Ontario is reporting 1,588 new COVID-19 cases and 21 additional deaths on Saturday, setting a single-day record high for new infections in the province.
The last record was logged a week ago on Nov. 14 when the province reported 1,581 cases.
The province reported 1,418 new cases on Friday, 1,210 on Thursday and 1,417 on Wednesday.
Yesterday, the province also marked a milestone by surpassing 100,000 cases of the novel coronavirus since the disease emerged in January.
The latest fatalities represent a notable increase from Friday when eight deaths were recorded.
Of the latest deaths in the province, 13 were residents of long-term care homes.
There are currently 99 long-term care homes with an outbreak of the virus in Ontario, down from 102 a day ago.
Most cases continue to be in the Greater Toronto Area.
“Locally, there are 522 new cases in Peel, 450 in Toronto and 153 in York Region,” Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the GTA, Durham Region logged 56 new cases, up from 46 a day ago and Halton recorded 53 new infections, a rise from 36 on Friday.
The seven-day rolling average now stands at 1,373, unchanged from a day ago.
Provincial health officials say there are 1,363 more resolved cases in the province bringing the total number of active cases to 12,827, up 204 cases from Friday.
In the last 24 hours, more than 46,600 tests were completed, down from 48,173 cases processed yesterday.
More than 43,000 tests are still under investigation.
According to health officials, the province’s positivity rate is now 4.3 per cent, up from 3.6 the prior day.
People between the ages of 20 and 39 years old continue to account for most of the new cases (590), followed by those in the 40 to 59 age group (458). People who are 19 years old and younger accounted for 234 of the cases, while 230 people between the ages of 60 and 79 tested positive for the virus. Seventy-eight people who are 80 years old and over also tested positive for the disease.
There are currently 513 people hospitalized with the virus in Ontario, down from 518 on Friday. Of those patients, 146 are in intensive care units and 87 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.
The latest numbers come after Premier Doug Ford announced on Friday that Toronto and Peel Region will be entering the lockdown zone under the provincial government’s COVID-19 restrictions framework.
The lockdown comes into effect on Monday at 12:01 a.m. and will stay in effect for at least 28 days.
This means gyms, recreation facilities and personal care services are being ordered to close their doors and non-essential retail stores can only provide curbside pickup.
Bars and restaurants are allowed to provide takeout and delivery services but must close their patios.
Essential retailers that are allowed to remain open include supermarkets, hardware stores, department stores, convenience stores, pharmacies and beer and liquor stores. But all of these services will have to reduce their capacity limit to only 50 per cent.
Schools and daycares are also permitted to remain open.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
