An airplane takes off from Billy Bishop Airport after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that passengers will require COVID-19 vaccination for air, ship and interprovincial train services, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 6, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
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OTTAWA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Canada, seeking to halt the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, will require people arriving by air from all nations except the United States to take a COVID-19 test, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said on Tuesday.
Ottawa is also expanding a ban on travelers from southern Africa to cover three more nations, bringing the total to 10.
Canada has identified seven people with the new variant, at least four of whom were recently in Nigeria.
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The Canadian government also said it was in advanced talks with Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) regarding a purchase agreement for COVID-19 antiviral drugs.
"All air travelers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, will now need to be tested at the airport (where) they are landing in Canada," Duclos told a briefing.
"They will then need to isolate themselves until they get the results of their test."
Duclos said the Liberal government would talk to the 10 provinces to see whether the testing requirement could be extended, if needed, to cover everyone entering the country, both by air and across the U.S. land border. The provinces would need to agree to the extension.
"We don't know if it would need to be done," he said, adding no decision had been taken.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said foreign nationals who had been to Nigeria, Malawi and Egypt in the previous 14 days would be temporarily banned from entering Canada.
Last week Ottawa barred travelers who had recently been to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. read more
Canadians and permanent residents who have been in the 10 countries, even those who are fully vaccinated, must also be tested before entering Canada, he added.
The western Canadian province of Alberta has confirmed one case of the Omicron variant, chief medical officer Deena Hinshaw told reporters on Tuesday. Hinshaw said the person identified in Alberta was asymptomatic and had recently traveled from Nigeria and the Netherlands.
British Columbia also reported its first case of the new variant, with the individual having recently returned from travelling to Nigeria.
The premiers of Ontario and Quebec, Canada's two most populous provinces, are calling on Ottawa to impose tougher measures and more testing for the virus.
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Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Porter, Grant McCool, David Gregorio and Karishma Singh
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase is being seen in domestic violence cases. PostmediaPhoto by Ted Rhodes /Calgary Herald
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As the COVID-19 pandemic maintains its grip on Canada and the world, experts say a “shadow epidemic” of violence against women has intensified.
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“In times of crisis, the number of women being abused rises and we see it in the news every day. We see the rise in violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent humanitarian crises, conflicts and, increasingly, in the climate disaster all around the world,” Joachim Ostertag of Violence Prevention Grey Bruce said during a delegation to city council Monday.
“But it’s not the disasters and the crises that lead to violence against women. We’ve known for a long time that the key contributor to male violence against women is gender inequality and the pandemic has significantly increased inequality and an explosion of violence against women. And this is what we call these days ‘disaster patriarchy.’ ”
He said the World Health Organization has called violence against women a “shadow epidemic” that people “must seriously take action on.”
Ostertag appeared before council to speak about the upcoming National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on Dec. 6.
He invited council and community members to attend a vigil, planned for noon that day in front of Owen Sound city hall.
The event, which is being organized by several local agencies, including Violence Prevention Grey Bruce, will recognize the national day and commemorate the 14 women who were killed 32 years ago — on Dec. 6, 1989 — by a lone gunman at École Polytechnique in Montreal.
During his delegation, Ostertag read aloud the names of each of those women, who were murdered because of their gender, and asked council and staff to join him in a moment of silence.
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Council then voted to lower to half-mast all flags at city facilities and parks on Dec. 6 to mark the day.
The commemoration date was established by Canadian Parliament in 1991 to coincide with the anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre.
Ostertag told council that more than one in four women in Canada has experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner.
The rate of violence against Indigenous women is three to five times higher than against non-Indigenous women, he said.
Ostertag said 160 women were killed in Canada in 2020 in acts of femicide. Ninety-two women and girls in Canada were murdered in the first six months of 2021, he said, compared to 32 in the first half of 2019 — before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Locally, Owen Sound Police Chief Craig Ambrose said Tuesday there was a marked increase in the number of domestic violence incidents that police both responded to and laid charges at in the city in 2020, compared to 2019.
