Nova Scotia officials announced a series of new restrictions as it reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 Friday.
According to the province, nine of the new cases are in the Central Zone – five are close contacts of previously reported cases and three are under investigation.
The other case is related to travel outside Atlantic Canada. One case is in Eastern Zone and is related to travel outside Atlantic Canada.
The person in both of these cases is self-isolating as required, said the province.
1:55 Nova Scotia announces tougher restrictions after 10 new COVID-19 cases
Nova Scotia announces tougher restrictions after 10 new COVID-19 cases
Story continues below advertisement
New COVID-19 restrictions announced amid uptick of cases
Premier Ian Rankin announced at a COVID-19 briefing Friday new restrictions for the Halifax area as the province continues to see a steady climb in cases.
Restrictions are returning in areas of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) up to and including Porters Lake, as well as the communities of Enfield, Elmsdale, Mount Uniacke and Hubbards effective 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, and continuing until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 26.
An extension for those restrictions is possible.
Rankin said the restrictions include having restaurants and bars stop serving at 9 p.m. and close by 10 p.m.
6:48 Coronavirus: Nova Scotia premier announces new restrictions, says virus ‘making a comeback’
Coronavirus: Nova Scotia premier announces new restrictions, says virus ‘making a comeback’
Nova Scotians were also asked to avoid all non-essential travel, especially to and from restricted areas of HRM, Hants and Lunenburg counties.
Story continues below advertisement
Strang said he’s worried, especially since there are too many people not following public health measures.He said they’re moving faster than they did in December to resolve this outbreak as he wants to avoid the situation Newfoundland found itself in.
Sports games, competitions, arts and culture performances will not be allowed, according to Strang, but practices will be allowed to continue with up to 25 participants.
Additional testing announced to protect Nova Scotia’s borders
The province said residents in long-term care homes can only have visits from their designated caregivers and can only leave for medical appointments or for a drive.
“We had hoped we would not be back in the situation where these restrictions are necessary. We understand that they are disruptive but they are absolutely critical to contain the spread of COVID-19,” said Dr. Strang.
“Everyone needs to behave with the same caution as they did last spring when the virus first arrived in Nova Scotia. Everyone needs to get tested even if they only have one mild symptom,” he added.
In light of the new restrictions, the province said the general gathering limit is 10 indoors and outdoors, and if people do not follow the gathering limit can be fined. The fine is $1,000 for each person at an illegal gathering.
Story continues below advertisement
To protect Nova Scotia’s borders, additional testing will be in place for some groups who regularly travel, the province said.
Effective Monday, March 1, three COVID-19 tests are required for rotational workers, specialized workers, and parents and children whose child custody visits involve travel outside Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island.
Due to a technical issue resulting in incomplete data, the province said that the COVID-19 dashboard has not been updated on Friday.
As a result, the number of active cases, resolved cases, and immunization data was not made available as of yet.
“The dashboard will be updated once all the information becomes available,” the province said in a release.
NSLC confirms one COVID-19 case
The new restrictions came after a spokesperson for the NSLC confirmed a case of the virus at its head office distribution centre complex in Halifax.
Beverley Ware said the company closed the building on Chain Lake Drive late Thursday to conduct a thorough cleaning and disinfecting process in response to the confirmed case of the virus.
Story continues below advertisement
She said the company has 30 employees per shift in the distribution centre and 280 in the head office, though not all at once.
“A number are on the road or working from home on a rotational basis,” said Ware of staff.
1:41 Nova Scotia prototype vaccine clinics successful
Nova Scotia prototype vaccine clinics successful
She also noted the distribution centre normally closes from 3 p.m Saturday until 7 a.m. Monday, so “this has a minimal impact on our operations.”
“We’re awaiting Public Health’s direction on what they require of us and we’re prepared to do anything to keep our employees safe,” she said.
Ware said the confirmed case and the closure of the building will not interrupt business for customers.
“Our stores do have a safety supply of inventory build in, so we don’t expect any company disruptions at this time,” she said.
Story continues below advertisement
2:03 Nova Scotia reports 8 new COVID-19 cases Thursday
Nova Scotia reports 8 new COVID-19 cases Thursday
The NSLC’s head office distribution centre is expected to reopen Monday.
HRM’s response to COVID-19
The Halifax Regional Municipality announced in a press release on Friday that new public health guidelines will take effect in the Halifax Regional Municipality as of 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.
According to HRM, spectators will not be permitted in any municipally-owned facility across the region as of Saturday.
In the affected areas of HRM up to and including Porters Lake, as well as the communities of Enfield, Elmsdale, Mount Uniacke and Hubbards, no games or tournaments will be permitted.
1:30 Here’s why Indigenous-led vaccine strategy matters in Nova Scotia
Here’s why Indigenous-led vaccine strategy matters in Nova Scotia
However, sport practices and training as well as organized arts and culture rehearsals will continue to be permitted with up to 25 people.
Story continues below advertisement
The municipality’s facility bookings for all Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) schools in the affected areas will also be cancelled as of 8 a.m. Saturday.
In the meantime, fitness facilities will continue to be permitted to operate at 75 per cent capacity while maintaining three metres between people during high-intensity activities.
HRM said these new guidelines will continue until at least March 27, 2021.
For more information on municipal services during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit Halifax.ca/coronavirus.
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.
