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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Child under 10 hospitalized – CTV Edmonton
OTTAWA —
A child under 10 has been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ottawa as active cases of the virus continue to increase.
The child is one of 11 people in hospital with the virus in Ottawa hospitals. One person in their 80s is in the ICU.
Ottawa Public Health reported 26 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, a day after officials confirmed the Omicron variant arrived in the capital.
The 26 cases are a decrease from the 61 on Sunday and 45 on Saturday reported by Ottawa Public Health. Sunday’s case count was the city’s highest since May.
The child in hospital is the 11th person under 10 years old to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ottawa during the pandemic.
Ottawa Public Health also provided the latest vaccine numbers for children between the ages of five and 11, who started receiving their shots last week. The health unit says nearly 8,500 children received their first doses from Friday to Sunday.
Active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa sit at 347, two more than on Sunday.
Provincewide, Ontario health officials reported 788 new cases and three new deaths from the virus on Monday.
The province’s rolling seven-day average is now 783, up from 656 at this time last week.
OTTAWA’S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (Nov. 21 to Nov. 27): 27.0 (down from 27..8)
- Positivity rate in Ottawa (Nov. 19 to Nov. 25): 1.7 per cent
- Reproduction number (Seven day average): 1.13
Reproduction values greater than 1 indicate the virus is spreading and each case infects more than one contact. If it is less than 1, it means spread is slowing.
UNVACCINATED CASES
People who are not fully vaccinated represent 439 of Ontario’s 788 new cases on Monday. An additional 34 had an unknown vaccination status.
COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health has updated its vaccination numbers to include children between ages five and 11, who are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The healh unit releases vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
As of Monday:
- Ottawa residents with 1 dose (5+): 848,906 (+9.031)
- Ottawa residents with 2 doses (5+): 813,273 (+859)
- Share of population 12 and older with at least one dose: 92 per cent
- Share of population 12 and older fully vaccinated: 88 per cent
- Share or population five and older with at least one dose: 85 per cent
- Share of population five and older fully vaccinated: 81 per cent
*Statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses include anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
There are 347 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Monday, up from 345 active cases on Sunday.
Ottawa Public Health reported 24 more newly resolved cases of COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is 30,104.
The number of active cases is the number of total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. A case is considered resolved 14 days after known symptom onset or positive test result.
HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA
There are 11 people in Ottawa area hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses on Monday, one more than on Sunday.
There is one patient in the ICU. That person is in their 80s.
Age categories of people in hospital:
- 0-9: 1
- 10-19: 0
- 20-29: 0
- 30-39: 0
- 40-49: 1
- 50-59: 0
- 60-69: 3
- 70-79: 1
- 80-89: 4 (1 in ICU)
- 90+: 1
(Ottawa Public Health is now reporting people in hospital with an “active” infection)
COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY
- 0-9 years old: Seven new cases (3,112 total cases)
- 10-19 years-old: Six new cases (4,274 total cases)
- 20-29 years-old: Two new cases (7,066 total cases)
- 30-39 years-old: One new case (4,890 total cases)
- 40-49 years-old: Seven new cases (4,185 total cases)
- 50-59 years-old: Two new cases (3,642 total cases)
- 60-69-years-old: Zero new cases (2,155 total cases)
- 70-79 years-old: One new case (1,188 total cases)
- 80-89 years-old: Zero new cases (904 total cases)
- 90+ years old: Zero new cases (550 total cases)
- Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)
VARIANTS OF CONCERN
The Omicron variant has not yet been added to Ottawa Public Health’s list of variants of concern.
- Total Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases: 6,850
- Total Beta (B.1.351) cases: 513
- Total Gamma (P.1) cases: 55
- Total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases: 1,142
- Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 12,233
- Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 121
*OPH notes that that VOC and mutation trends must be treated with caution due to the varying time required to complete VOC testing and/or genomic analysis following the initial positive test for SARS-CoV-2. Test results may be completed in batches and data corrections or updates can result in changes to case counts that may differ from past reports.
CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 10 new cases
- Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 11 new cases
- Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 47 new cases
- Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: Two new cases
- Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Five new cases
COVID-19 OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health reports COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions and community outbreaks in Ottawa. There are eight ongoing outbreaks in health care institutions and 20 in child care and school settings.
Community outbreaks:
- Workplace – Manufacturing: One outbreak
- Workplace – Recreation: One outbreak
Schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks:
- École élémentaire publique Marie-Curie (Nov. 5)
- Holy Family Elementary School (Nov. 7)
- Assumption Catholic elementary school (Nov. 8)
- Académie Providence Soeurs Antonines (Nov. 16)
- Carlington Recreation Centre – Licenced Childcare Centre (Nov. 17)
- Wee Watch – Licenced home childcare – Kanata (Nov. 18)
- Fern Hill School (Nov. 19)
- Chesterton Academy (Nov. 21)
- St. Rita Elementary School (Nov. 21)
- École élémentaire catholique d’enseignment personnalisé Lamoureux (Nov. 21)
- Pinecrest Public School (Nov. 21)
- Carson Grove Elementary School (Nov. 22)
- Holy Redeemer Elementary School (Nov. 22)
- Chapel Hill Catholic School (Nov. 23)
- École élémentaire catholique St. François d’Assise (Nov. 24)
- Inuuqutigiit licenced childcare – Overbrook (Nov. 25)
- Notre Dame High School (Nov. 25)
- Maryvale Academy of Ottawa (Nov. 26)
- Frank Ryan Catholic Intermediate School (Nov. 26)
Healthcare and congregate settings experiencing outbreaks:
- The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus – A4/A5/B5/AMA/Medicine units (Oct. 28)
- The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus – A3 Unit (Oct. 29)
- Portobello Retirement Residence (Nov. 3)
- The Ottawa Hospital General Campus – 6 West (Nov. 10)
- Rooming House (Nov. 12)
- Chapel Hill Retirement Residence – 3rd floor (Nov. 13)
- St. Patrick’s Home – Floors 3, 4, 5 (Nov. 17)
- The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus – Unit B2 (Nov. 19)
Tesla has promised to start selling cheaper models next year, days after a Reuters report revealed that the company had shelved its plans for an all-new Tesla that would cost only $25,000.
The news that Tesla was scrapping the Model 2 came amid a drop in sales and profits, and a decision to slash a tenth of the company’s global workforce. Reuters also noted increased competition from Chinese EV makers.
Tesla’s deliveries slumped in the first quarter for the first annual drop since the start of the pandemic in 2020, missing analyst forecasts by a mile in a sign that even price cuts haven’t been able to stave off an increasingly heated competition on the EV market.
Profits dropped by 50%, disappointing investors and leading to a slump in the company’s share prices, which made any good news urgently needed. Tesla delivered: it said it would bring forward the date for the release of new, lower-cost models. These would be produced on its existing platform and rolled out in the second half of 2025, per the BBC.
Reuters cited the company as warning that this change of plans could “result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected,” however. This suggests the price tag of the new models is unlikely to be as small as the $25,000 promised for the Model 2.
The decision is based on a substantially reduced risk appetite in Tesla’s management, likely affected by the recent financial results and the intensifying competition with Chinese EV makers. Shelving the Model 2 and opting instead for cars to be produced on existing manufacturing lines is the safer move in these “uncertain times”, per the company.
Tesla is also cutting prices, as many other EV makers are doing amid a palpable decline in sales in key markets such as Europe, where the phaseout of subsidies has hit demand for EVs seriously. The cut is of about $2,000 on all models that Tesla currently sells.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Divisions within the Bank of Canada over the timing of a much-anticipated cut to its key overnight interest rate stem from concerns of some members of the central bank’s governing council that progress on taming inflation could stall in the face of stronger domestic demand — or even pick up again in the event of “new surprises.”
