Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, will provide a live update at 3:30 p.m.
Alberta reported 515 new cases of COVID-19 in its most recent update on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the number of active cases in Alberta care homes has more than quadrupled from 102 to 418 in just one month. There are now 41 outbreaks in continuing care facilities around the province.
CBC Calgary will be hosting a virtual discussion and Q&A on Facebook at 1 p.m. that dives into spiking cases in Alberta with infectious disease expert Craig Jenne, health reporter Jennifer Lee and data journalist Robson Fletcher.
As of Wednesday, there were 6,230 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, an increase from 6,110 reported Tuesday. That number had jumped up on Tuesday from 5,172 last Friday.
Alberta also reported five new deaths from the virus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 343.
Rockyview General Hospital now has an outbreak of COVID-19 in its general medicine unit.
COVID-19 outbreaks at eight major Alberta hospitals are putting pressure on a system that is already wrestling with a record number of novel coronavirus patients.
(CBC)
What you need to know today in Alberta
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, will provide a live update at 3:30 p.m.
After the province reported 2,268 new cases over four days on Tuesday — which is an average of 567 new cases per day — it has continued to see high numbers. On Wednesday, it reported 515 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 30,447.
Hinshaw said Tuesday that it would soon become evident if recent public health measures like social gathering limits in Edmonton and Calgary are reducing the rate of transmission. If not, she said, it might be time to consider “other options.”
Meanwhile, Alberta’s continuing care homes are bracing for another battle against COVID-19. The number of active cases in care homes has more than quadrupled, increasing from 102 to 418 cases, in just one month. There are now 41 outbreaks in continuing care facilities around the province.
“Dr. Hinshaw has been in communication with continuing care operators in Edmonton and Calgary recommending that they consider limiting visitors to the essential designated family/support people (and others in extenuating circumstances) while the transmission rates are high,” said Alberta Health representative Tom McMillan in a statement to CBC.
“In the rest of the province, she advised operators to consider the transmission in the area where visitors are coming from and ensure that all necessary precautions are in place to limit the spread of COVID-19.”
CBC Calgary will be hosting a virtual discussion and Q&A on Facebook at 1 p.m. on Thursday with infectious disease expert Craig Jenne, health reporter Jennifer Lee and data journalist Robson Fletcher. Viewers are invited to ask the panel their COVID-19 questions as they discuss the rise of cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise across the province
A snapshot of the active COVID-19 cases by health district in Calgary as of Nov.3. (CBC)
Hinshaw stressed this week that COVID-19 is much more deadly than the seasonal flu. In the last four flu seasons, the peak deaths in a single year was 92. In just eight months, 343 people have died of COVID-19, despite what Hinshaw described as “extraordinary measures” to contain transmission.
“We are at a critical juncture in this pandemic. I know this has been a tiring year, and one that’s taken a mental and physical toll on many. But we cannot give up. We must not give up. I believe one of the problems underlying pandemic fatigue is a sense of powerlessness, and for some, a loss of hope,” she said.
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says that people who egregiously flout health orders during the pandemic should face consequences. 1:21
Alberta still has not adopted the federal contact tracing app, despite the provincial government saying it would do so in August. Hinshaw said the provincial app remains available but that no app is a magic bullet — reducing close contacts and following guidance remains the most effective strategy for reducing spread.
Premier Jason Kenney warned Alberta Health Services may need to cancel elective surgeries, as it did in the spring, to make more room for potential COVID patients, should case numbers continue to escalate.
“We’re all fed up with this,” Kenney said Monday of the pandemic. “But now, more than ever, we need to take this seriously. And the single biggest thing people could do is just stop with the private parties and the social gatherings.”
Premier Jason Kenney is calling on all Albertans to listen to public health advice around COVID-19 and stop partying. 3:36
A new temporary measure, which caps attendance at 15 for events where people will be “mixing and mingling” like parties and baby showers, applies in the Calgary and Edmonton areas.
The province is also recommending voluntary measures in both cities: wearing non-medical masks in all indoor work settings, except where people are alone in an office or cubicle, or a barrier is in place, and limiting themselves to no more than three cohorts.
There are currently outbreaks at three hospitals in Calgary and five in Edmonton. There is also one additional hospital in Calgary with units under watch.
Dr. Laurie-Ann Baker, an ER doctor and associate zone medical director with Alberta Health Services (AHS), said their biggest focus right now is on the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, which has six cases on three units.
One person has died due to the outbreaks at the PLC.
“We want to avoid hospitals and the community becoming overwhelmed,” she said.
Here’s the regional breakdown of active cases reported on Wednesday:
As of 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, provinces and territories in Canada had reported a cumulative total of 249,216 confirmed or presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 205,647 as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 10,278.
Canada has quietly revised its guidelines on how COVID-19 spreads to include the risk of aerosol transmission, weeks after other countries and international health organizations acknowledged the airborne threat of the coronavirus.
“SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads from an infected person to others through respiratory droplets and aerosols created when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, shouts, or talks,” the updated guidance said.
“The droplets vary in size from large droplets that fall to the ground rapidly (within seconds or minutes) near the infected person, to smaller droplets, sometimes called aerosols, which linger in the air under some circumstances.”
Ontario reported 998 additional cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. Of those new cases, 350 were found in Toronto, 269 in Peel and 71 in York Region. The seven-day average for cases is now up to 982. Updated hospitalization data was not yet available, but as of Wednesday, the province had reported 367 hospitalizations, with 75 in ICU.
It is moving to a colour-coded system to communicate what regions are under what restrictions, saying the new system will be an “early warning system” and allow the province to scale public health measures based on what’s happening in a given region.
B.C’s health minister and a top public health official on Tuesday reminded people in the province to keep gatherings small, saying “much of the recent transmission” in the province has been connected to get-togethers.
Health officials in Saskatchewan are introducing a new measure requiring masks in public indoor spaces in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert. The measure, which will be in place for 28 days before being reviewed, takes effect Friday.
In Manitoba, the Red Cross has been asked to provide staff to help care for residents at some long-term care homes dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks.
Quebec reported an eight-day low of 871 new COVID-19 infections and 34 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including five recorded in the 24 hours prior. The Tuesday figures put the number of people in hospital in the province at 526, with 85 receiving intensive care.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is now recommending Canadians choose three-layer non-medical masks with a filter layer to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as they prepare to spend more time indoors over the winter.
According to recently updated guidelines, two layers of the mask should be made of a tightly woven fabric, such as cotton or linen, and the middle layer should be a filter-type fabric, such as non-woven polypropylene fabric.
With winter cold and influenza season approaching, Alberta Health Services will prioritize Albertans for testing who have symptoms, and those groups which are at higher risk of getting or spreading the virus.
General asymptomatic testing is no longer available to anyone, but voluntary asymptomatic testing is available to:
School teachers and staff.
Health-care workers.
Staff and residents at long-term care and congregate living facilities.
Any Albertans experiencing homelessness.
Travellers requiring a test before departure.
Additional groups can also access asymptomatic testing if required.
The province says Albertans who have returned to Canada from other countries must self-isolate. Unless your situation is critical and requires a call to 911, Albertans are advised to call Health Link at 811 before visiting a physician, hospital or other health-care facility.
If you have symptoms, even mild, you are to self-isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms, until the symptoms have disappeared.
The province also operates a confidential mental health support line at 1-877-303-2642 and addiction help line at 1-866-332-2322, both available 24 hours a day.
Online resources are available for advice on handling stressful situations and ways to talk with children.
There is a 24-hour family violence information line at 310-1818 to get anonymous help in more than 170 languages, and Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence is available at 1-866-403-8000, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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.
