TORONTO —
Science experts advising Ontario on the pandemic are set to release new recommendations on rapid testing, with one of the group’s leaders saying it makes sense to use the tests more often.
Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said the group plans to publish a science brief on the issue Wednesday. The group’s communications director later said it would be published in the coming days.
There have been growing calls for the tests to be made more widely available as COVID-19 cases rise. While it’s still unclear how they perform with the new Omicron variant, Juni said they are effective with the Delta variant that accounts for the bulk of Ontario’s cases.
“It makes sense from a scientific perspective to use rapid tests more frequently, for example, schools, in workplaces, in congregate settings, and to make rapid tests more available in this province,” Juni said in an interview.
Opposition legislators have been calling for the province to distribute rapid tests more broadly, particularly in schools.
Rapid tests are currently offered for free to businesses, and also sold in some pharmacies for asymptomatic people who have not been in contact with a confirmed case.
They have also been distributed in schools in areas of high transmission for students with COVID-19 symptoms or considered a close contact of a confirmed case. The government has also said it plans to send all students home with five rapid tests over the December holidays.
But aside from that holiday plan, rapid tests have not been made available to all students, though families across the province have sought access to them.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said Tuesday that Ontarians have access to some form of COVID-19 testing for free in most cases.
“The only time we’re really asking people to pay for tests is if they need it for purposes of travel, which I think is fair,” she said.
Ontario offers free PCR testing to those with COVID-19 symptoms, close contacts of a case and members of certain groups. Those tests are available at assessment centres and pharmacies, among other locations, and the province says most results are ready in 48 hours.
Results from most rapid tests are available in about 15 minutes, according to the province.
A spokeswoman for the minister said the province currently has 5.75 million rapid antigen tests in its inventory, and as of Nov. 29, has handed out 33.35 million.
Ontario has been distributing about a million tests each week and is ramping up during the holiday period, Alexandra Hilkene said. That includes 11 million tests earmarked for public and First Nation schools and tests that will be sent to pop-up sites in higher-risk areas, she said.
Ontario’s top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, said the province is working with the federal government to broaden its testing strategy, and expects to make an announcement on the increased availability of tests in the coming weeks.
Liberal Leader John Fraser said more rapid tests should be handed out, particularly in the winter months, which have typically seen infections rise.
“I’m still bewildered as to why millions and millions of rapid tests are sitting in warehouses unused, undistributed, when jurisdictions across the world who use rapid tests, they’re giving them to families, they’re giving them to people at airports,” he said. “It’s just another tool to protect us.”
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Monday the tests should be free for everyone.
“Nobody should have to pay for a rapid test. That should be part of our public health-care system,” she said.
— with files from Maan Alhmidi.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2021.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
