HALIFAX —
New Brunswick is reporting seven new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing active case numbers to 41.
On Sunday, New Brunswick Public Health reported six of the cases are in Zone 1 (Moncton region); while 1 of the cases is in Zone 5 (Campbellton region).
The six cases in Zone 1 (Moncton region) involve:
An individual in their 30s
Three individuals in their 60s
An individual in their 70s
An individual in their 80s
The case in Zone 5 (Campbellton region) involves an individual in their 50s.
All cases are self-isolating and under investigation.
“We are seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases and we need New Brunswickers to fully co-operate with Public Health staff and directives in order to manage the cases now and going forward,” said chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell on Sunday in a release. “Get tested if you are displaying COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if you are not feeling well. Do not take chances with your health and those of your loved ones and others in the community.”
VIGILANCE WHILE AWAITING VACCINES
The seven cases announced on Sunday are only a portion of a post-holiday spike health officials warned could happen if pandemic protocols were not followed properly.
“Masking, physical distancing, washing your hands are still going to be critically important until we get to vaccination numbers around 80 per cent, which probably won’t be until the fall,” says New Brunswick Medical Society president Dr. Jeff Steeves.
Despite the shaky start, the beginning of 2021 comes with new hope for front-line health care workers as vaccinations are administered.
Emergency room doctor Hanif Chatur, who works in Woodstock, is excited to receive his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within the next seven days.
“What it does is that, if and when, in my high-risk environment, I come into contact with the virus, my immune system is going to be able to fend it off,” says Dr. Chatur. “At the very least, I’m not going to be able to develop severe COVID.”
New Brunswick is currently in the first stage of its vaccine rollout plan, with the vaccine not expected to be widely available until the spring or summer – all the more important for residents not to let their guard down.
“Presently, we’ve vaccinated about .2 per cent of the population with just their first dose, and approximately 1.4 per cent have recovered from COVID-19,” says Dr. Steeves. “Therefore, that leaves 98 per cent of the population still at risk.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Chatur provides a reminder to remain vigilant, even for those who have been vaccinated.
“We don’t really know what my infectivity is going to be, [or] if I’m still going to be transmissible,” says Dr. Chatur. “I need to mask, glove wash and be vigilant because I don’t want to make anyone else sick.”
CASE BREAKDOWN
New Brunswick has had 618 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 567 have recovered. There have been nine deaths, leaving 41 active cases in the province.
One person is currently in hospital in an intensive care unit, as a result of COVID-19.
To date, 154,124 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in New Brunswick.
CASE LOCATIONS
The number of cases are broken down by New Brunswick’s seven health zones:
Zone 1 – Moncton region: 161 confirmed cases (12 active cases)
Zone 2 – Saint John region: 129 confirmed cases (1 active case)
Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 135 confirmed cases (18 active cases)
Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 34 confirmed cases (5 active cases)
Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 139 confirmed cases (2 active cases)
Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 14 confirmed cases (1 active case)
Zone 7 – Miramichi region: 6 confirmed cases (2 active cases)
IMPORTANCE OF SELF-MONITORING
Public Health is reminding New Brunswickers of the importance of self-monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms, such as:
fever
a new cough, or worsening chronic cough
sore throat
runny nose
headache
a new onset of fatigue
diarrhea
loss of sense of taste
loss of sense of smell
in children, purple markings on the fingers and toes
VEHICLE TRAFFIC INFORMATION
New Brunswick’s online dashboard includes information about vehicle traffic attempting to enter the province.
On Saturday, 632 personal and 295 commercial vehicles attempted to cross the border into the province.
Of the vehicles attempting to cross the border, 32 were refused entry, for a refusal rate of 3.5 per cent.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
