Canada announces stringent lock-down measures as virus breaks out

    Canada column for Sunday, Jan.2/22

    THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

    Records are being set daily of COVID-19 cases across Canada as further stringent lock-downs and other measures are being enacted including a ban on private gatherings in Quebec homes.

   Ontario school students won’t be going back to on-site classes on Monday as planned as the government moved the return back two days to help schools prepare.

   British Columbia is planning a staggered return to school openings to allow public health officials to implement enhanced safety measures to fight the impact of the Omicron variant.

   Other provinces are considering reducing isolation times for health-care workers who are exposed or infected.

   Dr. Donald Vinh of Montreal’s McGill University Health Center said this shows the province is in “desperation mode.”

   All provinces will likely be facing similar choices as the number of ill people rises and the pool of workers available to treat them shrinks.

   As Quebec’s new cases topped 16,000 on Friday, the province brought back its controversial overnight curfew and restaurants are open only for take-out and delivery.

   Bars in Toronto and across Ontario were forced to close at 11 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

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    The Royal Canadian Navy is awaiting its new ships but is short of the sailors needed to work on them.

   Vice-Admiral Craig Baines said the navy has been able to make do with its current personnel levels because it retired five ships over the last eight years making it 1,000 sailors short with the new builds.

   Another concern is the entire Canadian Armed Forces faces a shortage of personnel as overall recruitment has fallen dramatically during the pandemic and many training schools closed or worked at reduced rates.

    Forces’ officials said overall they were short about 10,000 regular force and reserve members that makes up about 10 percent of the military’s total strength.

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    News in brief:

   - Amid record high sales, the average Canadian house price set an all-time high of $720,850 ($570,000 U.S.). Average house prices rose 14 percent in the past year, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. There are concerns that Canada’s most-expensive real estate markets are dangerously overvalued. The association said house hunters in markets such as Toronto and Vancouver are giving up in the face of million-dollar prices.

   - The World Junior Hockey Tournament was canceled as more players test positive for COVID-19. The International Ice Hockey Federation said there were no other options to “ensure health and safety of all participants.”  The continued forfeiture of games due to the pandemic ended the 11-day, 10 country event in Alberta after four days. Players testing positive for the virus put defending champion United States, Russia and Czechia into mandatory quarantines after nine of 31 games had been played.

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    Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is higher at 79 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.265 in Canadian funds, before exchange fees.

   The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate remains steady at 0.25 percent while the prime lending rate is 2.45 percent.

   Canadian stock markets are mixed, with the Toronto index at 21,202 on Friday while the TSX Venture index was up at 934 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.405 a liter (Canadian) or $5.34 for a U.S. gallon.

   Lotto Max: (Dec. 28) 11, 12, 21, 27, 32, 43 and 49; bonus 15. (Dec. 24) 3, 11, 24, 25, 29, 32 and 42; bonus 16.

   Lotto 6/49: (Dec. 29) 18, 32, 42, 44, 45 and 48; bonus 38. (Dec. 25) 4, 13, 21, 24, 31, and 45; bonus 41.

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    Regional briefs:

   - There have been two Canadian Pacific Railway train derailments in Western Canada. There were no injuries reported as a train carrying potash went off the tracks near Craven, Saskatchewan and another near Barons, Alberta. The Transportation Safety Board said a significant amount of potash was released, but no dangerous goods were spilled. The causes of both derailments are under investigation.

   - They’re having the rare gift of a white Christmas and New Year’s along with Arctic cold in normally mild Vancouver and the west coast of Canada. A couple of storms dumped up to six inches of snow on Vancouver and Victoria along the South Coast and Vancouver Island. The B.C. Emergency Health Services said paramedics had 50 calls for frostbite or hypothermia as temperatures with the wind chill dipped below freezing.

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