HALIFAX —
Nova Scotia has announced five new COVID-19 cases on Monday. Seven previously reported cases are now considered recovered, dropping the active number of cases in the province to 26.
Two new cases are in the Central Zone and are related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. The people are self-isolating, as required. One of the cases is a student at Dalhousie University in Halifax who lives off campus.
One new case is in the Western Zone and is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. The person is a student at Acadia University in Wolfville. The student lives on campus and has been self-isolating, as required.
Two cases are in Northern Zone. One case is related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. The person is self-isolating, as required. The other case is a close contact of a previously reported case.
“Yesterday we reported no new cases of COVID-19, which is good news, but it is not an indication that COVID-19 is no longer a risk,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health. “It is up to all of us to follow the public health measures to make sure we limit the spread of the virus.”
POSITIVE CASES REPORTED AT N.S. UNIVERSITIES
Two of Monday’s five new cases were identified at Nova Scotia universities.
According to the province, one of Monday’s two cases identified in the Central zone involves a Dalhousie University student who lives off campus.
There is also a new positive case involving a student at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., in the province’s Western zone.
In a statement posted to the Acadia University website, it was confirmed that a person on campus has tested positive for the virus.
Acadia says the case is related to travel, and the student is self-isolating in residence and has not experienced symptoms.
On Saturday, St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. confirmed its second positive case in a student. St. FX says that student has been self-isolating in residence since arriving at the university for the semester.
Post-secondary students returning to Nova Scotia from anywhere except Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador are strongly encouraged to book a COVID-19 test for day six, seven, or eight of their 14-day self-isolation period. COVID-19 testing appointments can be booked up to three days in advance.
FIRST VACCINE ADMINISTERED AT LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES, CAPE BRETON HOSPITAL
“Our vaccine rollout takes another important step today with the first clinic at a long-term care facility – Northwood’s Halifax campus – and one at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital,” said Premier Stephen McNeil. “Our health-care professionals are working hard to distribute the vaccine as quickly as possible. We can support them by being patient and continuing to follow all the public health measures that help us contain the virus.”
The first shot given in the Eastern Zone was administered Monday morning at Cape Breton Regional Hospital.
The first vaccination went to Darlene White, a Licensed Practical Nurse in the hospital’s COVID-19 unit.
“It is exciting,” said White. “Hopefully we’re going to get back to I guess what we call the new normal. I don’t think we’ll ever be back to what we were in past years, but I think this is the first step.”
“Absolutely elated,” added Irenee Campbell, an emergency room nurse at Cape Breton Regional Hospital. “We’re very thrilled to have had this opportunity today, and we’re very excited that the vaccine has made it to Cape Breton which means frontline staff will now be protected, and soon after all of Cape Breton will have the opportunity to be protected against COVID.”
Vaccination clinics at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital and Valley Regional Hospital each received 1,950 doses of vaccine last week.
Another 2,925 doses are being shipped this week to the Colchester East Hants Health Centre with a clinic to begin there next Monday.
Long-term care residents in the province will also begin receiving the vaccine Monday, with the first doses being administered at Northwood’s Halifax campus, where 53 of the province’s 65 pandemic-linked deaths occurred.
Seventy-seven-year-old Ann Hicks and 85-year-old Audrey Wiseman were among the first residents at the Northwood facility to receive shots of the Moderna vaccine on Monday.
The province has reserved 3,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine for three long-term care facilities, Northwood, Shannex Parkstone and Ocean View Continuing Care Centre.
Last week the province said that it expected to receive a combined total of 140,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines by the end of March — enough to immunize 75,000 people during the first phase of its immunization plan.
The province received a combined 9,550 doses in December, with 2,720 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered to front line health workers in the Halifax area and another 2,720 reserved for a second dose, while 3,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine were reserved for long-term care facilities.
The first vaccines were administered in Nova Scotia on Dec. 16, with Danielle Sheaves, a nurse who works in a COVID unit at the Halifax Infirmary, the first to receive the PFizer-BioNTech vaccine in the province.
Nova Scotia is expected to receive two shipments this week, containing 5,580 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and another 3,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
By the end of this week, the province will have received 23,000 doses of vaccine, enough to immunize 11,500 people. About 140,000 doses are expected by the end of March in the first phase of a three-part immunization plan to vaccinate front-line workers and the elderly.
The province didn’t provide an updated number Monday for how many Nova Scotians have been immunized to date, but between Dec. 16 and Jan. 2, there were 2,270 doses of vaccine administered.
The Nova Scotia Health Coalition says the vaccine rollout is at an important stage right now and are concerned about the data the province is sharing.
“The data the province is sharing is on a considerable lag,” said Chris Parsons of the Nova Scotia Health Coalition. “They’re only sharing data on vaccinations once a week where as almost every other province in the country is sharing daily numbers so as a result is actually really hard to understand how well or how poorly the rollout of the vaccine is going right now.”
N.S. COVID-19 TESTS
The Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 2,193 tests on Sunday.
Nova Scotia has done 252,351 tests. Cumulatively, there have been 1,533 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 65 total deaths.
There is no one in hospital due to COVID-19.
The province’s confirmed cases range in age from under 10 to over 90.
Fifty-five per cent of cases are female, and 45 per cent are male.
There are cases confirmed across the province, but most have been identified in the Central Zone, which contains the Halifax Regional Municipality.
The provincial government says cumulative cases by zone may change as data is updated in Panorama, the province’s electronic information system.
The numbers reflect where a person lives and not where their sample was collected.
