Large parts of Canada are starting to hunker down, with new restrictions coming into effect as a fifth wave of COVID-19 spreads throughout the country, fuelled by the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Quebec on Tuesday reported yet another single-day high, with more than 5,000 new cases of COVID-19. The update came as the City of Montreal declared a local state of emergency in the face of quickly rising case numbers.
Prince Edward Island ramped up restrictions on Tuesday, including a quarantine requirement for people coming onto the island.
Health officials in several provinces and territories — including Nova Scotia and Ontario — are expected to hold COVID-19 briefings later Tuesday.
Other parts of the country also experienced a surge in new cases unseen since before the summer as the Omicron variant, identified by the World Health Organization as a potential concern only last month, has become increasingly prevalent in Canada.
And while hospitalizations have remained steady in Ontario and some other parts of the country, a recent spike in the number of severe cases in Quebec has added to concerns that the rest of the country could soon follow.
In response to the growing wave, several provinces have started to re-impose public health restrictions only days before the start of the holiday season that in many cases apply to both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
In Ontario, new limits on social gatherings and capacity limits in stores and restaurants came into effect Sunday as the provincial government struggled to get escalating case counts under control. Restrictions came into effect in British Columbia and Quebec on Monday, and Manitoba on Tuesday.
The fifth wave has also sparked a rush for booster shots as the Omicron variant has caused a surge of infections among both vaccinated and unvaccinated Canadians.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 11:35 a.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Dr. Theresa Tam talks about Omicron — and how it’s spreading:
Dr. Theresa Tam warns more restrictions needed to slow Omicron’s spread
14 hours ago
Duration 5:42
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam tells Andrew Chang that slowing down the spread of the Omicron variant will require additional restrictions, better masks and improved access to vaccines. 5:42
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.
In Prince Edward Island, the premier announced ramped-up restrictions and announced adjusted rules for incoming travellers on Tuesday, as health officials reported 29 new cases of COVID-19.
Dr. Morrison announces 29 new cases of COVID-19, active case count is 112.<br><br>4 of those are not permanent residents, but are isolating here and being managed by public health. Going forward, Morrison says these types of cases will be counted as new cases, but not in active count
P.E.I. was the first Atlantic province to provide updates on Tuesday, with live briefings expected from officials in both Nova Scotia — where health officials reported 485 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday — and New Brunswick — which saw 118 new cases on Monday — later in the day.
In Quebec, health officials on Tuesday reported 5,043 new cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths. The update comes after Health Minister Christian Dubé announced sweeping new restrictions on Monday aimed at slowing the spread of the new variant.
“The epidemiological situation is critical,” Dubé said at the briefing on Monday. “Our health system is already in crisis … and things aren’t getting better.”
In Ontario, health officials on Monday reported 3,453 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 additional deaths. The update came as adults in the province scrambled to get booster shot appointments after the province expanded booster eligibility.
Across the North, Nunavut on Tuesday reported two additional cases in Pangnirtung, though health officials said full lab results weren’t expected until later in the day.
“At this time, we do not know which variant this is, but in light of the threat of Omicron, we are tightening public health measures in the community to limit possible spread to other communities,” Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Michael Patterson said. “We will know the variant strain within approximately a week.”
Health officials in Yukon and the Northwest Territories had not yet provided updated information for the day.
In the Prairies, Manitoba‘s new restrictions came into effect on Tuesday, a day after the province reported 809 cases of COVID-19 and six deaths over a period of three days. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, saw 59 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, as health officials expanded access to booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. In Alberta, 1,925 COVID-19 cases were reported over three days, health officials said Monday, along with six additional deaths.
In British Columbia, health officials on Monday reported 2,550 new cases of COVID-19 and three additional deaths over three days.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 11:30 a.m. ET
What’s happening around the world
Katherine Thompson, an emergency medical technician working as a contractor with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, gives a person a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot on Monday in Federal Way, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/The Associated Press)
As of early Tuesday morning, more than 275.5 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 more than 5.3 million.
In the Americas, U.S. President Joe Biden plans to increase support for hospitals, improve access to COVID-19 tests and expand the availability of vaccines that can reduce the risks from the Omicron variant. The government will purchase 500 million rapid at-home tests to be delivered for free to Americans who request them.
Biden will stress in a Tuesday speech the importance of getting vaccinated to protect from a wave of infections tied to Omicron as Christmas approaches. Biden’s top medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the president will issue “a stark warning of what the winter will look like” for unvaccinated Americans.
Meanwhile, Panama has detected its first Omicron case, while neighbouring Costa Rica detected three more confirmed cases.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Thailand on Tuesday decided to immediately reimpose a mandatory quarantine for visitors and suspend a “test-and-go” scheme for fully vaccinated arrivals as concerns grow over the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the government said. The decision is a blow to efforts to revive Thailand’s battered tourism sector ahead of the peak holiday season.
About 200,000 people who have registered for the “test-and-go” scheme, known as Thailand Pass, but have not yet entered Thailand will be allowed to come, a spokesperson said. They will be subject to a coronavirus test on arrival and a second test seven days later at the expense of the government.
In Africa, Kenya on Monday reported 1,020 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths. In South Africa, which raised the alarm about the new Omicron variant, health officials on Monday reported 8,515 new cases and 105 additional deaths.
In Europe, the European Union’s drugs regulator gave the green light to a fifth COVID-19 vaccine for use in the 27-nation bloc, granting conditional marketing authorization to the two-dose vaccine made by U.S. biotech company Novavax.
The European Medicines Agency decision to recommend granting conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine for people aged 18 and over, which must be confirmed by the EU’s executive commission, comes as many European nations are battling surges in infections and amid concerns about the spread of the new Omicron variant.
In the Middle East, Iran on Tuesday reported 2,413 new cases of COVID-19 and 43 additional deaths.
-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 7 a.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.
