New restrictions on gatherings and restaurants are taking effect in Quebec as the highly infectious Omicron variant continues to drive a surge in COVID-19 cases across much of Canada. The country crossed the two million cases mark on Sunday.
Quebec reported 9,206 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, a day after it tallied more than 10,000 daily cases for the first time. It also reported four additional deaths.
Starting Sunday, the province is capping private gatherings at six people or two family bubbles. Restaurants are limited to serving groups of six, or two family bubbles — down from 10 people and three households.
In a Christmas message posted to Facebook, Premier François Legault acknowledged that the next few weeks would be “difficult.”
“It will be very important to continue our efforts and to stick together, even if we are tired,” he wrote.
Montreal’s director of public health has said it’s a “critical time” for the city’s health network, with 181 people hospitalized for COVID-19 across the city as of Thursday, an increase of 60 per cent over the last week.
Archbishop of Montreal Christian Lepine gives holy communion to worshippers who attended an outdoor mass in the parking lot of the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, in Montreal on Saturday. (Peter McCabe/The Canadian Press)
New Brunswick will bring in tightened restrictions of its own on Monday, with households asked to stick to a steady bubble of 10, down from 20.
The stricter Level 2 rules also include requiring restaurants to operate at 50 per cent capacity and request proof-of-vaccination, as well as capacity limits for other businesses, public gatherings and faith venues.
The province reported 265 cases on Friday, its highest-ever single-day count, and one additional death.
WATCH | Caught COVID-19? Expert says skip the guilt, focus on protecting vulnerable:
Caught COVID-19? Expert says skip the guilt and focus on protecting the vulnerable
3 days ago
Duration 4:02
Rather than seeing getting sick with COVID-19 as a sign of failure, experts say it’s more important to focus on ways to protect the most vulnerable. 4:02
Meanwhile, Ontario reported 9,826 new cases on Sunday, a day after it topped 10,000 new cases for the first time. It also reported seven additional deaths.
The 10,412 new cases reported on Saturday marked the third consecutive day the province had broken its record for daily case counts. With Sunday’s numbers, the rolling seven-day average of new daily cases now stands at 6,746, up from 2,542 one week ago.
Incredible to see <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamToronto?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TeamToronto</a> in action on <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Christmas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Christmas</a> Day with <a href=”https://twitter.com/joe_cressy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Joe_Cressy</a>.<br><br>Shared my appreciation with everyone working at Mitchell Field Community Centre and all other clinics across our city for their dedication and sacrifice to help us get Torontonians vaccinated. <a href=”https://t.co/QlzW1rJr98″>pic.twitter.com/QlzW1rJr98</a>
Experts have said the actual number of cases is likely far higher than those reported each day, because many public health units have reached their testing capacity.
The province is racing to provide COVID-19 vaccine boosters, with some clinics running on Christmas Day. Anyone aged 18 and older is now eligible as long as three months have passed since their second shot.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said more than 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Elsewhere in Canada, Nova Scotia reported 1,147 new cases over a two-day period, and Nunavut reported four new cases, all in Iqaluit.
With Sunday’s updates, Canada has now reported 2,000,150 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. A total of 30,159 Canadians have died from the illness.
– From CBC News and The Canadian Press, last updated at 1:45 p.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
For more details on how COVID-19 is impacting your community — including hospital data and the latest on restrictions — check out the coverage from CBC newsrooms around the country.
People are pictured skating at the Robson Square skating rink in downtown Vancouver on Friday. COVID-19 cases have surged across the country in recent days, driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Experts fear true number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. could be higher as province hits testing capacity.
What’s happening around the world
As of 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, more than 279.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s case-tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at almost 5.4 million.
In the Americas, U.S. airlines called off hundreds of flights for a third day in a row on Sunday as surging COVID-19 infections grounded crews and forced tens of thousands of Christmas weekend travellers to change their plans.
Commercial airlines cancelled 720 flights within, into or out of the United States on Sunday, according to a tally on flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. Further cancellations were likely, and more than 1,400 flights were delayed.
Travellers wait in line at Delta Air Lines check-in counter at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday. Thousands of flights have been cancelled or delayed around the world this weekend as the Omicron variant disrupts holiday travel. (David McNew/AFP /Getty Images)
In the Asia-Pacific region, Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and a sharp jump in hospitalizations. Doctors and pharmacists have said they are running short of vaccine doses amid a rush for shots spurred by concern over the Omicron variant.
Meanwhile, a major laboratory in Sydney said that 400 people who had been informed a day earlier they had tested negative for COVID-19 had in fact tested positive, with the error believed to be due to “human error.” The lab’s medical director said those people were being contacted and informed of the error.
In the Middle East, Iran has banned the entry of travellers from Britain, France, Denmark and Norway for 15 days as part of curbs following the discovery of the Omicron variant in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
Oman is requiring foreign travellers aged 18 or older to have received at least two COVID-19 vaccine doses to enter the sultanate, the state news agency reported on Sunday.
In Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tested negative on Sunday for COVID-19 after his 14-year-old daughter was infected by the coronavirus, his office said.
In Africa, meanwhile, the Nigerian president’s top media aide, Garba Shehu, said on Saturday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and was in isolation. Shehu, who is in his late 50s, is in the immediate circle of 79-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari.
In Europe, France recorded a record high of 104,611 COVID-19 infections on Saturday, breaking the 100,000 threshold for the first time since the pandemic began as the Omicron variant continued its rapid spread. Health authorities said the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care went up by 28 to 3,282.
– From Reuters and The Associated Press, last updated at 3:30 p.m. ET
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.
