The number of people hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 in Ontario continues its upward trend, reaching a new pandemic high of 2,594 on Saturday, up from Friday’s high of 2,472.
Health officials reported 13,362 new, lab-confirmed cases on Saturday, although the actual daily count is likely much higher given that the province has reduced access to PCR testing for most people. The province also reported 31 additional deaths related to COVID-19.
A total of 385 people were undergoing treatment for the illness in intensive care, up by 47 from the previous day.
In Quebec,the number ofCOVID-19-related hospitalizations rose by 163 for a total of 2,296 on Saturday. Health officials reported 245 patients in intensive care, an increase of 16 from Friday.
The province also reported 44 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus on Saturday, the highest daily death toll in nearly a year.
WATCH | Mandatory vaccine laws could eventually exist, says health minister:
Mandatory vaccine laws could eventually exist, says health minister
16 hours ago
Duration 2:44
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says mandatory vaccine laws could eventually exist in Canada, but provincial leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan are among those already saying no to the idea. 2:44
Canada’s health minister on Friday said he expects provinces will need to consider implementing a broader vaccine mandate to counter rising cases.
Jean-Yves Duclos said such a measure was not currently being contemplated in Canada, but his personal opinion was that the country will “get there at some point.”
“We know that COVID-19 will be with us for many more months to come, maybe even many years,” he said.
Duclos said he spoke with provincial and territorial health ministers on Thursday and commended their continuing work on managing the crisis.
WATCH | Health experts urge Canadians to take whichever vaccine is available:
Health experts urge Canadians to take whichever vaccine is available
15 hours ago
Duration 2:13
Health experts across the country are urging Canadians to stop shopping around for their preferred brand and take whichever COVID-19 vaccine is available. 2:13
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations won’t happen in the province, despite the federal government conceding such intervention may be necessary down the road.
Kenney, in a short statement on Friday, said his government removed the power of mandatory vaccination from the law books last year and “will not revisit that decision, period.”
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Feds to send more resources to Ontario First Nation overwhelmed by COVID-19:
Feds to send military to Bearskin Lake First Nation ‘very quickly’, says Minister
18 hours ago
Duration 7:10
The Chief of Bearskin Lake First Nation in northern Ontario says he’s been waiting for military support, as half the community’s population tested positive for COVID-19. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she expects the military to arrive “very quickly”. 7:10
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 Maritimes, New Brunswick officials on Saturday reported 80 patients in hospital with COVID-19, up by 11 from Friday. Seventeen patients remained in intensive care. Health officials registered 421 new cases and one additional death.
In the North, Nunavut reported 35 new cases on Friday, while Yukon reported 41 new casesand the Northwest Territories recorded 149.
In Nova Scotia, one additional death and 48 hospitalizations were reported by health officials on Friday.
Dr. Nathan Stall, right, administers a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 82-year-old Vincent Doyley, as Stall and Toronto Coun. Josh Matlow, left, bring third doses of the vaccine to homebound seniors and their caregivers in the city on Friday. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)
In the Prairie provinces, hospitalizations in Manitoba rose to 297, health officials reported on Friday. Thirty-four of those patients are in the ICU.
In neighbouring Saskatchewan, 105 such hospitalizations were reported as of Friday — including 11 people in the ICU. As well, 1,170 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the province, a new high. No additional deaths were reported.
In Alberta, health officials on Friday reported two additional deaths and 504 hospitalizations.
As of Saturday, more than 303.5 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 the Middle East, hundreds of people rallied in Beirut on Saturday to protest measures imposed against the unvaccinated. As of Monday, civil servants in Lebanon must either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or take regular PCR tests to be able to go to work.
Health Minister Firass Abiad criticized the protesters, saying that more than 20,000 people were vaccinated on Saturday alone as part of a government campaign focusing on students and teachers. Educational institutions are to resume classes on Monday.
A protester holds a placard during a rally in Beirut on Saturday to denounce Lebanon’s COVID-19 measures. (Hussein Malla/The Associated Press)
In Europe, government advisers in the U.K. have recommended against giving a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents and people over 80 because data shows that a third shot offers lasting protection against admission to the hospital.
The U.K. Health Security Agency says that for people over 65, protection against hospitalization remains at about 90 per cent three months after the third dose.
In Asia, India reported 141,986 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the most since the end of May, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus overtakes the Delta version in cities.
Health experts say India’s high rate of infection during a previous major wave in April and May, as well as vaccinations, would mean a reduction in the severity of the illness for those infected by the Omicron variant.
Health workers bring a COVID-19 patient to Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, India, on Saturday. (Ajit Solanki/The Associated Press)
Nearly 70 per cent of Indians had been infected with the coronavirus by the middle of last year, according to government serological surveys, while an almost equal proportion of adults have been fully vaccinated as of this week.
Authorities in several Indian cities, including the national capital New Delhi, have imposed a night curfew on weekdays, closed schools and ordered most shops to open only on alternate days when there is no curfew.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
