China hopes to ‘take the lead in achieving herd immunity,’ health agency director says.
Italy set to go back into lockdown next week.
Have a question about the coronavirus pandemic? You can reach us at COVID@cbc.ca
Roughly 5,000 workers at an Amazon warehouse near Toronto are staying home for at least two weeks because of an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility.
Health officials ordered the warehouse in Brampton close, effective 12:01 a.m. Saturday, after 240 of its workers tested positive for the virus that causes the respiratory illness.
Peel Public Health said it’s possible that everyone working there was at high risk for exposure to the coronavirus. It said all workers must self-isolate until March 27, unless they have tested positive in the last 90 days and completed quarantine.
WATCH | Brampton, Ont., Amazon warehouse closed after 240 workers test positive for COVID-19:
Peel Region is ordering an Amazon warehouse to close, after outbreaks there led to hundreds of COVID-19 cases. A worker describes the conditions inside. 1:49
Amazon said in a statement it has taken measures to keep workers safe during the pandemic, including providing buses to transport them to the warehouse.
All employees at the Heritage Road facility have been tested for COVID-19 twice in the past three weeks, the company said.
As more Canadians get their COVID-19 vaccines, B.C. Premier John Horgan on Friday said he backs the concept of a so-called COVID-19 vaccine passport for international travellers.
However, he said he’s not sold on a similar system for British Columbia residents to attend local events like sports or entertainment.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he’s reluctant to introduce a system of vaccine passports to show proof of immunization because of lingering concerns about inequities — but such a system might be necessary for international travel.
Trudeau said he’s uneasy with the idea of a national program to document vaccination status as it could marginalize people who, for whatever reason, can’t or won’t get a vaccine.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, Canada had reported 904,706 cases of COVID-19, with 31,087 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 22,415.
Ontario reported 1,468 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and 11 additional deaths. On Friday, the province reported 1,371 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 more deaths.
Meanwhile, it was a second consecutive day of record-high vaccinations, with 43,503 doses administered yesterday. A total of 1,062,910 doses of vaccine have been administered in the province so far.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia reported one new case of COVID-19 on Friday, as did Newfoundland and Labrador.New Brunswick reported three new cases and one additional death. Prince Edward Island reported no new cases.
WATCH | Canadians who saved during pandemic expected to go on spending spree:
Workers who maintained their income during the last year have saved up a fortune under lockdowns and could soon go on a spending spree. We talk to some of the people who are counting on it. 1:50
In Quebec, health officials reported 753 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and nine additional deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 550, with 106 COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
The update came a day after Premier François Legault on Thursday praised essential workers for their efforts and urged people to remember the lives lost in the pandemic — more than 10,500 in Quebec alone.
“We lost grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, and today, Quebec remembers these people that left us too soon,” he said at an event marking the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic.
WATCH | The future of online learning post-pandemic:
In life after lockdown, does the future of education include online learning in some form? 2:00
Across the North, there were no new cases reported in Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories on Friday.
In the Prairie provinces, Manitoba reported 104 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death on Friday, which was the one-year anniversary of the first cases of coronavirus in the province. This is the first time in more than three weeks that Manitoba has had a daily case count above 100.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan reported 176 new cases and three new deaths. The province is recommending that residents of Regina and area, particularly those older than 50, limit interactions with others amid an increase in community transmission of variants of concern in the region.
Meanwhile, Alberta reported 425 new cases and two new deaths, as the province continued to lower the age range of those able to get COVID-19 vaccinations in a staggered rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine for Albertans who don’t have a severe chronic illness.
There were two new groups eligible to book on Friday: all Albertans born in 1959 and 1960, and all First Nations, Métis and Inuit born in 1974 and 1975.
Residents watch television at CHSLD Rose de Lima seniors residence Friday on March 12, 2021 in Laval, Que. Almost all of the residents in Quebec senior residences have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccination shot. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
In British Columbia, health officials announced 648 new cases on Friday, the highest number since Jan. 7, but no additional deaths.
The update comes a day after the provincial health officer said she is now allowing up to 10 people to meet outdoors after nearly four months of restrictions that barred in-person gatherings between people from different households.
Dr. Bonnie Henry said restrictions on indoor gatherings and rules for restaurants, bars, retail stores and other venues remain in place.
What’s happening around the world
As of Sunday morning, more than 119.2 million people around the world had been reported to having COVID-19, according to a tracking tool maintained by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University. Of those, more than 67.5 million were listed as recovered. The global death toll stood at more than 2.6 million.
China is aiming to vaccinate 70 to 80 per cent of its population by mid-2022, the head of the country’s Center for Disease Control said Saturday.
People wait in a queue to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Beijing on March 8. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
With four approved vaccines, China will vaccinate 900 million to 1 billion people, Gao Fu, the CDC head, said in an interview with Chinese state media broadcaster CGTN. “We hope that China can take the lead in achieving herd immunity in the world,” he said.
Herd immunity occurs when enough of the population has immunity, either from vaccination or past infection, to stop the uncontrolled spread of an infectious disease such as COVID-19.
China had administered 52.5 million vaccine doses through the end of February. It has been slower in its vaccination campaign than many other countries, including the U.S., government health experts have acknowledged.
China has committed roughly 10 times more doses abroad than it has distributed at home.
In Europe, Italy is set to enter a near-nationwide lockdown in the coming week. Officials have ordered schools, museums, bars and restaurants and non-essential shops to close on Monday in most regions.
The restrictions will remain in place at least until Easter. People are urged to remain home, except for essential trips. The rules will apply to all of Italy over the Easter weekend, Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s office confirmed on Friday.
Medical staff work in the COVID-19 unit of the Bolognini hospital in Seriate, in Italy’s Lombardy region, on Friday. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)
The move is a repeat of one year ago this past week when all of Italy went into a strict lockdown, the first of the pandemic in Europe.
Italian health officials say new hospital admissions to ICUs due to COVID-19 this week were well over 200 a day, twice the number they were as the second wave of the respiratory illness began last fall.
WATCH | Benefits of AstraZeneca’s vaccine outweigh risks, experts say:
Despite some European countries temporarily halting use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine after 30 cases of blood clots, experts maintain it is still safe to use in Canada. 2:01
Elsewhere in Europe, Poland reported 21,049 daily coronavirus cases on Saturday, health ministry data showed, the highest figure since November 2020.
The health ministry said there were a further 343 coronavirus-related deaths. In total, Poland has reported 1,889,360 cases and 47,068 deaths.
In the Middle East, Jordan has become the first country in the region to receive coronavirus vaccines through the global COVAX initiative.
A plane carrying 144,000 shots of AstraZeneca vaccine landed in Amman’s airport late Friday and was greeted by representatives of the agencies supporting the COVAX program — the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the European Union.
The COVAX alliance aims to share COVID-19 vaccines with more than 90 lower and middle-income nations. However, the program is facing delays, underfunding and limited supply.
WATCH | Air pollution dropped significantly during the pandemic:
Air pollution dropped significantly during the pandemic, and health experts hope that could lead to changes that could save lives. 1:56
The EU has allocated 8 million euros to support Jordan’s purchase of vaccines. A second shipment from COVAX is expected in April.
Jordan launched its vaccination drive in mid-January with plans to inoculate over 4 million residents in 2021, according to Health Minister Nathir Obeidat.
The kingdom, home to nearly 10 million people, has approved five vaccine types, including Russian and Chinese ones. The vaccination campaign also targets some of the 650,000 Syrian refugees.
The country is struggling to contain the surge of infections. It has reported over 465,000 cases and more than 5,200 deaths.
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.
