Alberta recorded 30 COVID-19 deaths Thursday, the highest number ever reported on a single day. There have now been 790 deaths in the province due to the virus since the pandemic began.
The province reported 1,571 new cases over the 24-hour period that ended at midnight Wednesday.
A photo of Premier Jason Kenney, Justice Minister Kaycee Madu and Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard seated around a table meeting without masks has sparked outrage and official complaints. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, and Vieri Berretti, one of the meeting’s organizers, are also there and both are wearing masks.
Alberta is expanding rapid testing for COVID-19 to long-term care facilities and rural hospitals, Shandro announced Thursday.
COVID-19 has now killed more people in Alberta than influenza did over the last 10 years combined, 760 people since March, Hinshaw warned Wednesday.
Hinshaw specifically targeted people ages 20 to 40 this week, reminding them they’re vulnerable to the virus. More than 32,000 Albertans in that age group have contracted the virus, hundreds have been hospitalized and a number have died.
Doctors say they are in day-to-day survival mode, as Calgary ICUs stretch the surge capacity.
The province now has 19,865 active cases.
There are 763 people in hospital, including 138 in intensive care.
At noon on Friday Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and with Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry will hold a media availability to give an update on the city’s response to the pandemic.
And at 4:30 p.m. Hinshaw will give her update.
CBC News will carry both events live on the website and on Facebook.
Calgary students are being sent home with masks, sanitizer and COVID information from the province, in an effort to target areas in the northeast where public health data shows high rates of of infection.
The province said earlier in the week that it would send COVID-19 care teams to the 11 worst-hit communities — nine in Edmonton and two in Calgary (all of northeast Calgary east of Deerfoot Trail). They’ll deliver care packages, provide information in multiple languages and arrange on-the-ground support and safe transportation to COVID-19 assessment facilities.
The province has set up 16 self-isolation hotels that will provide a free stay and food for 14 days — six in Calgary, nine in Edmonton and one in Peace River. The Calgary hotels have capacity for 791 people, and the Edmonton hotels can accommodate more than 1,300, Premier Jason Kenney said on Tuesday. Those who self-isolate at the hotels will also be eligible for temporary financial aid in the amount of $625 at the end of their stay.
The province received3,900 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine on Monday and expects to get another 25,350 doses at the start of next week, officials say.
Alberta plans to administer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 29,000 health-care workers by the end of December, the province has said.
During the first quarter of 2021, Hinshaw said Wednesday, the vaccine will be given to long-term care residents, staff who work in long-term care and designated supportive living centres, health-care workers in the highest risk areas of hospitals and people over the age of 75.
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says that the new vaccination against COVID-19 is safe and it works. 1:54
What you need to know today in Alberta
An image shared on social media by Justice Minister Kaycee Madu has sparked at least two complaints, alleging a violation of the province’s mandatory mask restriction for indoor workplaces. Madu, Premier Jason Kenney and Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard are seated around a table meeting without masks. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, and Vieri Berretti, one of the meeting’s organizers, are also there wearing masks. (Twitter/Kaycee Madu)
A public health order issued by Hinshaw on Dec. 8 requires mandatory mask use in all indoor workplaces and facilities outside the home. It applies to all employees and includes any location where employees are present in person. An employee would be exempt if they are working alone in an office, in a safely distanced cubicle or if a barrier is in place.
The original photo shared by Justice Minister Kaycee Madu shows him, Premier Jason Kenney and Municipal Affairs Minister Tracy Allard sitting around a board table without face masks.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, and Vieri Berretti, one of the meeting’s organizers, are also seated around the table and both are wearing masks.
The premier’s office later released a photo from another angle at the Wednesday meeting and, in the different perspective, they appear to be sitting further apart than in the original photo’s perspective.
The premier’s office released this photo of the virtual townhall to provide a different perspective. (Office of the Premier)
Rapid test kits will first be deployed to long-term care facilities and designated supportive care facilities in Edmonton that are contending with outbreaks, Shandro told a Thursday morning news conference.
Mobile units will be deployed in Edmonton starting Friday. The tests will be used on residents who are exhibiting symptoms. Mobile testing centres are expected to be ready to deployed in Calgary Zone starting the week of Dec. 21, and are expected to focus initially on sites with outbreaks.
On Thursday, 1,571 new cases were reported and the province now has 19,865 active cases. There are 763 people in hospital, including 138 in intensive care.
Click on the map below to zoom in or out on specific local geographic areas in Alberta and find out more about COVID-19 there:
Alberta reported another 30 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total deaths during the pandemic to 790 since March.
“This is a heartbreaking figure,” Hinshaw said Thursday. “While these deaths did not all occur yesterday, this is the highest figure that I have had the sad task of reporting.
“If anyone still needs reminding of the seriousness of this virus, of the importance of the restrictions that are currently in place, and the importance of doing everything possible to limit our interactions and break the chains of transmission, this is it.”
B.C.’s Big White Ski Resort is cancelling all upcoming reservations for people who live outside of the Central Okanagan as it responds to a cluster of COVID-19 cases that includes dozens of people.
Scheduled guests who live outside of the region with bookings between now and Jan. 8, 2021, have received emails from the Kelowna-area ski resort informing them that their reservation cannot be honoured.
Earlier this week, Hinshaw singled out Albertans between 20 and 40 with a warning that the virus can have a potentially long-term and devastating impact on them.
“In Alberta to date, more than 32,000 people between the ages of 20 and 39 have contracted COVID-19. More than 380 of them have been hospitalized, and sadly, eight of these have died.”
To put it into perspective, she said, if you gathered all the Albertans in that age group who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, they would fill the Saddledome in Calgary, the Centrium in Red Deer and the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge.
