More public health restrictions are expected to be announced in Ontario today after the province releases new COVID-19 modelling projections that the premier had said would make people “fall off [their] chairs.”
Sources have told CBC News the modelling, which will be detailed at an 11:30 a.m. ET briefing, projects Ontario’s intensive care units will be filled beyond capacity by early February. It also forecasts the province is on track to see up to 6,000 new cases per day by the end of this month.
Ontario moved into a provincewide lockdown on Dec. 26, with tighter restrictions on gatherings and the closure of many non-essential businesses.
Elementary and secondary school students across northern Ontario, where COVID-19 positivity rates are relatively low, returned to in-class learning on Monday. The government announced last week that students in southern Ontario will continue attending classes remotely until at least Jan. 25.
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Rapid COVID-19 testing for factory workers are among measures that could help slow the spread of COVID-19, says Ottawa ICU physician Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng. 1:27
Premier Doug Ford said his cabinet was meeting Monday to discuss the surging numbers of COVID-19 cases in the province. Sources told CBC News that health officials have recommended the following restrictions to cabinet:
Gathering limits reduced to as few as five people.
Shorter hours for essential businesses, which would involve earlier closures and later openings.
Limits on construction activity, but those limits would still allow essential construction to continue. Essential construction would be defined as work on health-care and critical infrastructure, as well as residential buildings.
A requirement that no employees would be allowed in offices unless they are deemed essential.
While the idea of a curfew like the one recently implemented in Quebec has been floated as a possibility, a government source told CBC News on Monday that a curfew will not be among restrictions expected to be announced.
Health workers push a stretcher toward St. George Care Community in Toronto last week. The long-term care home is in the midst of one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in Ontario. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
The updated modelling and new measures come on the heels of Ontario hitting record highs in new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations since the start of the new year.
On Monday, the province reported 3,338 new cases and an additional 29 deaths, bringing Ontario’s official death toll to 5,012.
The province said that 1,563 patients with COVID-19 were in hospital, the most at any time since the start of the pandemic, including 387 in intensive care.
Critical Care Services Ontario, which produces an internal report on ICU admissions and capacity each morning, put the ICU figure even higher at 409, according to Ontario Hospital Association president Anthony Dale.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 7 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Canada had reported 668,181 cases of COVID-19, with 82,527 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 17,086.
The Canada Revenue Agency began sending out T4a slips on Monday to Canadians who have received COVID-19 benefits, reminding them that the money is taxable income and must be recorded on their tax returns.
The T4a forms list how much money a person received from one or more of the following benefits: the Canada emergency response benefit (CERB), the Canada emergency student benefit (CESB), the Canada recovery benefit (CRB), the Canada recovery sickness benefit (CRSB) and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit (CRCB).
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick reported 21 new cases on Monday. Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, announced that there are currently 204 active cases — the highest number of active cases in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
Nova Scotia announced five new COVID-19 cases on Monday, including one at Acadia University in Wolfville and another at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases, while Prince Edward Island did not provide an update.
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Quebec’s new COVID-19 curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. ET is having a bigger impact on those with exemptions for work and medical care, who face being stopped multiple times by police, and people who are homeless, who are asked to go to shelters. 2:01
In Quebec, the province’s top hospital official warned that the majority of hospitals are so strapped for COVID-19 beds that soon administrators will start having to make difficult decisions.
Dr. Lucie Opatrny said that with elective surgeries already being delayed, things like colonoscopies, kidney transplants and hip replacements might be the next things to fall by the wayside.
The province reported 1,869 new cases and 51 new deaths on Monday. There were 1,436 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 211 in intensive care.
Manitoba public health officials announced 133 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths on Monday.
The first vaccinations of long-term care home residents in the province started Monday morning, with residents of Oakview Place first in Winnipeg to get the shots.
