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:
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