“Some members emphasized that, with the economy performing well, the risk had diminished that restrictive monetary policy would slow the economy more than necessary to return inflation to target,” according to a summary of deliberations for the April 10 rate decision that were published Wednesday. “They felt more reassurance was needed to reduce the risk that the downward progress on core inflation would stall, and to avoid jeopardizing the progress made thus far.”
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Others argued that there were additional risks from keeping monetary policy too tight in light of progress already made to tame inflation, which had come down “significantly” across most goods and services.
Some pointed out that the distribution of inflation rates across components of the consumer price index had approached normal, despite outsized price increases and decreases in certain components.
“Coupled with indicators that the economy was in excess supply and with a base case projection showing the output gap starting to close only next year, they felt there was a risk of keeping monetary policy more restrictive than needed.”
In the end, though, the central bankers agreed to hold the rate at five per cent because inflation remained too high and there were still upside risks to the outlook, albeit “less acute” than in the past couple of years.
Despite the “diversity of views” about when conditions will warrant cutting the interest rate, central bank officials agreed that monetary policy easing would probably be gradual, given risks to the outlook and the slow path for returning inflation to target, according to the summary of deliberations.
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They considered a number of potential risks to the outlook for economic growth and inflation, including housing and immigration, according to summary of deliberations.
The central bankers discussed the risk that housing market activity could accelerate and further boost shelter prices and acknowledged that easing monetary policy could increase the likelihood of this risk materializing. They concluded that their focus on measures such as CPI-trim, which strips out extreme movements in price changes, allowed them to effectively look through mortgage interest costs while capturing other shelter prices such as rent that are more reflective of supply and demand in housing.
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They also agreed to keep a close eye on immigration in the coming quarters due to uncertainty around recent announcements by the federal government.
“The projection incorporated continued strong population growth in the first half of 2024 followed by much softer growth, in line with the federal government’s target for reducing the share of non-permanent residents,” the summary said. “But details of how these plans will be implemented had not been announced. Governing council recognized that there was some uncertainty about future population growth and agreed it would be important to update the population forecast each quarter.”
• Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com
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Shares in US tech giant Meta have sunk in US after-hours trading despite better-than-expected earnings.
The Facebook and Instagram owner said expenses would be higher this year as it spends heavily on artificial intelligence (AI).
Its shares fell more than 15% after it said it expected to spend billions of dollars more than it had previously predicted in 2024.
Meta has been updating its ad-buying products with AI tools to boost earnings growth.
It has also been introducing more AI features on its social media platforms such as chat assistants.
The firm said it now expected to spend between $35bn and $40bn, (£28bn-32bn) in 2024, up from an earlier prediction of $30-$37bn.
Its shares fell despite it beating expectations on its earnings.
First quarter revenue rose 27% to $36.46bn, while analysts had expected earnings of $36.16bn.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said its spending plans were “aggressive”.
She said Meta’s “substantial investment” in AI has helped it get people to spend time on its platforms, so advertisers are willing to spend more money “in a time when digital advertising uncertainty remains rife”.
More than 50 countries are due to have elections this year, she said, “which hugely increases uncertainty” and can spook advertisers.
She added that Meta’s “fortunes are probably also being bolstered by TikTok’s uncertain future in the US”.
Meta’s rival has said it will fight an “unconstitutional” law that could result in TikTok being sold or banned in the US.
President Biden has signed into law a bill which gives the social media platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell off the app or it will be blocked in the US.
Ms Lund-Yates said that “looking further ahead, the biggest risk [for Meta] remains regulatory”.
Last year, Meta was fined €1.2bn (£1bn) by Ireland’s data authorities for mishandling people’s data when transferring it between Europe and the US.
And in February of this year, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg faced blistering criticism from US lawmakers and was pushed to apologise to families of victims of child sexual exploitation.
Ms Lund-Yates added that the firm has “more than enough resources to throw at legal challenges, but that doesn’t rule out the risks of ups and downs in market sentiment”.
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