OTTAWA —
Good morning. Here is the latest news on COVID-19 and its impact on Ottawa.
Fast Facts:
Face masks remain mandatory in Ottawa as municipal mask bylaw expires
Eastern Ontario’s top doctor suggests vaccination certificates “inevitable” in Ontario
Ontario reports 660 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, 19 in Ottawa
Ottawa begins offering third COVID-19 vaccine doses to most vulnerable residents
Sunwing flying to 11 warm destinations from Ottawa this winter
COVID-19 by the numbers in Ottawa (Ottawa Public Health data):
New COVID-19 cases: 19 new cases on Wednesday
Total COVID-19 cases: 28,175
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 13.2
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.5 per cent (seven day average)
Reproduction Number: 1.03 (seven day average)
Testing:
Who should get a test?
Ottawa Public Health says you can get a COVID-19 test at an assessment centre, care clinic, or community testing site if any of the following apply to you:
You are showing COVID-19 symptoms;
You have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by Ottawa Public Health or exposure notification through the COVID Alert app;
You are a resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by Ottawa Public Health;
You are a resident, a worker or a visitor to long-term care, retirement homes, homeless shelters or other congregate settings (for example: group homes, community supported living, disability-specific communities or congregate settings, short-term rehab, hospices and other shelters);
You are a person who identifies as First Nations, Inuit or Métis;
You are a person travelling to work in a remote First Nations, Inuit or Métis community;
You received a preliminary positive result through rapid testing;
You are a patient and/or their 1 accompanying escort travelling out of country for medical treatment;
You are a farm worker;
You are an educator who cannot access pharmacy-testing; or
You are in a targeted testing group as outlined in guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
Long-term care staff, caregivers, volunteers and visitors who are fully immunized against COVID-19 are not required to present a negative COVID-19 test before entering or visiting a long-term care home.
Classic Symptoms: fever, new or worsening cough, shortness of breath
Other symptoms: sore throat, difficulty swallowing, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, pneumonia, new or unexplained runny nose or nasal congestion
Less common symptoms: unexplained fatigue, muscle aches, headache, delirium, chills, red/inflamed eyes, croup
Face masks still mandatory in Ottawa as municipal bylaw expires
Ottawa’s Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw expires today, but Ottawa Public Health says you will still need to wear a mask in indoor public places and workplaces.
Face masks are still mandatory under Step 3 of Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopen plan, requiring businesses and organizations to ensure patrons and workers wear masks indoors.
Council decided not to extend the Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw beyond Aug. 26. The bylaw came into effect in July 2020, after medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches issued a directive making masks mandatory in indoor public spaces and workplaces.
“The city’s decision not to extend its own Temporary Mandatory Mask Bylaw beyond its expiration date of Aug. 26, 2021 does not mean the need or requirement for masking will be abandoned,” said the city of Ottawa in a statement.
“Province-wide masking regulations continue to be in-effect.”
Eastern Ontario’s medical officer of health suggests it is inevitable that Ontario will need to introduce a proof of vaccination system this fall so residents can prove they have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Quebec government will implement a vaccine passport on Sept. 1, which will be used to access non-essential services. British Columbia has announced plans for a vaccine passport.
“I do believe that the first thing that Ontarians need given the growing number of institutions, hospitals, businesses and so on that we’re hearing on a daily basis that increase that have mandates, we do need to have an Ontario wide what I call a vaccine certificate,” said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis.
“Just to have a standardized approach, because there’s going to be thousands of thousands of people needing to show proof.”
Ottawa Public Health reported 19 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, the 17th straight day with double-digit case numbers.
Since the first case of COVID-19 in March 2020, there have been 28,175 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 593 deaths.
The 19 new cases on Wednesday follows 16 cases on Tuesday and 22 cases on Monday.
Ottawa sun-seekers will be able to travel to 11 warm destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico this winter on Sunwing Airlines, as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease.
The airlines announced flights will depart the Ottawa International Airport for 11 destinations weekly between November and April 2022.
Ottawa residents most at risk of serious illness, including those who are severely immunocompromised, can now receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, third doses will also be offered to residents of long-term care homes and the highest risk retirement homes in Ottawa, five months after the second dose.
Ottawa Public Health says residents who meet the criteria can speak to their specialist or hospital program to ask for a letter to receive a third dose. The third dose of vaccine will be given at least two months after the second dose and will match the vaccine received as the second dose.
Those eligible for the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine include:
Transplant recipients (including solid organ transplant and hematopoietic stem cell transplants)
Patients with hematological cancers (examples include lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia) on active treatment (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy)
Recipients of an anti-CD20 agent (examples include rituximab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab)
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
