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COVID-19 in Ottawa: Ontario reports nearly 100 cases Sunday – CTV Edmonton
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).
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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