TORONTO —
Health officials in Ontario are reporting more than 2,300 new COVID-19 infections, marking the sixth consecutive day in which case numbers have remained above the 2,000 mark.
The 2,336 new cases reported Tuesday mark an increase over Monday’s total when 2,094 were logged. The province added 2,448 cases on Sunday, 2,453 on Saturday, and 2,169 on Friday.
With 36,071 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the province says its COVID-19 positivity rate stands at 6.2 per cent, representing an increase of .1 per cent over the previous day.
Ontario has confirmed 347,570 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, including 320,409 recoveries and 7,351 deaths.
Fourteen deaths related to the disease were recorded in the previous 24-hour period, according to data made available by the Ministry of Health.
The seven-day average for number of cases logged in Ontario is 2,207. A week ago, that number was 1,667.
Meanwhile, the province reported its highest number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations since early February.
Right now, there are 1,090 patients in hospital with the disease. The last time hospitalizations were that high was on Feb. 4 when there were 1,101 patients in hospital.
Of those patients, 387 are being treated in the ICU and 249 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
Moreover, the report revealed that those infections are starting to have a “substantial impact” on the healthcare system due to a higher likelihood of hospitalization and even death.
Where are the new COVID-19 cases?
Most of the cases logged Tuesday were found in Toronto (727), Peel Region (434), York Region (229), Durham Region (194), Ottawa (144), and Hamilton (123).
Toronto, Peel Region, and Hamilton are currently operating in the grey zone of the province’s colour-coded COVID-19 framework, which holds the strictest levels of public health measures short of a complete shutdown of all non-essential businesses.
Last week, the province adjusted its emergency brake system to allow for the immediate implementation of the restrictions found in the previously lifted province-wide shutdown if there is a “rapid acceleration” of COVID-19 transmission in any public health unit.
The updated protocol also allows the brake to be used if a public health unit’s health system is at risk of becoming overwhelmed.
Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital, accused the Ontario government of losing control of the pandemic in a tweet published Tuesday.
“410 COVID ICU patients. 46 new patients since yesterday which is a one-day record. Claiming there are ICU beds which can’t be staffed won’t help us. @ongov has lost control over the pandemic. Please stay home if you can,” he said while citing data from a Critical Care Services Ontario report.
410 #COVID ICU patients 46 new patients since yesterday which is a one-day record.
Claiming there are ICU beds which can’t be staffed won’t help us. @ongov has lost control over the pandemic.
York Region, Durham Region, and Ottawa are currently placed in the red zone, which allows for such non-essential activities as indoor dining at restaurants and bars, with a limit of 50 per cent capacity or 50 people, whichever is less.
Cases of COVID-19 U.K. variant reach 1,800
The province confirmed another 51 cases of the COVID-19 variant known as B.1.1.7 Tuesday, pushing the case total for the strain that was first found in the U.K. to 1,800.
Eight cases of P.1 (Brazilian variant) were also confirmed, which pushes the case total to 90.
Six more cases of the B.1.351 (South African variant) were also found, bringing the case total to 69.
More than 20,100 cases have screened positive for a mutation but have not yet been linked to a known variant of concern.
Update on vaccinations
The province says 313,889 people have received both their first and second shots of a COVID-19 vaccine and are considered to be fully vaccinated.
More than 2.1 million needles have gone into arms since the province began inoculating residents in December with 70,645 shots administered yesterday.
Backstory:
The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times
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.
