OTTAWA —
As Ontario reports more than 2,000 cases of novel coronavirus for the second consecutive day, there are 41 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa.
Ottawa Public Health reported 41 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday. There are no new deaths linked to the virus.
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron on Wednesday, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches said the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa is stable.
“I’m feeling positive that people are maintaining that practices that are keeping COVID down,” said Dr. Etches.
“We’re not declining, not heading into yellow but certainly people are protecting each other against higher levels.”
Since the first case of COVID-19 on March 11, there have been 9,159 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa, including 387 deaths.
Wednesday was the fifth day in the past week with at least 40 cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa. There were 13 new cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Across Ontario, there are 2,139 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and 43 new deaths linked to the virus. More than 4,000 Ontarians have died after contracting COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
OTTAWA COVID-19 STATUS: ORANGE-RESTRICT
Ottawa remains in the “Orange-Restrict” level under the provincial reopening framework. Ottawa moved into the restriction level on Nov. 7.
The “Orange-Restrict” level is for areas with a weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 people of between 25 and 39.9, a positivity rate between 1.3 per cent and 2.4 per cent and a reproduction number of 1 to 1.1.
Here is where Ottawa stands on those metrics currently:
COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (previous seven days): 29.3
Positivity rate in Ottawa: 1.3 per cent (Dec. 9 to 15)
Reproduction Number: 0.90 (seven day average)
The “Yellow-Protect” level requires a weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 people of between 10 and 24.9, a positivity rate between 0.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent and a reproduction number of “approximately 1”, according to the province.
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health reports 361 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, down from 364 on Tuesday and 388 on Monday.
A total 8,411 people have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19.
The number of active cases is the number of total lab-confirmed cases minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. A case is considered resolved 14 days after known symptom onset or positive test result.
HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA
There are currently 24 people in an Ottawa hospital with COVID-19 related complications.
Two people are currently in the intensive care unit.
Of the people in hospital, one is under the age of 10, one is in their 20s, one is in their 30s (this person is in the ICU), one is in their 40s, two are in their 50s, four are in their 60s, six are in their 70s, seven are in their 80s (one in the ICU), one is in their 90s.
CASES OF COVID-19 BY AGE CATEGORY
Here is a breakdown of all known COVID-19 cases in Ottawa by age category:
0-9 years old: One new case (642 cases total)
10-19 years-old: Five new cases (1,069 cases total)
20-29 years-old: 10 new cases (1,907 cases total)
30-39 years-old: Nine new cases (1,250 cases total)
40-49 years-old: Five new cases (1,154 cases total)
50-59 years-old: Four new cases (1,061 cases total)
60-69-years-old: Five new cases (704 cases total)
70-79 years-old: One new case (456 cases total)
80-89 years-old: Zero new cases (541 cases total)
90+ years old: One new cases (375 cases total)
TESTING
Ontario health officials say 49,189 COVID-19 tests were performed across Ontario on Tuesday. There are 65,597 tests still under investigation.
The Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce reports 1,819 swabs were taken at assessment centres in Ottawa on Dec. 15. A total 3,951 lab tests were performed in Ottawa.
The positivity rate for Ottawa was 1.3 per cent for Dec. 9 to 15.
COVID-19 CASES AROUND THE REGION
Public Health Ontario reported the following new cases in health units around eastern Ontario on Wednesday:
Eastern Ontario Health Unit: 10 new cases
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: 7 new cases
Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: 15 new cases
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 4 new cases
Renfrew County and District Health Unit: 0 new cases
Quebec health officials reported 60 new cases of COVID-19 in the Outaouais today, which includes Gatineau.
INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 20 institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.
A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Maycourt Hospice. One staff member tested positive.
There are three active community outbreaks, all linked to unidentified workplaces.
The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
Association Intégration Sociale d’Ottawa – 21034
Bridlewood Trails Retirement Home
Centre d’Accueil Champlain
Courtyards on Eagleson
Extendicare New Orchard Lodge
Extendicare Starwood
Forest Hill long-term care home
Group Home – 22525
Group Home – 22562
Maison Accueil-Sagesse
Manotick Place Retirement Home
Maycourt Hospice (NEW)
Montfort Hospital – 3C
St. Louis Residence
The Ottawa Hospital General Campus – 5E
A single laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home or shelter triggers an outbreak response, according to Ottawa Public Health. In childcare settings, a single confirmed, symptomatic case in a staff member, home daycare provider, or child triggers an outbreak.
Under provincial guidelines, a COVID-19 outbreak in a school is defined as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before or after school care).