In the first 10 months of 2019, city police attended 29 domestic violence-related incidents where charges were laid. That number jumped to 40 for the first 10 months of 2020, but has appeared to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, with police responding to 22 domestic incidents where charges were laid.
Carrie Stevenson, a co-organizer of the Owen Sound vigil and communications manager at The Women’s Centre Grey Bruce, the organization has seen an increase in crisis calls throughout the pandemic, with 82 calls received in October 2020 and 101 in the same month this year.
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In-shelter stays were low at the start of the pandemic while women were trapped at home, she said, but picked up as restrictions lifted.
She pointed to an Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses report that shows femicides across Ontario were up by 48 per cent as of September 2020.
“The extra demand for our services speaks to the need for more to be done to end domestic violence,” she said.
“In the meantime, we’re incredibly grateful that our community has been so generous with offers of goods and financial contributions to support women who turn to us for shelter and other programs, like safety planning and counseling.”
For Monday’s vigil, local musician River Breitbach and drummers from the M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre are scheduled to perform before Elder Shirley John offers an opening prayer.
A commemoration to the 1989 victims as well as to women who continue to be impacted by violence will follow.
Vigil co-organizer Bernice Connell of Women’s House Serving Bruce & Grey, said in the news release that the organizing committee hopes that people who are unable to attend the vigil will pause for a moment on Dec. 6 and consider the impact that violence against women plays in the community.
The third in a series of Pacific storms bringing torrential rain to already-flooded areas of southwest B.C. has arrived. Up to 100 millimetres of rain is predicted for the Fraser Valley between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Highway 99 between Lillooet and Pemberton closes at 4 p.m. PT due to storm.
Evacuation orders remain in effect for properties near waterways in the Fraser Valley and in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. For more on evacuation alerts and orders, see here.
A flood watch is in place for the Coquihalla, Sumas, Tulameen, Similkameen, Coldwater, Lower Nicola and Fraser rivers, as well as much of Vancouver Island and the Central Coast. For all flood warnings and advisories, see here.
Travel advisories are in effect for several highways in B.C., and many are closed. For a full list of closures, see here.
The third in a series of storms that have increased in intensity is bearing down on B.C., causing major concerns for communities dealing with the consequences of previous storms over the past two weeks.
CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe says 10 to 15 millimetres could fall within a mere three hours on parts of the South Coast on Tuesday, and freezing levels will rise rapidly in altitude — which means more snowmelt.
Environment Canada issued rainfall warnings and special weather statements for much of the province, and has predicted up to 100 millimetres of rain Tuesday into Wednesday for Metro Vancouver, Whistler, the Sunshine Coast and the Fraser Valley, including Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Hope.
"This could be the most intense storm yet," said B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.
Speaking at a late-morning news briefing, Farnworth said people living in flood zones must listen to local authorities and evacuate immediately if asked. British Columbians should also take alerts issued by Environment Canada and Drive BC very seriously, he said.
WATCH | Dikes reinforced, B.C. highways closed as floodwaters rise:
Dikes reinforced, B.C. highways closed as floodwaters rise
2 days ago
Communities in B.C. are reinforcing and raising their dikes with the help of the military, and three highways were closed as a precaution after another torrential rainstorm raised floodwaters again. 3:41
Up to 200 millimetres of rain is also in the forecast for northern and western parts of Vancouver Island and the Central Coast.
A winter storm warning is in effect for the North Coast, which could see up to 40 centimetres of snow on Tuesday.
A flood watch is in effect for the Fraser, Tulameen, Coldwater, Similkameen, Coquihalla and Sumas rivers.
A flood warning means river levels have exceeded or will exceed their banks, and nearby areas will flood as a result. A flood watch means river levels are rising and may spill their banks.
