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.
LONGUEUIL, Que. – People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
Police from the city just east of Montreal said it didn’t appear anyone was hurt, although a CN rail official told a news conference that three employees had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The derailment happened at around 9 a.m. in the LeMoyne area, near the intersection of St-Louis and St-Georges streets. Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesman for CN rail, said about eight cars derailed at the Southwark rail facility, including four that toppled over.
“As of this morning, the information we have is it’s hydrogen peroxide that was in the rail car and created the fumes we saw,” he said, adding that there was no risk of fire.
François Boucher, a spokesman for the Longueuil police department, said police were asking people in the area, including students at nearby schools, to stay indoors while experts ensure the air is safe to breathe.
“It is as a preventive measure that we encourage people to really avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily,” he told reporters near the scene.
Police and fire officials were on site, as well as CN railworkers, and a large security perimeter was erected.
Officers were asking people to avoid the sector, and the normally busy Highway 116 was closed in the area. The confinement notice includes everyone within 800 metres of the derailment, officials said, who added that it would be lifted once a team with expertise in dangerous materials has given the green light.
In addition to closing doors and windows, people in the area covered by the notice are asked to close heating, ventilation and air exchange systems, and to stay as far from windows as possible.
Gaudreault said it wasn’t yet clear what caused the derailment. The possibilities include a problem with the track, a problem with a manoeuvre, or a mechanical issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone service and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
Party leader Zach Churchill says a Liberal government would spend $60 million on building 87 new cellphone towers, which would be in addition to the $66 million the previous Progressive Conservative government committed to similar projects last year.
As well, Churchill confirmed the Liberals want to improve the province’s controlled access highways by adding exits along Highway 104 across the top of the mainland, and building a bypass along Highway 101 near Digby.
Churchill says the Liberals would add $40 million to the province’s $500 million capital budget for highways.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major political parties were expected to spend much of today preparing for a televised debate that will be broadcast tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
Churchill will face off against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Claudia Chender during a 90-minute debate that will be carried live on CBC TV and streamed online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.
The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.
During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.
The union says hotel workers who will be serving Swifties during her Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The union represents hospitality workers including food service employees, room attendants and bell persons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
