Premier Doug Ford slammed some of the province’s medical officers of health Tuesday, saying they aren’t getting enough COVID-19 tests done in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.
At his daily briefing, Ford expressed frustration with some of the top doctors who he said are not ordering enough testing in their regions.
“Some just aren’t performing. I’m calling them out right now. You’ve got to pick up the pace,” Ford said. “We need to hold these people accountable.”
“I’m not going to name them. They know who they are.”
The premier’s office later explained the premier was referring to testing at long-term care homes specifically, saying provincial public health units are only in charge of testing at those facilities and have been given the tools they need to increase testing.
“Public health units are only in charge of testing LTC homes. We have been clear that testing residents and staff at LTC homes is a priority for the province, which is why the Premier was expressing his frustration that some public health units are outperforming others by a wide margin,” said spokesperson Ivana Yelich.
“The province enables through guidelines, public health units implement.”
Watch: Ford blasts local health leaders over COVID-19 testing
Premier unhappy as Ontario’s testing numbers take a dramatic drop amid pandemic 1:16
After several consecutive days of the province meeting or exceeding its 14,000 tests processed per day target, only 10,654 were completed in the last 24 hours. It is the lowest total in five days. The backlog of tests waiting to be processed stayed at over 6,000.
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, told reporters at a later news conference that testing is a provincial responsibility.
De Villa said local health units are just stepping up to help during the pandemic under provincial guidelines.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure that this is done in a timely and effective manner,” De Villa said in response to a question about Ford’s comments.
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer, said last week that a network of public, community and hospital labs now has the capacity to process up to 19,525 per day.
Opposition says blame lies with government
At a news conference Tuesday, Williams told reporters many factors go into testing numbers and that his department is following up with local health units to determine what’s behind the low number — whether it’s an issue of lacking supplies, human resources, data not being entered speedily or another problem.
“We don’t need excuses … we need solutions,” Williams said.
Experts say ramping up testing will be key to containing the virus and lifting strict public health measures put in place to slow its spread.
Ontario had been testing well below its capacity, and earlier this month Ford called for that to be ramped up.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she was shocked by Ford’s comments and the blame for the testing inconsistencies lies with his government.
Ford “determines how many public health units and labs we have, and how much funding they get, and he’s the one that spent the last year battling these organizations to make cuts to them,” she said.
“The buck stops with Mr. Ford.”
Ontario reported an additional 387 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as the number of patients hospitalized by the illness jumped considerably and deaths in long-term care homes pushed past 1,000.
Tuesday marks the third consecutive day of downward trending numbers after Saturday’s spike of over 500, Williams said.
The new cases represent a 2.2 per cent increase, a figure on par with those observed over the last week. The cumulative case count in Ontario since the outbreak began in late January is now 18,310 — though nearly 70 per cent are now considered resolved.
Most deaths attributed to long-term care
About 16 per cent of all cases, or some 2,892, are health-care workers, according to the Ministry of Health.
The official COVID-19 death toll sits at 1,361, an increase of 61 since yesterday. However data compiled from regional public health units by CBC shows the actual death toll to be at least 1,485.
Nearly three-quarters, or 1,003, of those deaths were residents in long-term care homes. The province says it is currently tracking outbreaks in 218 long-term care facilities, six more than in its last update.
SEIU Healthcare, which represents over 60,000 frontline healthcare workers in Ontario, is now calling on the province and local police forces to launch a public inquiry and criminal investigations into COVID-19 related deaths in long-term care.
Ford said Tuesday that his government is doing “everything” in its power to help long-term care homes. “We’re pulling out all stops on this,” he said.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said the government is focusing all of its efforts on supporting those homes, and noted a number of steps the government has taken.
“We will continue to take those steps until these outbreaks are under control,” she said.
Ford hoping for eased restrictions on long weekend
The premier also reiterated his hope that by the Victoria Day long weekend, people will be able to head to their cottages — if case counts in the province continue to drop.
“Three weeks down the road, hopefully the numbers will be down,” he said.
