Business
Ottawa Public Health reports zero new COVID-19 cases for second day this week – CTV Edmonton
OTTAWA —
Ottawa Public Health is adding zero COVID-19 cases to its total for Ottawa for the second time in three days.
OPH added zero cases to its pandemic total on Monday for the first time in more than a year, and reported only one case on Tuesday.
Based on the changes in total cases by age, it appears two new cases were added in the last 24 hours, but two additional cases were removed from the total for a net change of zero cases.
To date, Ottawa has seen 27,730 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. No new deaths were reported Wednesday, leaving the city’s death toll from COVID-19 at 592 residents.
Eight more cases are considered resolved, dropping the number of known active cases below 30. There is one person in the hospital with COVID-19 and ICUs remain free of COVID-19 patients. The trendline for the estimated reproduction number, which measures how quickly the virus is spreading, has reversed course and plunged to 0.56. OPH reported an estimated R(t) of 1.03 on Sunday.
Across Ontario, officials reported 153 new cases and said seven more Ontarians have died due to COVID-19. Another 216 cases are considered resolved. The province removed a case from its total for Ottawa on Wednesday. Cases are sometimes removed from pandemic total when case management investigations reveal the individual who tested positive does not live in a public health unit’s area.
Around the region, Public Health Ontario added one new case in the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health region and one new case in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health region.
OTTAWA’S KEY COVID-19 STATISTICS
Step 2 of Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopen plan began at 12:01 a.m. June 30. Step 3 begins at 12:01 a.m. July 16.
Ottawa Public Health data:
- COVID-19 cases per 100,000 (July 6 to July 12): 2.7 (down from 2.8)
- Positivity rate in Ottawa (July 7 to July 13): 0.8 per cent (down from 0.9 July 5-11)
- Reproduction number (seven day average): 0.56 (down from 0.94)
Reproduction values greater than 1 indicate the virus is spreading and each case infects more than one contact. If it is less than 1, it means spread is slowing.
ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN OTTAWA
The number of known active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa is near the lowest it’s been since the first wave in 2020.
There are 25 active cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa on Wednesday, down from 33 on Tuesday.
OPH reported that eight more people recovered after testing positive for COVID-19. The total number of resolved cases of coronavirus in Ottawa is now 27,113.
The number of active cases is the number of total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 minus the numbers of resolved cases and deaths. A case is considered resolved 14 days after known symptom onset or positive test result.
COVID-19 VACCINES IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health updates vaccine numbers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. As of Wednesday:
- Ottawa residents with 1 dose (12+): 752,233 (+3,200)
- Ottawa residents with 2 doses (12+): 526,804 (+28,464)
- Share of population 12 and older with at least one dose: 82 per cent
- Share of population 12 and older fully vaccinated: 57 per cent
- Total doses received in Ottawa: 1,160,812 (+28,080 Pfizer doses this week)
*Total doses received does not include doses shipped to pharmacies and primary care clinics, but statistics on Ottawa residents with one or two doses includes anyone with an Ottawa postal code who was vaccinated anywhere in Ontario.
HOSPITALIZATIONS IN OTTAWA
Ottawa Public Health is reporting one person in Ottawa hospitals with COVID-19 related illnesses.
There are no patients in the intensive care unit.
Hospitalizations (and ICU admissions) by age category:
- 0-9: 0
- 10-19: 1
- 20-29: 0
- 30-39: 0
- 40-49: 0
- 50-59: 0
- 60-69: 0
- 70-79: 0
- 80-89: 0
- 90+: 0
These data are based on figures from Ottawa Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, which refer to residents of Ottawa and do not include patient transfers from other regions.
VARIANTS OF CONCERN
Ottawa Public Health data*:
- Total Alpha (B.1.1.7) cases: 6,817
- Total Beta (B.1.351) cases: 405 (+2)
- Total Gamma (P.1) cases: 34 (+1)
- Total Delta (B.1.617.2) cases: 30 (+1)
- Percent of new cases with variant/mutation in last 30 days: 65 per cent (-2)
- Total variants of concern/mutation cases: 7,901 (+1)
- Deaths linked to variants/mutations: 87
*OPH notes that that VOC and mutation trends must be treated with caution due to the varying time required to complete VOC testing and/or genomic analysis following the initial positive test for SARS-CoV-2. Test results may be completed in batches and data corrections or updates can result in changes to case counts that may differ from past reports.
