There are no new cases of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday, and the health minister is providing more details on the province’s latest death related to the virus.
The province has four active cases. The total caseload is 277, with four deaths.
The most recent death was reported Saturday: a man, between the ages of 60 and 69, in the Western Health region who arrived in Canada from Central Africa. It was confirmed Sunday that a woman linked to that case also has COVID-19.
She, too, is in the Western Health region, between the ages of 60 and 69, and also travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador from Central Africa.
The man had been granted a travel exemption to come to the province. Neither of the two Western Health cases worked in health care, the health authority confirmed Monday.
Who should get tested expanded
On Monday, the Department of Health expanded who should get tested for the virus in relation to those two cases over the weekend.
Specifically, anyone who sat in rows 13 through 17 of Air Canada Flight 604 from Toronto to Halifax on Wednesday should should call 811 to be tested, said the release, which also encouraged anyone else aboard that flight to be tested “out of an abundance of caution.” The Department of Health also urged those travellers to self-isolate for 14 days from their date of their arrival, which, under provincial rules, they should already have been doing. With few exceptions, all travellers to the province from outside the Atlantic bubble must self-isolate for 14 days.
The department said people who flew from Halifax to Deer Lake that same day aboard Air Canada Flight 8876 who need to self-isolate have already been instructed to do so, and all other passengers should self-monitor for symptoms.
Man was tested for COVID-19 after his death
According to the Department of Health, the deceased man travelled from Central Africa to Canada on Tuesday, and then travelled to the Western Health region, aboard those two flights Wednesday.
He died a day later while in self-isolation.
“My understanding is that COVID-19 will be put on the death certificate as a supplemental cause of death,” Haggie said in the legislature Monday, in response to pressure from the Opposition.
He would not provide a response to a direct question about whether the man was tested after he died, citing the family’s privacy as a reason not to disclose that information.
Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Haggie confirmed the man who died had not been tested in Canada before his death.
“I have no direct, confirmed information about whether or not they were tested outside of Canada,” he said. “All I can tell you is they were tested after [the man’s] death.”
Western Health confirmed to CBC News that neither the man who died, nor the woman who also tested positive for COVID-19 on the weekend, were health-care workers. (CBC)
Aside from people on those flights, Haggie said, there was no risk to anybody outside the contact tracing that has already happened.
Haggie reiterated his support for the way his department has released information so far on the man’s death.
He said health officials encountered some challenges over the weekend in terms of obtaining information. Specifically, they had to ask the man’s family what row they sat in on their flight. Family members could not find their boarding passes, he said.
He emphasized the often fluid nature of gathering information on COVID-19 cases. “If we didn’t answer a question, then I’ll apologize, and we’ll do our best to do it better,” he said.
As of Monday, 44,296 people have been tested, including 175 people since Sunday.
Haggie defends communication strategy
Haggie revealed more information about the fatality in Monday’s legislature, in response to pressure from the Opposition.
PC MHA David Brazil asked for clarification about whether the man had died from COVID-19 or from another cause.
Health Minister John Haggie would not respond to direct inquiries about COVID-19 testing on the man who died over the weekend. (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador)
Haggie instead pointed to a recommendation from the Conference Board of Canada that said Atlantic Canadian policies have been an example for the rest of the country to follow.
“At a time when there are over a thousand new cases a day in some provinces, we are seeing scattered cases, and we are controlling those as and when they appear,” he said.
Brazil quoted from a CBC News report noting scattered, and sometimes inaccurate or misleading, information from the health department in recent days.
Haggie defended the department.
“Information evolves. Sometimes a test needs to be repeated. And rather than come out with inaccurate information, we wait, and we get it right,” he said.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