Ford also said he recognized it’s “not fair” for some Ontarians to be able to escape cities for green space while others are holed up in small apartment buildings. He said, by the long weekend, more people will be allowed to go outside.
“We’ll have some good announcements going forward this week,” he said.
Hospitalizations in Ontario have increased by 59, up to 1,043 from 984. The number of patients being treated in intensive care units dropped slightly, from 225 down to 223. Of those, 166 are on ventilators, the Ministry of Health says, a decrease of nine since yesterday.
Williams has repeatedly said that hospitalization rates will be a key consideration in how soon the province can begin to ease emergency measures put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Ford said this week that retailers and other businesses should start preparing to reopen their doors, even if they don’t yet have a date for resuming business.
He called the province’s recent COVID-19 case numbers “encouraging,” and said that if they continue their downward trend, parks and stores could reopen sooner than later.
Ford asked that businesses start preparing their supplies of masks and taking other steps needed to reopen in advance of a greenlight to reopen from public health officials.
TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.
Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.
Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.
Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.
Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.
“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”
The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.
Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.
“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.
Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.
The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.
Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.
But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.
Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.
“It’s literally incredible.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Via Rail is asking for a judicial review on the reasons why Canadian National Railway Co. has imposed speed restrictions on its new passenger trains.
The Crown corporation says it is seeking the review from the Federal Court after many attempts at dialogue with the company did not yield valid reasoning for the change.
It says the restrictions imposed last month are causing daily delays on Via Rail’s Québec City-Windsor corridor, affecting thousands of passengers and damaging Via Rail’s reputation with travellers.
CN says in a statement that it imposed the restrictions at rail crossings given the industry’s experience and known risks associated with similar trains.
The company says Via has asked the courts to weigh in even though Via has agreed to buy the equipment needed to permanently fix the issues.
Via said in October that no incidents at level crossings have been reported in the two years since it put 16 Siemens Venture trains into operation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
LAVAL, Que. – The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven says it has received a new management buyout proposal from a member of the family that helped found the company, offering an alternative to the takeover bid from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
The proposal for Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. is being made by Junro Ito, who is a vice-president and director of the company, and Ito-Kogyo Co. Ltd., a private company affiliated with him.
Terms of the non-binding offer by Ito were not disclosed.
In a statement Wednesday, Seven & i said its special committee has been reviewing the proposal with its financial advisers.
Stephen Hayes Dacus, chair of the special committee and board of directors of the company, said the company is committed to an objective review of all alternatives as it considers the proposals from Ito and Couche-Tard as well as the company’s stand-alone opportunities.
“The special committee and the company board will continue to engage with all parties in a manner designed to maximize value and will continue to act in the best interests of the company’s shareholders and other stakeholders,” he said in a statement.
The company noted that Ito has been excluded from all discussions within the company related to the offer and the bid by Couche-Tard.
Quebec-based Couche-Tard made a revised offer for Seven & i last month after an earlier proposal was rebuffed by the Japanese firm because it was too low and did not fully address U.S. regulatory concerns.
It did not respond to a request for comment about Ito’s offer.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Irene Nattel said the latest development underscored her belief that a Couche-Tard deal with Seven & i is a “low probability event.”
“Assuming attractive pricing and a fully-funded transaction, the potential privatization from a friendly Japanese group would seemingly provide investors with the value creation event they seek,” said Nattel, adding that it would skirt potential competition issues in the U.S. and concerns around the foreign takeover of a core local entity for Japanese regulators.
Couche-Tard has argued its proposal offers clear strategic and financial benefits and has said it believes the two companies can reach a mutually agreeable transaction.
However, the Japanese company has said there are multiple and significant challenges such a transaction would face from U.S. competition regulators.
Couche-Tard operates across 31 countries, with more than 16,800 stores. A successful deal with Seven & i could add 85,800 stores to its network.
Seven & i owns not only the 7-Eleven chain, but also supermarkets, food producers, household goods retailers and financial services companies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
