Canada’s top doctor warned provinces against easing stringent public health measures Saturday, just as the premier of one of the provinces hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic said he hoped to do exactly that in a little over a week.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that even though daily cases of the novel coronavirus are trending down, it’s still too soon to lift lockdowns and ease other protective measures if the country hopes to bring the pandemic under control.
“It is crucial that strong measures are kept in place in order to maintain a steady downward trend,” Tam said in a news release. “With still elevated daily case counts and high rates of infection across all age groups, the risk remains that trends could reverse quickly and some areas of the country are seeing increased activity.”
She pointed to several concerning variants of the virus as evidence that it’s too soon for the provinces to let their guards down.
One such strain, which was first detected in the United Kingdom and has already been cited as the cause of a deadly long-term care outbreak in southern Ontario, is more contagious than other strains of the virus and has begun to spread in Canada.
“I would like, if the situation permits, to be able to give some oxygen to retail stores,” Legault wrote.
The premier said the changes would come into effect after Feb. 8, the day a province-wide curfew is scheduled to end.
Businesses designated “non-essential” have been closed across Quebec since Dec. 25, and the province has been under an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew since Jan. 9.
On the day the curfew went into effect, Quebec reported an average of 2,685 new cases over the most recent seven-day stretch.
The province logged 1,367 new cases of the virus and counted 46 more deaths on Saturday. Officials said 14 of those deaths took place in the previous 24 hours, and the rest happened earlier.
Tam warned that outbreaks are still happening in high-risk communities, including in First Nations and remote parts of the country.
That was the case in Ontario, where a public health doctor called a small spike in COVID-19 cases in the remote northwestern part of the province a “wake-up call” for the area.
Dr. John Guilfoyle with the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority said Saturday that eight total active cases recently detected across five First Nations communities — Poplar Hill, Webequie, Pikangikum, Lac Seul and Nibinamik — appear to have been contained, according to contact tracing and testing so far.
He characterized the containment is good news, but said it’s concerning to see so many communities recording new infections.
Across Ontario, public health officials reported 2,063 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, along with 73 more deaths.
Farther west, Manitoba counted 166 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, as well as two more deaths.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, logged 258 new cases with eight more deaths.
Alberta reported 383 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, while the number of deaths climbed by 11.
That province, too, is planning on lifting some restrictions, with Premier Jason Kenney announcing Friday that lower hospitalization numbers allowed him to ease public health measures on indoor fitness centres, school sports, restaurants and bars. Those changes, too, are slated to take effect on Feb. 8.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia recorded three new cases of the virus and New Brunswick added 12.
New Brunswick also saw one COVID-19 patient die — the 18th in the province since the pandemic began.
As for the new cases, more than half of them were reported in the Edmundston area of northern New Brunswick, which is currently in the midst of a full lockdown.
The number of confirmed cases in New Brunswick has risen to 1,230 since the beginning of the pandemic, by far the highest tally in Atlantic Canada. That figure includes 928 recoveries and 283 active cases.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2021.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
