HALIFAX —
Nova Scotia will be tightening the border with New Brunswick, effective Saturday.
As of 8 a.m. Saturday, anyone coming into the province from New Brunswick must complete the Nova Scotia Safe Check-in form before arriving and self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
“What we are saying is, do not go to New Brunswick, and New Brunswickers, do not come here, unless it is for essential purposes,” said Premier Stephen McNeil during Friday’s news conference.
Nova Scotians returning from New Brunswick must also self-isolate for 14 days, unless they are exempt from the order.
Any Nova Scotian who has returned from New Brunswick in the last two weeks is asked to self-isolate immediately and go online and book a COVID-19 test, even if they don’t have symptoms.
The tightened border restrictions were announced following a surge of cases in New Brunswick this week, with the province reporting a single-day record of 31 new cases on Wednesday.
Nova Scotia reported only two new cases on Friday.
“Our case numbers are improving in Nova Scotia and we want to keep it that way,” added McNeil. “Given the sharp rise in cases in New Brunswick, we are taking the step of tightening our border to limit opportunities for the virus to spread.”
The public health order exempts some people from self-isolation if they do not have symptoms:
certain workers who must travel for their jobs, including people who routinely cross the land border for work
people who are dropping off or picking up a child within about 24 hours as part of a legal custody agreement
people travelling to and from essential health services, with one accompanying support person
people can participate in a legal proceeding but must otherwise self-isolate
“While our case numbers are improving, we are not out of the woods yet, especially given the risk of importing cases through travel from other jurisdictions,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health. “We continue to ask people not to travel unless it’s necessary, follow all the public health measures, and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms, to help protect your families, friends and communities.”
Travel into the province from Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador is still permitted, and residents do not have to self-isolate, provided they drive straight through New Brunswick to Nova Scotia with no, or minimal stops.
SCHOOLS TO REOPEN MONDAY
Schools in Nova Scotia will reopen on Monday as scheduled.
Sports and arts activities involving multiple schools will not resume at this time. Community use of school gyms for sport and physical activity can resume, as long as provincial guidelines are followed.
The province also announced new guidelines for schools, which will allow for increased access to music education, allowing singing and playing instruments.
RETAIL CAPACITY INCREASED, CASINOS ALLOWED TO REOPEN
Retail establishments in Nova Scotia will now be able to increase their capacity to 50 per cent of their usual, up from 25 per cent.
“All the other COVID protocols that are in place in stores have to be maintained. That seems to me to be a very low-risk way to allow them to accommodate some more business. They were very tightly restricted over the holidays with significant impacts, but in my mind, it is not introducing a significant increase of COVID spread,” said Strang.
As well, the Halifax casino, VLTs and First Nations gaming establishments can reopen in areas of the Halifax Regional Municipality and Hants County.
TWO NEW CASES
Nova Scotia reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. With one previously-reported case now considered recovered, the number of active cases in the province has increased to 29.
One case is in the province’s Central Zone and the other case is in the Eastern Zone. Both cases are related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada and the individuals are self-isolating.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 1,831 Nova Scotia tests on Thursday.
There were 558 tests administered between Sunday and Thursday at the rapid-testing pop-up sites in Halifax.
“This week has started to paint a picture of the impact of the holiday season and what it has done related to our COVID-19 numbers but it is still early. It’s been two weeks since Christmas but just one week since New Year’s. The good news is that the numbers are still encouraging,” said Strang. “Most of our numbers are linked to other known cases or to travel outside of the province, and the number of close contacts or potential exposures continues to remain low.”
CASE BREAKDOWN
Since Oct. 1, Nova Scotia has completed 124,483 COVID-19 tests and confirmed 437 positive COVID-19 cases. Of those, 408 cases are now considered resolved, leaving 29 active cases.
No one has died during the second wave.
There is no one in hospital as a result of COVID-19.
Since the start of the pandemic, Nova Scotia has completed 247,661 tests, and reported a total of 1,526 cases of COVID-19. Of those, 1,432 cases are now considered resolved and 65 people have died as a result of the novel coronavirus.
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: 87 cases
Central Zone: 1,256 cases
Northern Zone: 112 cases
Eastern Zone: 71 cases
The provincial state of emergency, which was first declared on March 22, has been extended to Jan. 24.
POTENTIAL EXPOSURE NOTIFICATION
Anyone present at the following location on the specified date and time is asked to go online or call 811 to book a COVID-19 test regardless of whether or not they have COVID-19 symptoms.
Starbucks Windmill Road (11 Cuddy Ln, Dartmouth)
Jan. 3 between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
May develop symptoms up to, and including, Jan. 17, 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:
Sore throat
Headache
Shortness of breath
Runny nose/nasal congestion
SELF-ISOLATION AND MANDATORY MASKS
Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is required to self-isolate at home, away from the public, for 14 days.
Anyone who travels to Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic region for non-essential reasons is required to self-isolate for 14 days and must fill out a self-declaration form before coming to the province. Travellers must self-isolate alone, away from others. If they cannot self-isolate alone, their entire household must also self-isolate for 14 days.
Residents of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador are not required to self-isolate when travelling to Nova Scotia, but they must be prepared to provide proof of their place of residency at provincial borders.
Visitors from outside the Atlantic region who have already self-isolated in another Atlantic province for 14 days may travel to Nova Scotia without having to self-isolate again.
It is mandatory to wear a face mask in indoor public spaces in Nova Scotia.
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.
