They include mandatory masks in indoor public and retail spaces and restricting social gatherings for everyone in B.C. to household members only.
Alberta reported a record 1,155 new cases on Friday. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, also announced 11 more deaths.
Earlier, Trudeau urged Albertans to download the federal COVID-19 notification app, despite the fact Alberta and B.C. governments haven’t signed on.
Saskatchewan reported 153 new COVID-19 cases and one new death on Friday.
Manitoba surpassed 200 COVID-19 deaths on Friday as officials announced nine new deaths, including a Winnipeg man in his 20s — the youngest person in the province to have died from the virus.
The province, which announced 438 new cases Friday, introduced new COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday that ban people from having anyone inside their home who doesn’t live there, with few exceptions, and businesses from selling non-essential items in stores.
In Atlantic Canada, new restrictions are coming into effect for most of the Halifax region starting Monday, and remaining in place until at least Dec. 21.
Households will be limited to five visitors, while outdoor gatherings are also limited to five people.
Halifax bar staff will be tested for COVID-19 over the next seven days, while restaurants and bars across the province will be required to collect information from their patrons.
Nova Scotia reported five new cases on Friday.
New Brunswick has announced new restrictions, moving Saint John from the yellow alert stage to the more rigorous orange alert and asking people to limit contacts to their own family bubbles, starting Saturday.
WATCH | Young adults living as if COVID-19 doesn’t exist, says N.S. premier:
Saying Nova Scotia has a problem with 18- to 35-year-olds who are spreading COVID-19 through social interactions, Premier Stephen McNeil unveiled targeted measures that come into effect on Monday to help stop transmission of the virus. 1:35
P.E.I. Health Minister James Aylward on Friday said the province can expect 26,000 to 30,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in less than two months.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported three new cases on Friday.
In the North, Nunavut health officials reported 10 more cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the number of cases in the territory to 84.
A two-week territory-wide lockdown is currently in effect in an effort to get a handle on the outbreak and avoid overwhelming Nunavut’s small, isolated health-care centres.
Yukon recorded three new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing its total to 29. Dr. Brendan Hanley, the territory’s chief medical officer of health, said the three cases have been linked to a previous case, with contract tracing underway.
The Northwest Territoriesrenewed a state of emergency for Yellowknife to clear the way for an emergency warming shelter in light of capacity limitations at other facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s happening around the world
As of Saturday morning, there were more than 57.6 million reported cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with more than 36.9 million of those cases listed as recovered, according to a COVID-19 tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The global death toll stood at more than 1.3 million.
In Asia, South Korea has so far managed to weather its COVID-19 epidemic without major lockdowns, relying instead on an aggressive test-and-quarantine campaign and mask-wearing.
But the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases says the country could be reporting more than 1,000 new infections a day in a week or two if social distancing measures aren’t effectively strengthened.
South Korea has reported 386 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday.
In Japan, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached a record for the third straight day at 2,418. Japan, with fewer than 2,000 deaths related to the virus, has been relatively successful at containing the damage from the pandemic with social distancing and the widespread use of masks. But worries are growing about another surge over the weekend.
In the Middle East, businesses were shuttered and travel curtailed between major cities in Iran on Saturday, including the capital of Tehran, as it grapples with the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Mideast region.
People walk in front of closed shops at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, Iran’s main business and trade hub, on Saturday. (Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press)
Iran has recorded daily death tolls of above 430 over the past five days. Iran’s health ministry said on Saturday that the total number of confirmed cases has risen to above 840,000.
The new lockdown measures, which include shuttering most businesses, shops, malls, and restaurants, include Iran’s largest cities of Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Iranian authorities have designated the nearly 160 towns and cities affected as hot spots because these urban centres have the highest daily per capita positive coronavirus test results.
In Europe, shopping centres will reopen in Poland from Saturday next week, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, in a boost to retailers in the run-up to Christmas.
This is a temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients, which is under construction at the international industrial fair in Poznan, Poland. (Piotr Skornicki/Agencja Gazeta via Reuters)
The Polish government closed entertainment venues and some shops from Nov. 7 after a surge in COVID-19 cases, but infections have levelled off since then.
Morawiecki said schools would remain closed until Christmas. He urged Poles to spend the festive period only with their closest relatives in their households and not to travel.
Russia reported a daily record of 24,822 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, including 7,168 in the capital Moscow, bringing the national tally to 2,064,748.
Authorities also reported 467 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 35,778.
Currently Russia is the fifth country in terms of the number of infections reported, behind the United States, India, Brazil, and France.
The number deaths in the Czech Republic linked to COVID-19 doubled in November compared to October and passed the 7,000 mark, health ministry data showed on Saturday.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
VICTORIA – British Columbia Premier David Eby has announced his government has committed to earlier and enhanced pensions for wildland firefighters, saying the province owes them a “deep debt of gratitude” for their efforts in battling recent fire seasons.
Eby says in a statement the province and the BC General Employees’ Union have reached an agreement-in-principle to “enhance” pensions for firefighting personnel employed directly by the BC Wildfire Service.
It says the change will give wildland firefighters provisions like those in other public-safety careers such as ambulance paramedics and corrections workers.
The statement says wildfire personnel could receive their earliest pensions up to five years before regular members of the public service pension plan.
The province and the union are aiming to finalize the agreement early next year with changes taking effect in 2026, and while eligibility requirements are yet to be confirmed, the statement says the “majority” of workers at the BC Wildfire Service would qualify.
Union president Paul Finch says wildfire fighters “take immense risks and deserve fair compensation,” and the pension announcement marks a “major victory.”
“This change will help retain a stable, experienced workforce, ready to protect our communities when we need them most,” Finch says in the statement.
About 1,300 firefighters were employed directly by the wildfire service this year. B.C. has increased the service’s permanent full-time staff by 55 per cent since 2022.
About 350 firefighting personnel continue to battle more than 200 active blazes across the province, with 60 per cent of them now classified as under control.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. says it has signed a deal with U.K. rail infrastructure owner Network Rail to help upgrade and digitize its signalling over the next 10 years.
Network Rail has launched a four-billlion pound program to upgrade signalling across its network over the coming decade.
The company says the modernization will bring greater reliability across the country through a mixture of traditional signalling and digital control.
AtkinsRéalis says it has secured two of the eight contracts awarded.
The Canadian company formerly known as SNC-Lavalin will work independently on conventional signalling contract.
AtkinsRéalis will also partner with Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A.(CAF) in a new joint venture on a digital signalling contract.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