“For everyone of any age, including those between the ages of 20 and 39, it is vital to avoid in-person interactions whenever possible,” Hinshaw said.
“This includes not having holiday parties or other gatherings in our homes. Instead, we must all look for ways to connect virtually.”
Calgary’s ICU occupancy was below 100 per cent as of Wednesday thanks to the addition of 30 beds, which increased capacity. It’s part of Alberta Health Service’s surge planning, but it’s not clear how much more wiggle room there is.
“It really is day-to-day survival mode,” said Dr. Selena Au, a specialist who works in three of Alberta’s ICUs.
An ICU doctor had previously told CBC the surge plans put in place to deal with soaring COVID-19 cases included 40 beds for Calgary that could be put into use in batches of 10.
The latest batch of 10 was released on Friday, bringing the total number of ICU beds in the zone to 96.
CBC News has asked AHS how many beds are still available as part of its surge plan for Calgary, and while AHS didn’t specifically say how many Calgary beds are still available, it reiterated that 425 additional ICU beds are being made available across the province.
According to AHS on Wednesday, the Calgary zone was sitting at 82 per cent in terms of ICU usage and has hovered between 90 and 100 per cent in recent weeks.
Branded as an “alternate care centre,” the temporary setup on the University of Alberta campus could be used for patients recovering from COVID and who are at low risk of transmitting the novel coronavirus that causes the disease, Alberta Health Services said.
Experts say it’s partially because many women are taking on more caregiving responsibilities during tough financial times for many Albertans.
“Because women still are seen as the natural caregivers, those sorts of impacts tend to fall more on women than men,” said Janet Fast, professor in the University of Alberta’s human ecology department.
About 66 per cent of the 34,700 Albertans who received money through the Canada recovery caregiving benefit (CRCB) were women, according to Dec. 6 federal data.
Sweeping new restrictions intended to curb the surge of COVID-19 in the province took affect on Dec. 13. They will remain in place at least for four weeks — through Christmas and New Year’s. A full list of the tighter measures is available on the province’s website.
Here is the regional breakdown of active cases reported on Thursday:
Calgary zone: 7,043, down from 7,122 reported on Wednesday (26,373 recovered).
Edmonton zone: 9,525, down from 9,715 (27,004 recovered).
North zone: 1,214, down from 1,245 (4,455 recovered).
South zone: 541, down from 553 (4,081 recovered).
Central zone: 1,462, up from 1,458 (3,450 recovered).
As of 7:30 a.m. ET on Friday, Canada’s COVID-19 case count stood at 488,638, with 76,310 of those cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 13,916.
Meanwhile, the Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna has fired some of its employees for breaking a social responsibility contract after health officials announced that 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been linked to the resort.
Under the new measures, which are in place until at least Jan. 15, residents can no longer have guests in their homes and outdoor socializing is capped at 10 people.
Starting Saturday, bingo halls and casinos must also close, and personal care services, such as hairdressers, must reduce their capacity to half. Retailers have until Christmas Day before they also need to drop to 50 per cent capacity. Larger stores will be limited to 25 per cent.
Moderna could ship up to 168,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year once it’s approved by Health Canada, which is believed to be close. The prime minister said Moderna could ship vaccines within 48 hours of approval. 1:56
Manitoba reported 221 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the lowest single-day increase in infections since 103 were registered on Nov. 3, as well as 14 more deaths related to the virus.
Its provincial test positivity rate, which has been among the highest in Canada, fell to 13 per cent, its lowest level since Nov. 15.
Despite the signs of improvement, health leaders say medical and intensive care units are still strained by the number of patients they’re seeing. There were 384 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including 48 in intensive care.
Ontario reported a single-day record of 2,432 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, as well as 23 more deaths. The new cases pushed the seven-day average to 2,026, also a new high, and the total number of confirmed, active cases to a record 17,484.
Across the province, there were 919 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 263 of whom were in intensive care.
In Quebec, tighter restrictions took effect in several regions on Thursday as yellow zones moved to orange, and orange zones to red, the highest alert level.
Saguenay and the Laurentians are among the regions that have become red zones, with restaurant dining rooms, bars, gyms, museums and theatres shutting down as a result.
The provincial government is attempting to reverse a worrisome trend in COVID-19 numbers. Quebec reported 1,855 new cases and 22 more deaths on Thursday, with 1,002 people in hospital — passing the 1,000 mark for the first time since June — including 134 in intensive care.
In Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island is easing COVID-19 restrictions, including allowing larger gatherings, more visitors in long-term care homes and a resumption of organized sports. The province reported one new case on Thursday.
With winter cold and influenza season approaching, Alberta Health Services will prioritize Albertans for testing who have symptoms, and those groups which are at higher risk of getting or spreading the virus.
General asymptomatic testing is currently unavailable for people with no known exposure to COVID-19.
Those who test positive will be asked to use the online COVID-19 contact tracing tool, so that their close contacts can be notified by text message.
The province says Albertans who have returned to Canada from other countries must self-isolate. Unless your situation is critical and requires a call to 911, Albertans are advised to call Health Link at 811 before visiting a physician, hospital or other health-care facility.
If you have symptoms, even mild, you are to self-isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms, until the symptoms have disappeared.
A clinical allergist answers key questions about the vaccine:
Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman, a clinical immunologist and allergist, says only one ingredient in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been known to cause allergic reactions in the past. And the ingredient, polyethylene glycol, is already widely used. The other ingredients are not known to cause allergy. 7:29
The province also operates a confidential mental health support line at 1-877-303-2642 and addiction help line at 1-866-332-2322, both available 24 hours a day.
Online resources are available for advice on handling stressful situations and ways to talk with children.
There is a 24-hour family violence information line at 310-1818 to get anonymous help in more than 170 languages, and Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence is available at 1-866-403-8000, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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.
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.
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.