Netflix (NFLX) stock slid as much as 9.6% Friday after the company gave a second quarter revenue forecast that missed estimates and announced it would stop reporting quarterly subscriber metrics closely watched by Wall Street.
On Thursday, Netflix guided to second quarter revenue of $9.49 billion, a miss compared to consensus estimates of $9.51 billion.
The company said it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers starting next year, along with average revenue per member, or ARM.
“As we’ve evolved our pricing and plans from a single to multiple tiers with different price points depending on the country, each incremental paid membership has a very different business impact,” the company said.
Netflix reported first quarter earnings that beat across the board on Thursday, with another 9 million-plus subscribers added in the quarter.
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Subscriber additions of 9.3 million beat expectations of 4.8 million and followed the 13 million net additions the streamer added in the fourth quarter. The company added 1.7 million paying users in Q1 2023.
Revenue beat Bloomberg consensus estimates of $9.27 billion to hit $9.37 billion in the quarter, an increase of 14.8% compared to the same period last year as the streamer leaned on revenue initiatives like its crackdown on password-sharing and ad-supported tier, in addition to the recent price hikes on certain subscription plans.
Netflix’s stock has been on a tear in recent months, with shares currently trading near the high end of its 52-week range. Wall Street analysts had warned that high expectations heading into the print could serve as an inherent risk to the stock price.
Earnings per share (EPS) beat estimates in the quarter, with the company reporting EPS of $5.28, well above consensus expectations of $4.52 and nearly double the $2.88 EPS figure it reported in the year-ago period. Netflix guided to second quarter EPS of $4.68, ahead of consensus calls for $4.54.
Profitability metrics also came in strong, with operating margins sitting at 28.1% for the first quarter compared to 21% in the same period last year.
The company previously guided to full-year 2024 operating margins of 24% after the metric grew to 21% from 18% in 2023. Netflix expects margins to tick down slightly in Q2 to 26.6%.
Free cash flow came in at $2.14 billion in the quarter, above consensus calls of $1.9 billion.
Meanwhile, ARM ticked up 1% year over year — matching the fourth quarter results. Wall Street analysts expect ARM to pick up later this year as both the ad-tier impact and price hike effects take hold.
On the ads front, ad-tier memberships increased 65% quarter over quarter after rising nearly 70% sequentially in Q3 2023 and Q4 2023. The ads plan now accounts for over 40% of all Netflix sign-ups in the markets it’s offered in.
Netflix reported first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo (REUTERS / Reuters)
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn, and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com.
Oil prices initially spiked on Friday due to unconfirmed reports of an Israeli missile strike on Iran.
Prices briefly reached above $90 per barrel before falling back as Iran denied the attack.
Iranian media reported activating their air defense systems, not an Israeli strike.
Oil prices gave up nearly all of early Friday’s gains after an Iranian official told Reuters that there hadn’t been a missile attack against Iran.
Oil surged by as much as $3 per barrel in Asian trade early on Friday after a U.S. official told ABC News today that Israel launched missile strikes against Iran in the early morning hours today. After briefly spiking to above $90 per barrel early on Friday in Asian trade, Brent fell back to $87.10 per barrel in the morning in Europe.
The news was later confirmed by Iranian media, which said the country’s air defense system took down three drones over the city of Isfahan, according to Al Jazeera. Flights to three cities including Tehran and Isfahan were suspended, Iranian media also reported.
Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s missile strikes last week was seen by most as a guarantee of escalation of the Middle East conflict since Iran had warned Tel Aviv that if it retaliates, so will Tehran in its turn and that retaliation would be on a greater scale than the missile strikes from last week. These developments were naturally seen as strongly bullish for oil prices.
However, hours after unconfirmed reports of an Israeli attack first emerged, Reuters quoted an Iranian official as saying that there was no missile strike carried out against Iran. The explosions that were heard in the large Iranian city of Isfahan were the result of the activation of the air defense systems of Iran, the official told Reuters.
Overall, Iran appears to downplay the event, with most official comments and news reports not mentioning Israel, Reuters notes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that “there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites,” confirming Iranian reports on the matter.
The Isfahan province is home to Iran’s nuclear site for uranium enrichment.
“Brent briefly soared back above $90 before reversing lower after Iranian media downplayed a retaliatory strike by Israel,” Saxo Bank said in a Friday note.
The $5 a barrel trading range in oil prices over the past week has been driven by traders attempting to “quantify the level of risk premium needed to reflect heightened tensions but with no impact on supply,” the bank said, adding “Expect prices to bid ahead of the weekend.”
At the time of writing Brent was trading at $87.34 and WTI at $83.14.