Western Zone: 89 cases
Central Zone: 1258 cases
Northern Zone: 114 cases
Eastern Zone: 72 cases
The provincial state of emergency, which was first declared on March 22, has been extended to Jan. 24, 2021.
COVID ALERT APP
Canada’s COVID-19 Alert app is available in Nova Scotia.
The app, which can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play, notifies users if they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
LIST OF SYMPTOMS
Anyone who experiences a fever or new or worsening cough, or two or more of the following new or worsening symptoms, is encouraged to take an online test or call 811 to determine if they need to be tested for COVID-19:
Human Resources Officers must be very busy these days what with the general turnover of employees in our retail and business sectors. It is hard enough to find skilled people let alone potential employees willing to be trained. Then after the training, a few weeks go by then they come to you and ask for a raise. You refuse as there simply is no excess money in the budget and away they fly to wherever they come from, trained but not willing to put in the time to achieve that wanted raise.
I have had potentials come in and we give them a test to see if they do indeed know how to weld, polish or work with wood. 2-10 we hire, and one of those is gone in a week or two. Ask that they want overtime, and their laughter leaving the building is loud and unsettling. Housing starts are doing well but way behind because those trades needed to finish a project simply don’t come to the site, with delay after delay. Some people’s attitudes are just too funny. A recent graduate from a Ivy League university came in for an interview. The position was mid-management potential, but when we told them a three month period was needed and then they would make the big bucks they disappeared as fast as they arrived.
Government agencies are really no help, sending us people unsuited or unwilling to carry out the jobs we offer. Handing money over to staffing firms whose referrals are weak and ineffectual. Perhaps with the Fall and Winter upon us, these folks will have to find work and stop playing on the golf course or cottaging away. Tried to hire new arrivals in Canada but it is truly difficult to find someone who has a real identity card and is approved to live and work here. Who do we hire? Several years ago my father’s firm was rocking and rolling with all sorts of work. It was a summer day when the immigration officers arrived and 30+ employees hit the bricks almost immediately. The investigation that followed had threats of fines thrown at us by the officials. Good thing we kept excellent records, photos and digital copies. We had to prove the illegal documents given to us were as good as the real McCoy.
Restauranteurs, builders, manufacturers, finishers, trades-based firms, and warehousing are all suspect in hiring illegals, yet that becomes secondary as Toronto increases its minimum wage again bringing our payroll up another $120,000. Survival in Canada’s financial and business sectors is questionable for many. Good luck Chuck!. at least your carbon tax refund check should be arriving soon.
NORMAN WELLS, N.W.T. – Imperial Oil says it will temporarily reduce its fuel prices in a Northwest Territories community that has seen costs skyrocket due to low water on the Mackenzie River forcing the cancellation of the summer barge resupply season.
Imperial says in a Facebook post it will cut the air transportation portion that’s included in its wholesale price in Norman Wells for diesel fuel, or heating oil, from $3.38 per litre to $1.69 per litre, starting Tuesday.
The air transportation increase, it further states, will be implemented over a longer period.
It says Imperial is closely monitoring how much fuel needs to be airlifted to the Norman Wells area to prevent runouts until the winter road season begins and supplies can be replenished.
Gasoline and heating fuel prices approached $5 a litre at the start of this month.
Norman Wells’ town council declared a local emergency on humanitarian grounds last week as some of its 700 residents said they were facing monthly fuel bills coming to more than $5,000.
“The wholesale price increase that Imperial has applied is strictly to cover the air transportation costs. There is no Imperial profit margin included on the wholesale price. Imperial does not set prices at the retail level,” Imperial’s statement on Monday said.
The statement further said Imperial is working closely with the Northwest Territories government on ways to help residents in the near term.
“Imperial Oil’s decision to lower the price of home heating fuel offers immediate relief to residents facing financial pressures. This step reflects a swift response by Imperial Oil to discussions with the GNWT and will help ease short-term financial burdens on residents,” Caroline Wawzonek, Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Infrastructure, said in a news release Monday.
Wawzonek also noted the Territories government has supported the community with implementation of a fund supporting businesses and communities impacted by barge cancellations. She said there have also been increases to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy in Norman Wells, and continued support for heating costs for eligible Income Assistance recipients.
Additionally, she said the government has donated $150,000 to the Norman Wells food bank.
In its declaration of a state of emergency, the town said the mayor and council recognized the recent hike in fuel prices has strained household budgets, raised transportation costs, and affected local businesses.
It added that for the next three months, water and sewer service fees will be waived for all residents and businesses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
TORONTO – A new report says many Canadian business leaders are worried about economic uncertainties related to the looming U.S. election.
The survey by KPMG in Canada of 735 small- and medium-sized businesses says 87 per cent fear the Canadian economy could become “collateral damage” from American protectionist policies that lead to less favourable trade deals and increased tariffs
It says that due to those concerns, 85 per cent of business leaders in Canada polled are reviewing their business strategies to prepare for a change in leadership.
The concerns are primarily being felt by larger Canadian companies and sectors that are highly integrated with the U.S. economy, such as manufacturing, automotive, transportation and warehousing, energy and natural resources, as well as technology, media and telecommunications.
Shaira Nanji, a KPMG Law partner in its tax practice, says the prospect of further changes to economic and trade policies in the U.S. means some Canadian firms will need to look for ways to mitigate added costs and take advantage of potential trade relief provisions to remain competitive.
Both presidential candidates have campaigned on protectionist policies that could cause uncertainty for Canadian trade, and whoever takes the White House will be in charge during the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
