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COVID-19: As Alberta prepares to peel back public health measures, doctors offer advice – Global News

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Alberta is on the brink of moving into the third and final stage of the province’s reopening plan.

On Thursday, indoor social gatherings will again be allowed, large outdoor gatherings can take place and some businesses, such as live music venues and nightclubs, will be able to reopen their doors. There will no longer be capacity limits.

READ MORE: COVID-19: Alberta public health measures to end on July 1

Nearly all public health measures brought in because of COVID-19 will be lifted across the province, including the provincial mask mandate, though masks will still be required in acute care facilities, continuing care centres and in public transit vehicles, taxis and rideshares.

ATU Local 569 President Steve Bradshaw said there are still some questions about whether those masking rules apply to transit centres and other transit properties, but he is on board with the targeted public health measure.

“It’s become clear to us that masks are probably the second-most effective barrier to transmission of the virus, behind only vaccinations,” he said.

“We will encourage people to wear their masks.”

READ MORE: Edmonton’s mandatory mask bylaw will end when Alberta enters Stage 3 on July 1

Bradshaw said operators have never been tasked with mask enforcement, saying that is a matter for peace and bylaw officers.

COVID-19 case numbers have plummeted in the province in recent weeks, thanks in large part to vaccinations.

Dr. Sean van Diepen, a professor of critical care medicine at the University of Alberta, said case numbers and hospitalization numbers are “really encouraging right now.”

“The clear downturn in the number of cases has really lowered the risk for transmission within the community, so I think it’s a really good time to start moving back on some of the health-care measures,” he said, adding it would be important to be nimble and reinstitute measures if more cases of the Delta or Delta Plus variant are identified.

Van Diepen had two pieces of advice for Albertans as they prepare for reopening: don’t be lulled into a sense of security because of the low numbers if you only have one dose of vaccine, and do what you can to minimize your risk.

“Little things like continuing masking in the indoors if possible, especially with people who may be at intermediate or higher risk of the COVID(-19) variant. I’m going to continue to wear a mask indoors and people can make that decision.”

He said his family is slowly adapting to the new normal, meeting with friends in small groups outside instead of having indoor gatherings and not travelling outside of the city just yet.

Alberta Health Services said a number of COVID-19 units in the Edmonton have closed and been returned to their original use.

Dr. Neeja Bakshi, a COVID-19 unit physician at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, said the unit there will be shutting down in the coming days.

“We wanted to make sure we were maximizing the space for all patients that were coming in,” she said.

“There’s a little bit of apprehension, but I do think that with vaccination rates and where we’re going right now, it is the right move.”

However, Bakshi said she is concerned about the removal of the mask mandate.

“We don’t have everybody vaccinated yet and we know even with the second dose of vaccine, you require two weeks before you’re considered fully immunized,” she said.

“We don’t know who’s vaccinated. We don’t know who could potentially be carrying the variant.”

Bakshi recommends Albertans do a point-of-care assessment to determine what they are comfortable with as the province reopens.

“I’m hopeful most Albertans will continue to do things that seem common sense: washing your hands all the time, wearing a mask in a crowded place – I still think that’s a really good thing as we saw we didn’t have any influenza in the fall (and) we had really low rates of respiratory illnesses in children, and masking was the thing that helped with that,” she said.

“I think as we move into this next phase and turn to reopening, everybody is going to go at their own pace.”

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.

Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.

Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).

SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.

The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.

WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.

SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.

SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.

SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.

The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X:

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Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

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Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.

“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.

“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”

Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.

On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.

If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.

These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.

If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.

However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.

He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.

“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.

Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.

The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.

Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.

Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.

Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.

Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.

Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”

In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.

“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

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TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.

The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.

The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.

RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.

The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.

RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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