Way to go Margaret! Thank you for being our first!! <a href=”https://t.co/QAFblyPlp4″>pic.twitter.com/QAFblyPlp4</a>
Saskatchewan announced 412 new cases and eight more deaths on Monday. According to the province, a record-high 197 people were in hospital due to COVID-19, including 31 in intensive care.
Alberta reported 639 new cases on Monday, along with 23 more deaths. Premier Jason Kenney said the province will immediately expand its COVID-19 vaccination program to include all paramedics and emergency medical responders.
But Kenney said Alberta is running out of COVID-19 vaccinations and could exhaust its supply as early as next week.
In British Columbia, health officials announced 1,475 new cases of COVID-19 in the province over the last three days, along with 22 deaths, which pushed B.C.’s death toll over 1,000.
But Dr. Michael Patterson, the territory’s chief public health officer, said it will take until the end of January to officially declare outbreaks in Arviat and Whale Cove over.
Yukon reported four recoveries on Monday, bringing its number of active cases down to six. The Northwest Territories has zero active cases as of its last update.
What’s happening around the world
As of early Tuesday morning, more than 90.9 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 50.3 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 case tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 1.9 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia’s king declared a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday to curb the spread of COVID-19, a move that the opposition decried as an attempt by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to retain control amid a power struggle.
The emergency declaration, which allows the Muhyiddin government to introduce laws without parliamentary approval, comes a day after the prime minister announced a nationwide travel ban and a 14-day lockdown in the capital Kuala Lumpur and five states.
A woman looks through Lunar New Year lantern decorations at a shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday. Malaysia’s king has approved a coronavirus emergency that will prorogue parliament and halt any bids to seek a general election. (Vincent Thian/The Associated Press)
The small Pacific nation of Micronesia has reported its first case of the coronavirus after a crew member on a ship returning from the Philippines tested positive.
In an address to the nation, President David Panuelo said many people had heard the “alarming news” but the case has been contained at the border. He said the crew member on the government ship Chief Mailo has been isolated on board, that all other crew remain on board, and that the ship is being monitored daily by law enforcement.
New Zealand will soon require that travellers from most countries show negative coronavirus tests before they leave for New Zealand.
The new rules, which require travellers to have a negative test within 72 hours of departure, will be imposed on travellers from the U.S. and the U.K. beginning Friday and most other countries soon after. Travellers from Australia and some Pacific nations will be exempted.
In Africa, Senegal is rushing to provide more hospital beds for coronavirus patients as infections soar and a lack of capacity means doctors are only able to admit the most severe cases, health officials said.
A second wave of new infections and deaths hit record highs this month, forcing President Macky Sall to reimpose a state of emergency that bans gatherings and enforces mask wearing.
Prof. Moussa Seydi speaks with a patient who is suffering from COVID-19 at the infectious diseases department of the University Hospital Fann in Dakar, Senegal, on Jan. 7. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
In Europe, the European Medicines Agency says it has received an application from AstraZeneca and Oxford University to authorize their coronavirus vaccine.
The Amsterdam-based regulator said Tuesday that it would assess the request at an accelerated pace because the vaccine is already part of a rolling review.
The office of the Portuguese president says that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tested positive for coronavirus although the veteran politician has no symptoms. Rebelo de Sousa, who took office in 2016 and is 72, is seeking a second term in the country’s presidential election on Jan. 24.
A man works at a ‘vaccination super station,’ built to vaccinate 5,000 people a day against COVID-19, which opened for health-care workers in San Diego on Monday. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
In the Americas, U.S. health officials have created a website to help people find where they can get antibody drugs for COVID-19, medicines that may help prevent serious illness and hospitalization if used early enough after infection occurs.
Two of these drugs — from Eli Lilly and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — have been authorized for emergency use in the U.S., but red tape, health-care staff shortages and other problems have prevented many patients and doctors from getting them.
The website includes a tool where people can find locations administering the treatment within 80 kilometres. Doctors will determine if patients meet the criteria. Treatment must start within 10 days of first symptoms.
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.