COVID-19 CASES IN OTTAWA BY AGE CATEGORY
- 0-9 years old: One new case (2,293 total cases)
- 10-19 years-old: Zero new cases (3,565 total cases)
- 20-29 years-old: One case removed from total (6,231 total cases)
- 30-39 years-old: Zero new cases (4,236 total cases)
- 40-49 years-old: Zero new cases (3,643 total cases)
- 50-59 years-old: One new case (3,330 total cases)
- 60-69-years-old: Zero new cases (1,960 total cases)
- 70-79 years-old: Zero new cases (1,093 total cases)
- 80-89 years-old: One case removed from total (856 total cases)
- 90+ years old: Zero new cases (520 total cases)
- Unknown: Zero new cases (3 cases total)
CASES OF COVID-19 AROUND THE REGION
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit: Zero new cases
- Hastings Prince Edward Public Health: One new case
- Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health: One new case
- Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: Zero new cases
- Renfrew County and District Health Unit: Zero new cases
- Outaouais: Zero new cases
INSTITUTIONAL OUTBREAKS
Ottawa Public Health is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at institutions in Ottawa, including long-term care homes, retirement homes, daycares, hospitals and schools.
Active community outbreaks are:
- No active community outbreaks
The schools and childcare spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
- No outbreaks in child care and school spaces
The long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other spaces currently experiencing outbreaks are:
- Shelter A-18110 (June 13)
- Group Home A-18641 (July 8)
As of April 7, two cases of COVID-19 in a resident or staff member of a long-term care home, retirement home with an with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the facility is considered an outbreak in a long-term care home or retirement home. One laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a staff member or resident of other institutions such as shelters, group homes, is considered an outbreak. In childcare settings, two children or staff or household member cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a 14-day period where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the childcare establishment is considered an outbreak in a childcare establishment.
Tesla has promised to start selling cheaper models next year, days after a Reuters report revealed that the company had shelved its plans for an all-new Tesla that would cost only $25,000.
The news that Tesla was scrapping the Model 2 came amid a drop in sales and profits, and a decision to slash a tenth of the company’s global workforce. Reuters also noted increased competition from Chinese EV makers.
Tesla’s deliveries slumped in the first quarter for the first annual drop since the start of the pandemic in 2020, missing analyst forecasts by a mile in a sign that even price cuts haven’t been able to stave off an increasingly heated competition on the EV market.
Profits dropped by 50%, disappointing investors and leading to a slump in the company’s share prices, which made any good news urgently needed. Tesla delivered: it said it would bring forward the date for the release of new, lower-cost models. These would be produced on its existing platform and rolled out in the second half of 2025, per the BBC.
Reuters cited the company as warning that this change of plans could “result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected,” however. This suggests the price tag of the new models is unlikely to be as small as the $25,000 promised for the Model 2.
The decision is based on a substantially reduced risk appetite in Tesla’s management, likely affected by the recent financial results and the intensifying competition with Chinese EV makers. Shelving the Model 2 and opting instead for cars to be produced on existing manufacturing lines is the safer move in these “uncertain times”, per the company.
Tesla is also cutting prices, as many other EV makers are doing amid a palpable decline in sales in key markets such as Europe, where the phaseout of subsidies has hit demand for EVs seriously. The cut is of about $2,000 on all models that Tesla currently sells.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Article content
Divisions within the Bank of Canada over the timing of a much-anticipated cut to its key overnight interest rate stem from concerns of some members of the central bank’s governing council that progress on taming inflation could stall in the face of stronger domestic demand — or even pick up again in the event of “new surprises.”
“Some members emphasized that, with the economy performing well, the risk had diminished that restrictive monetary policy would slow the economy more than necessary to return inflation to target,” according to a summary of deliberations for the April 10 rate decision that were published Wednesday. “They felt more reassurance was needed to reduce the risk that the downward progress on core inflation would stall, and to avoid jeopardizing the progress made thus far.”
Article content
Others argued that there were additional risks from keeping monetary policy too tight in light of progress already made to tame inflation, which had come down “significantly” across most goods and services.
Some pointed out that the distribution of inflation rates across components of the consumer price index had approached normal, despite outsized price increases and decreases in certain components.
“Coupled with indicators that the economy was in excess supply and with a base case projection showing the output gap starting to close only next year, they felt there was a risk of keeping monetary policy more restrictive than needed.”
In the end, though, the central bankers agreed to hold the rate at five per cent because inflation remained too high and there were still upside risks to the outlook, albeit “less acute” than in the past couple of years.
