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Daily COVID-19 case count in Ottawa remains low as province sets another record high – CTV News Ottawa

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OTTAWA —
Ottawa Public Health is reporting 27 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on a day when another new record for cases provincewide was broken.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 1,426 new cases were reported across Ontario on Wednesday, surpassing the 1,388 recorded on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Ottawa saw 21 new cases, but an uptick in hospitalizations.

The 27 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Ottawa on Wednesday bring the city’s pandemic total to 7,634 laboratory-confirmed cases. 

In the past seven days, Nov. 5 to 11 inclusive, OPH reported 361 new cases in total, for an average of 51.6 new cases per day. In the seven days before that, Oct. 29 to Nov. 4, the average was 71.5 new cases per day.

Two new deaths were reported on Wednesday as well, bringing the city’s death toll from COVID-19 to 349. 

HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA

The number of people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 complications fell on Wednesday, after hitting 60 on Tuesday, the highest so far during the second wave.

OPH says there are 56 people in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 and seven in intensive care.

Of the people in hospital, one is between the ages of 10 and 19, three are in their 30s (two in the ICU), two are in their 40s, three are in their 50s, eight are in their 60s (one in the ICU), 13 are in their 70s (two in the ICU), 18 are in their 80s (two in the ICU), and eight are 90 or older.

ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA

The number of known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa fell to its lowest level since September.

OPH says there are 490 active cases of COVID-19 in the city, down from 537 on Tuesday.

This is the first time since Sept. 20 that the number of active infections in Ottawa was below 500.

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.

TESTING

Public Health Ontario says 36,707 COVID-19 tests were performed across Ontario on Tuesday. There are 34,460 people waiting for COVID-19 test results.

Local testing figures from the Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce will be available after 4 p.m. today.

CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY

Here is a breakdown of all known COVID-19 cases in Ottawa by age category:

  • 0-9 years old: Three new cases (492 cases total)
  • 10-19 years-old: Five new cases (865 cases total)
  • 20-29 years-old: Four new cases (1,571 cases total)
  • 30-39 years-old: Nine new cases (1,014 cases total)
  • 40-49 years-old: One new case (970 cases total)
  • 50-59 years-old: Five new cases (896 cases total)
  • 60-69-years-old: One new case (599 cases total)
  • 70-79 years-old: Zero new cases (394 cases total)
  • 80-89 years-old: Zero new cases (495 cases total)
  • 90+ years old: Zero new cases (338 cases total)

The age of one person with COVID-19 that was previously unknown has been assigned.

CASES OF COVID-19 ACROSS THE REGION

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Two new cases were added by Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health.

The Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit reported four new cases on Wednesday.

Two cases have been removed from the count of the Renfrew County and District Health Unit.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health reported zero new cases on Wednesday.

The Quebec government reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 in the Outaouais region, which includes Gatineau. There have been 2,831 cases of COVID-19 in the Outaouais and 59 deaths.

INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS

Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 36 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.

New outbreaks were declared at St. Patrick School, an unidentified shelter, an unidentified supportive housing location, and a ward of the Ottawa Hospital Rehab Centre.

Outbreaks ended at the St. Bernadette “Petit pas a trois” childcare centre, the Bridlewood Retirement Home, Extendicare New Orchard Lodge, Hope Living – Ottawa, Sophia House, and The Ottawa Hospital General Campus 5N.

An outbreak listed Tuesday at Esther By Child Care Centre has been removed from the OPH dashboard.

There are four active community outbreaks at four unidentified workplaces.

The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

  1. Cornerstone Children’s Centre – Heatherington Nursery School
  2. École élémentaire catholique Des Pionniers
  3. École secondaire publique Louis Riel
  4. École secondaire publique Omer-Deslauriers
  5. Ottawa Islamic School
  6. St. Mother Teresa High School
  7. St. Mother Teresa High School (2)*
  8. St. Patrick School (NEW)

*NOTE: There are two ongoing but unrelated COVID-19 outbreaks declared at St. Mother Teresa High School.

The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:

  1. Alta Vista Manor
  2. Beacon Heights retirement home
  3. Bridlewood Trails Retirement Home
  4. Garden Terrace
  5. Glebe Centre
  6. Hôpital Montfort 4C Med
  7. Innovative Community Support Services (Barnwell)
  8. Longfields Manor
  9. Lord Lansdowne retirement home
  10. Maison Acceuil-Sagesse
  11. Medex
  12. Park Place
  13. Riverpath Retirement
  14. Robertson House
  15. Rockcliffe Retirement
  16. Rooming house location 
  17. Shelter location (NEW)
  18. Sisters of Charity retirement home
  19. St. Patrick’s Home
  20. St. Vincent Hospital (3 South)
  21. Starwood
  22. Stirling Park Retirement Home
  23. Supportive Housing location (NEW)
  24. The Ottawa Hospital General Campus 6W
  25. The Ottawa Hospital Rehab Centre – Special Rehab – Ward B (NEW)
  26. The Ravines
  27. Valley Stream Retirement Home
  28. West End Villa

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).  

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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