Public health officials have identified upwards of 700 cases of contagious COVID-19 variants across Canada, the nation’s top doctor said Saturday, a finding she said lends new urgency to her calls to maintain personal COVID-19 precautions.
Individual actions in conjunction with strong public health measures will be key to halting the spread of the highly infectious virus variants, Dr. Theresa Tam said.
“Strong collective action means each one of us doing our personal best by having the fewest interactions with the fewest people, for the shortest time, at the greatest distance possible, while wearing the best-fitting face-mask,” Tam tweeted Saturday.
Overall daily case counts continued to trend downwards, but Tam said the at least 704 cases of variants of concern could fuel a bigger third wave of the pandemic.
The vast majority of variants detected in Canada thus far are the B.1.1.7 strain that first emerged in the U.K., while there have been 39 cases of the variant first discovered in South Africa, and one of the strain that originated in Brazil.
Tam’s warning came as a suspected case of a coronavirus variant forced Quebec City officials to close an elementary school Saturday.
Regional public health director Dr. Andre Dontigny said the school would remain closed until public health authorities had more information, including confirmation that the case in question is in fact linked to a variant of concern. All staff and students were asked to get tested for COVID-19 over the weekend.
Quebec authorities said there had been 22 confirmed cases of variants of concern provincewide and an additional 286 cases under investigation.
Overall, the province reported 769 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday and 14 more deaths, including four within the past 24 hours. Hospitalizations declined by 23 to 700 and the number of patients in the ICU dropped by seven to 120.
Federal projections released Friday suggest COVID-19 variants could fuel 20,000 new cases per day by mid-March if public health restrictions are relaxed.
Tam noted a steady decline in overall COVID-19 infections, with 32,241 active cases across the country and a seven-day average of 2,905 new cases daily. There was an average of 59 deaths.
“Canadians are urged to remain vigilant and to continue following local public health advice as well as consistently maintaining individual practices that keep us and our families safer,” said Tam, stressing the need to stay home if symptoms emerge and to reduce non-essential activities and outings.
Ontario reported a slight increase in daily case counts Saturday as it prepared to ease restrictions in one of its long-standing hot spots.
The province announced 1,228 new instances of COVID-19, up from 1,150 new infections reported Friday. There were 28 new virus-related deaths reported on Saturday.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said Toronto and Peel Region logged 331 and 228 cases, respectively, while York Region saw132 new cases.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford touted a measured approach on Friday when he announced York Region could lift stay-home restrictions and return to a colour-coded pandemic response framework at the second-most restrictive red level. That change is set to take effect on Monday.
Toronto, Peel and the North Bay-Parry Sound health unit are to remain under a stay-at-home order for at least two more weeks.
Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador reported 38 new confirmed cases and three presumptive cases of COVID-19, all in the eastern health region which includes St. John’s.
New Brunswick reported three new infections in the hard-hit Edmundston region. Nova Scotia, meanwhile, reported four new cases.
In Manitoba, 95 new cases and three deaths were linked to COVID-19. Two deaths were associated with an outbreak at Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks Hospital, and one was connected to a Winnipeg care facility.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2021.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