Despite the “diversity of views” about when conditions will warrant cutting the interest rate, central bank officials agreed that monetary policy easing would probably be gradual, given risks to the outlook and the slow path for returning inflation to target, according to the summary of deliberations.
Article content
They considered a number of potential risks to the outlook for economic growth and inflation, including housing and immigration, according to summary of deliberations.
The central bankers discussed the risk that housing market activity could accelerate and further boost shelter prices and acknowledged that easing monetary policy could increase the likelihood of this risk materializing. They concluded that their focus on measures such as CPI-trim, which strips out extreme movements in price changes, allowed them to effectively look through mortgage interest costs while capturing other shelter prices such as rent that are more reflective of supply and demand in housing.
Recommended from Editorial
They also agreed to keep a close eye on immigration in the coming quarters due to uncertainty around recent announcements by the federal government.
“The projection incorporated continued strong population growth in the first half of 2024 followed by much softer growth, in line with the federal government’s target for reducing the share of non-permanent residents,” the summary said. “But details of how these plans will be implemented had not been announced. Governing council recognized that there was some uncertainty about future population growth and agreed it would be important to update the population forecast each quarter.”
• Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the business news you need to know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
Share this article in your social network
Shares in US tech giant Meta have sunk in US after-hours trading despite better-than-expected earnings.
The Facebook and Instagram owner said expenses would be higher this year as it spends heavily on artificial intelligence (AI).
Its shares fell more than 15% after it said it expected to spend billions of dollars more than it had previously predicted in 2024.
Meta has been updating its ad-buying products with AI tools to boost earnings growth.
It has also been introducing more AI features on its social media platforms such as chat assistants.
The firm said it now expected to spend between $35bn and $40bn, (£28bn-32bn) in 2024, up from an earlier prediction of $30-$37bn.
Its shares fell despite it beating expectations on its earnings.
First quarter revenue rose 27% to $36.46bn, while analysts had expected earnings of $36.16bn.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said its spending plans were “aggressive”.
She said Meta’s “substantial investment” in AI has helped it get people to spend time on its platforms, so advertisers are willing to spend more money “in a time when digital advertising uncertainty remains rife”.
More than 50 countries are due to have elections this year, she said, “which hugely increases uncertainty” and can spook advertisers.
She added that Meta’s “fortunes are probably also being bolstered by TikTok’s uncertain future in the US”.
Meta’s rival has said it will fight an “unconstitutional” law that could result in TikTok being sold or banned in the US.
President Biden has signed into law a bill which gives the social media platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell off the app or it will be blocked in the US.
Ms Lund-Yates said that “looking further ahead, the biggest risk [for Meta] remains regulatory”.
Last year, Meta was fined €1.2bn (£1bn) by Ireland’s data authorities for mishandling people’s data when transferring it between Europe and the US.
And in February of this year, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg faced blistering criticism from US lawmakers and was pushed to apologise to families of victims of child sexual exploitation.
Ms Lund-Yates added that the firm has “more than enough resources to throw at legal challenges, but that doesn’t rule out the risks of ups and downs in market sentiment”.
Are settler politics running unchecked in Israel? – Al Jazeera English
Nasa's Hubble marks 34th anniversary with stunning view of Little Dumbbell Nebula – The Times of India
Final Offer Launches in Canada Bringing Transparency to the Canadian Real Estate Market – Canada NewsWire
Silver investment demand jumped 12% in 2019
12 Bizarre Things People Did Just To Make Social Media Content
Global Media Markets, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F – TV and Radio Broadcasting, Film and Music, Information Services, Web Content, Search Portals And Social Media, Print Media, & Cable – GlobeNewswire
-
Politics22 hours agoOpinion: Fear the politicization of pensions, no matter the politician
-
Politics21 hours ago
Pecker’s Trump Trial Testimony Is a Lesson in Power Politics
-
Science21 hours ago
NASA Celebrates As 1977’s Voyager 1 Phones Home At Last
-
Media14 hours ago
B.C. online harms bill on hold after deal with social media firms
-
Media20 hours ago
B.C. puts online harms bill on hold after agreement with social media companies
-
Business20 hours ago
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
-
Investment22 hours ago
FLAGSHIP COMMUNITIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF APPROXIMATELY US
-
Real eState20 hours ago
Judge Approves $418 Million Settlement That Will Change Real Estate Commissions
