OTTAWA —
COVID-19 trends in Ottawa continue to show improvement following a lower case count on Sunday.
Ottawa Public Health reported 76 more people in the city have tested positive for COVID-19, a lower figure than the 92 new cases reported on Saturday.
The number of active cases continues to fall, as does the weekly per capita rate.
OPH also reported no new deaths in Ottawa for the first time since Jan. 16. There were 17 COVID-19 related deaths reported in Ottawa from Jan. 17 to Jan. 23.
In all, 419 residents of Ottawa have died since the start of the pandemic.
Ontario health officials are reporting 99 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Sunday, but the gap between the two health authorities is closing.
Figures from OPH and the province often differ due to different data collection times.
OPH’s COVID-19 dashboard is reporting a total of 12,929 cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began. The province’s latest update brings its total to 12,928.
There were 2,417 new cases of COVID-19 reported across Ontario on Sunday. Public Health Ontario also added 50 new deaths provincewide and 2,759 new resolved cases on Sunday.
Since Jan. 16, active cases of COVID-19 have fallen by 27 per cent, the weekly rate of cases per 100,000 residents is down by about 30 per cent and the test positivity rate fell to below 4 per cent.
OTTAWA’S COVID-19 KEY STATISTICS
A province-wide lockdown went into effect on Dec. 26, 2020. Ottawa Public Health moved Ottawa into its red zone in early January.
A provincial stay-at-home order has been in effect since Jan. 14, 2021.
Ottawa Public Health data:
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 61.2 cases
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 3.2 per cent (Jan. 15 – Jan. 21)
Reproduction number: 0.91 (seven day average)
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.
VACCINES
As of Jan. 22, 2021
Doses administered in Ottawa (first and second shots): 22,981
Doses received in Ottawa: 25,350
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health says there are 939 people with known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa right now, down from 988 in Saturday’s update.
The number of active cases peaked at a record 1,286 on Jan. 16.
OPH added 125 new resolved cases to its count, bringing the total number of resolved cases to 11,571.
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
Ottawa Public Health is reporting 37 people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 complications, one more than on Saturday.
There are six people in intensive care.
Of the people in hospital, one is between 10 and 19 years old, one is in their 40s, eight are in their 50s (one is in the ICU), seven are in their 60s (four are in the ICU), four are in their 70s (one is in the ICU), 10 are in their 80s, and six are 90 or older.
COVID-19 TESTING
Ontario health officials say 48,947 COVID-19 tests were completed across Ontario on Saturday and 23,995 tests remain under investigation.
The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce does not provide local testing updates on weekends. In its most recent report on Friday, it said labs performed 6,832 on Jan. 21.
The next update from the taskforce will be released Monday afternoon.
COVID-19 CASES BY AGE CATEGORY
0-9 years old: Eight new cases (923 total cases)
10-19 years-old: Eight new cases (1,622 total cases)
20-29 years-old: 14 new cases (2,756 total cases)
30-39 years-old: 10 new cases (1,790 total cases)
40-49 years-old: Six new cases (1,680 total cases)
50-59 years-old: Seven new cases (1,539 total cases)
60-69-years-old: Five new cases (943 total cases)
70-79 years-old: Nine new cases (585 total cases)
80-89 years-old: Three new cases (653 total cases)
90+ years old: Six new cases (435 total cases)
The ages of three people with COVID-19 are unknown.
COVID-19 CASES ACROSS THE REGION
Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 15 new cases
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: Zero new cases
Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health: Five new cases
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit: Two new cases
Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Zero new cases
Outaouais region: 23 new cases
INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 41 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.
There are eight active community outbreaks. Two are linked to office workplaces, one is linked to a construction workplace, one is linked to a health workplace, one is linked to a manufacturing/industrial workplace, one is linked to a services workplace, one is linked to a restaurant, and one is linked to a warehouse.
The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
Andrew Fleck Children’s Services – Home Child Care – 29101
Greenboro Children’s Centre
Little Acorn Early Learning Centre
Montessori by Brightpath
Ruddy Family Y Child Care
Services à l’enfance Grandir Ensemble – La Maisonée – 28627
Wee Watch Nepean – Home Child Care – 29084
The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
Besserer Place
Centre D’Accueil Champlain
Colonel By Retirement Home
Elisabeth Bruyere Residence
Extendicare Laurier Manor
Extendicare Medex
Extendicare New Orchard Lodge
Extendicare West End Villa
Forest Hill
Garden Terrace
Garry J. Armstrong long-term care home
Grace Manor Long-term Care Home
Group Home – 28608
Group Home – 29045
Group Home – 29049
Group Home – 29052
Madonna Care Community
Montfort Long-term Care Centre
Oakpark Retirement Community
Park Place
Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre
Peter D. Clark long-term care home
Richmond Care Home
Rockcliffe Retirement Residence
Shelter – 28778
Shelter – 29413
Sisters of Charity – Couvent Mont St. Joseph
St. Patrick’s Home
Stirling Park Retirement Community
Supported Independent Living – 29100
The Ravines Independent Living
Valley Stream Retirement Residence
Villa Marconi
Villagia in the Glebe
A single laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home or shelter triggers an outbreak response, according to Ottawa Public Health. In childcare settings, a single confirmed, symptomatic case in a staff member, home daycare provider, or child triggers an outbreak.
Under provincial guidelines, a COVID-19 outbreak in a school is defined as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before or after school care).
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.
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.
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.
