A briefing held this afternoon by the province reinforces the 14-day self-isolation period for all travellers entering Nova Scotia outside of the Atlantic bubble.
Starting today, anyone entering Nova Scotia from outside of the Atlantic bubble is required to self-isolate alone for 14 days upon arrival. If they cannot self-isolate alone, the entire household they’re self-isolating in must quarantine for 14 days.
“As we see the surge in COVID-19 cases in other parts of Canada, we need to take further steps to slow the spread here,” said Premier Stephen McNeil. “I am worried people are becoming complacent. We all have our part to play in keeping each other safe and I remind everyone again to follow public health protocols — wash your hands, wear a mask, practise social distancing and limit social contacts.”
BREAKING: Nova Scotia changing rules for those who are self isolating. Premier McNeil says starting today if you are coming into Nova Scotia from outside of the Atlantic Bubble you must self-isolate for 14 days alone.
During the briefing, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer Robert Strang clarified the details of self-isolation.
A traveller who self-isolates at a hotel or another location for a few days but then continues to self-isolate with another household forces the members of that household to also self-isolate. Moreover, the amount of days for the self-isolation period resets to 14 days for everyone in that household.
As Nova Scotia reopened over the summer, these restrictions were relaxed as the risk was deemed minimal. Now as other provinces begin seeing more cases, the risk rises.
Regarding self-isolation for rotational workers, the province is looking at an isolation period similar to Newfoundland and Labrador.
In that province, residents who travel within Canada but outside of the Atlantic provinces must self-isolate for either seven days with a negative COVID-19 test or for the full 14-day self-isolation period with no test. Testing can occur any time after the fifth day of self-isolation.
Since the last briefing on Nov. 3, there were 15 new active cases announced.
Nine active cases were in a cluster in the Clayton Park area which Strang said are under “active investigation.” The cluster includes the Rockingham area and extends over to Kearney Lake Road between the Bedford Basin, Highway 102, Bayers Lake and Lakeside.
Strang said they’re not trying to single out or place blame on anyone or any community since there have been potential exposures all over the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Moreover, anyone at the three new clusters of COVID-19 cases must call 811 and get tested for the virus.
The three new clusters include:
Strang said he’s not yet comfortable saying the recent cases are from community spread, but that it’s not being ruled out. He said they have some work to do before making a firm conclusion.
“We need people to help us out if we’re going to get in front of this cluster and stop it in our tracks and minimize the change to spread further,” he said. “It is a wake-up call for all of us.”
Strang also realizes there was some miscommunication between 811 and people who were at these cluster locations. He clarified that those people must call 811 back and make arrangements to get tested.
“When it comes to COVID, things can change very quickly,” he said. “We are at a tipping point in Nova Scotia.
“We all need to make changes if we’re going to make changes to our trajectories.”
In terms of testing, Strang said the province is trying to make it faster and easier.
The Halifax Infirmary testing site will now be dedicated to people who have been at locations where potential COVID-19 exposures have occurred. Other people who want to get tested will be directed to other testing sites.
Strang also said people without health insurance will now be able to get tested at no cost.
“We’re making sure that cost is not an issue and people come forward for testing,” he said.
While these are the only changes made to public health regulations today, Strang said he’s working with the public health team to see if more changes must be made.
He reinforces that people must wash their hands frequently, practice good cough and sneeze etiquette and properly wear masks. He said wearing a face shield does not replace the need to wear a mask.
While Strang said his team doesn’t plan on locking down the province, they plan to take a much more “targeted approach” based on geography.
Despite not being an official order, Strang suggested that Nova Scotians now start reducing the number of social activities they partake in.
For the upcoming holiday season, Strang said this season will have to look differently.
“We are in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. “Non-essential travel in and out of Atlantic Canada needs to stop. Now is not the time for casual visiting.
“We need to think about, ‘What did we do in wave one that stopped the wave and kept us safe?’”
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.
