New COVID-19 restrictions are likely to be implemented later this week in three Ontario regions consistently seeing the most new cases, Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday.
At his daily news conference, Ford called the numbers in Toronto and its outlying Peel and York regions “extremely, extremely concerning” and said all three are “staring down the barrel of another lockdown.”
Ford added that his cabinet will be discussing new public health measures for them in coming days that could be announced on Friday.
“We have to do something,” he said.
Ontario reported an additional 1,417 cases of COVID-19 early Wednesday, and 32 more deaths linked to the illness — the most on any single day during the second wave of the pandemic which is currently gripping parts of the province.
The new cases include 410 in Toronto, 463 in Peel Region and 178 in York Region.
They push the seven-day average of daily cases, a measure that helps to paint a clearer picture of longer-term trends in the data, to 1,422.
Other regions that saw double-digit increases in Wednesday’s report were:
Halton Region: 63.
Waterloo: 54.
Hamilton: 46.
Durham: 40.
Simcoe Muskoka: 25.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 23.
Ottawa: 22.
Thunder Bay: 20.
Windsor: 17.
Southwestern: 14.
Officials say 109 of the new cases are school-related: 92 among students and 17 staff. A total of 670, or about 13.9 per cent, of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools have reported at least one case of COVID-19. Three schools provincewide are currently closed because of the illness.
No extended winter break
The numbers do not warrant an extended winter break for students this year, said Education Minister Stephen Lecce.
“An extended winter holiday is not necessary at this time, given Ontario’s strong safety protocols, low levels of transmission and safety within our schools,” Lecce said Wednesday.
WATCH | More measures coming Friday, premier says:
A visibly frustrated Premier Doug Ford said an announcement is coming Friday concerning Ontario COVID-19 hot spots. Health experts can only do so much and if people don’t listen to their advice, Ford said he won’t hesitate to issue lockdowns in order to protect the public. 3:08
Schools have been “remarkably successful at minimizing outbreaks,” he said in a statement, despite increased community transmission of the coronavirus.
Toronto, Hamilton and the regions of Peel, York and Halton are currently in the province’s highest, red “control” tier of its colour-coded COVID-19 restrictions framework.
Another seven are in the less-stringent orange “restrict” tier:
Brant.
Durham.
Eastern Ontario.
Niagara.
Ottawa.
Waterloo.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph.
And yet another seven are in the yellow “protect” category:
Haldimand-Norfolk.
Huron-Perth.
Middlesex-London.
Sudbury.
Simcoe-Muskoka.
Southwestern.
Windsor-Essex.
There are currently 12,822 confirmed active cases of COVID-19 provincewide, 110 fewer than on Tuesday. Wednesday was the first time in about a month that the number of recoveries, 1,495, outpaced new infections.
Ontario’s network of labs processed 33,440 test samples, leading public health officials to report a test positivity rate of 4.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the number of people in Ontario hospitals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbed to 535, up six from yesterday. Of those, 127 are being treated in intensive care and 78 are on ventilators, three more than yesterday. A total of 38 patients with the novel coronavirus have been admitted to intensive care in the last three days.
The province’s COVID-19-linked death toll grew to 3,415. The 32 additional deaths reported Wednesday is the most on a single day since June 6. Twenty-nine of the deaths were seniors over the age of 70, while 26 of those 29 were residents in long-term care.
[Note: All of the figures used in this story are found in the Ministry of Health’s daily update, which includes data from up until 4 p.m. the previous day. The number of cases for any particular region on a given day may differ from what is reported by the local public health unit, which often avoid lag times in the provincial system.]
Health Minister Christine Elliott said Ontario expects up to 2.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered between January and March.
Speaking at the provincial legislature, Elliott said about 1.6 million of Pfizer’s vaccine — of the six million doses heading to Canada — will be distributed in Ontario during that time, and 800,000 doses of Moderna’s — out of two million — are expected to provide will also be available, pending regulatory approval.
WATCH | Vaccines coming to Ontario in early 2021, health minister says:
Christine Elliott says the province will receive vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna between January and March. 0:50
Canada has already purchased 20 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, with an option for 56 million more doses.
Public health officials in Ontario have already said that the first vaccines available in Ontario will go to priority groups, such as front-line health-care workers and particularly vulnerable residents.
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
