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Japan’s restaurant booze ban sets new COVID-19 emergency apart

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By Rocky Swift

TOKYO (Reuters) –Japan is singling out alcohol consumption in bars and restaurants in a new state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, a response that highlights experts‘ belief that alcohol can help accelerate transmission of COVID-19.

The move is a departure for Japan, which in two previous pandemic emergency declarations did not impose specific curbs on alcohol.

“When alcohol is involved, people’s voices get a lot bigger,” said Makoto Tsubokura, who leads a team at research giant Riken and Kobe University that uses supercomputers to model infection situations.

Loud voices, plus lapses in hygiene and a tendency to linger at the bar, all contributed to increased risk of aerosol contagion, Tsubokura added.

Under the state of emergency for April 25 to May 11, the government will require restaurants, bars, and karaoke parlours serving alcohol in the designated prefectures to close, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

Social gatherings with drinking are situations the government is focusing on with its new guidelines, according to Makoto Shimoaraiso, a Cabinet official guiding Japan’s pandemic response. The scientific mechanism for contagion needs more research, he added.

Much of the country had already been under infection control measures that included shortened business hours and guidelines that restaurant patrons be separated by acrylic partitions.

While the economy has suffered from the pandemic, restaurants and bars have been hit particularly hard. Global-Dining Inc, the operator of more than 40 restaurants, said on Friday it would not comply with the government’s request to shorten hours unless ordered to do so.

The company sued the Tokyo Metropolitan Government last month, claiming that its infection control measures were unfair and unscientific. Restaurant chains Saizeriya Co and Skylark Holdings Co said they will remain open while complying with the alcohol ban, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.

Most health experts say that a general adherence to hygiene rules and social distancing have helped Japan keep overall COVID-19 cases and deaths relatively low, without the kind of rigid lockdowns seen in other countries.

In April last year, the World Health Organization warned that alcohol could dampen one’s immune response to COVID-19. But it remains unclear if the act of drinking itself helps to spread the virus.

“Alcohol is potentially a physical risk to the person through an increased risk of aspiration of droplets,” said Jason Tetro, and infectious disease specialist based in Edmonton, Canada. “But it is more of a social risk in that it reduces the adherence to prevention techniques due to intoxication.”

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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RCMP arrest second suspect in deadly shooting east of Calgary

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EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.

Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.

Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.

Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.

Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.

RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.

Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.

“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.

But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.

“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.

While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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26-year-old son is accused of his father’s murder on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

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RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.

Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.

The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.

It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.

Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.

The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Metro Vancouver’s HandyDART strike continues after talks break with no deal

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VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.

Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”

However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.

McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.

He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.

The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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