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.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
TORONTO – Thomson Reuters reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as its revenue rose eight per cent.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it earned US$301 million or 67 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of US$367 million or 80 cents US per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled US$1.72 billion, up from US$1.59 billion a year earlier.
In its outlook, Thomson Reuters says it now expects organic revenue growth of 7.0 per cent for its full year, up from earlier expectations for growth of 6.5 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Thomson Reuters says it earned 80 cents US per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 82 cents US per share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 76 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