Hope, Abbotsford mayors confident
The mayors of two Fraser Valley communities that have been hit hard by flooding this fall say they are confident their residents can make it through these next two days of rain.
"I am pleased to share that at this point, we are holding our own," Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said Monday afternoon. "Unless we get a 200 millimetre dump Tuesday and Wednesday — that's a whole different ball game, then."
A worker at a recycling factory picks up debris behind a wall of sandbags in Abbotsford, B.C., on Sunday. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
Although the Nooksack River in Washington overflowed Sunday, water did not cross over from the state to the eastern part of the Sumas Prairie. Braun said that was good news, since it remains the area of the city hardest hit by flooding.
Hope Mayor Peter Robb said his community has done all it can to prepare for the next storm.
"I believe we're ready," he said.
Local states of emergency are in place for both communities, and evacuation alerts and orders have been issued.
Robb is encouraging residents to have an emergency bag prepared in case they are told to leave their homes.
According to Farnworth, 500 Canadian Armed Forces troops are also working on flood defence, as well as transporting health personnel in and around flood-affected areas.
He said Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Comox is on standby with air assistance and CFB Esquimalt, home of the Pacific Naval Fleet, is also ready to step in.
"We aren't in the clear yet," he said.
Fraser Valley region calls for more help
The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD), which includes the communities of Abbotsford and Hope, said Tuesday the province had exacerbated the flooding emergency by not responding to earlier requests for emergency funding.
It is calling for more funding as the third storm system settles in over the region.
District chair Jason Lum said the FVRD has made more than 50 different requests to the B.C. government since the mid-November flooding event that have gone unanswered. Others, he said, were answered too late.
"The response system is broken," said Lum.
Lum said he's worried the situation could worsen while the district is still chasing funding for earlier flood damage.
Responding to Lum's allegations Tuesday, Farnworth said local governments were empowered to take action themselves during states of emergency.
"To be clear, the claim that local governments need to wait on the province to receive authorization to take public safety actions is incorrect," he said.
Emergency Management B.C. staff had reached out to Lum and the FVRD after Tuesday's statement, Farnworth said, "to ensure they have the support they need."
Highway 99 closure
B.C. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming announced Tuesday that Highway 99 between Pemberton and Lillooet will close at 4 p.m. until further notice due to weather conditions.
A travel advisory was also issued for Highway 20 in the Bella Coola Valley area, and officials are asking non-essential travellers to stay off that stretch of road due to avalanche and flood risks.
Many highways remain closed after washouts and landslides two weeks ago, and others are open for essential travel only.
Highway 1 between Hope and Popkum in the Fraser Valley remains closed, but the 80-kilometre stretch from Hope north to Boothroyd has been reopened.
Highway 1, east of Abbotsford, was partially covered by water on Sunday. (Government of B.C.)
"The situation is very dynamic, and I would encourage everyone to follow DriveBC for the latest information," Fleming said Monday.
Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton has also reopened, allowing for commercial vehicles and other essential travel.
Officials are advising residents to stay off the roads if they can during this latest storm.
Drivers on the South Coast and Vancouver Island will remain limited to purchasing 30 litres of fuel at a time until Dec. 14 in order to preserve supplies for emergency and essential vehicles responding to the heavy rains and severe flooding.
The order was introduced on Nov. 19 and originally set to expire Dec. 1.
Essential vehicles will continue to have unrestricted access to fuel as required, using predominantly commercial trucking or cardlock gas stations.
Interior cleanup continues
Major cleanup efforts are underway in the Southern Interior communities of Merritt and Princeton, as municipal officials hope the Coldwater, Tulameen and Similkameen rivers don't breach their banks.
All 7,000 residents of Merritt were evacuated two weeks ago when the Coldwater River overwhelmed the city and its wastewater system.
City crews, contractors and members of the Canadian Armed Forces have since reinforced flood defences along the Coldwater River in anticipation of Tuesday's atmospheric river.
WATCH | Greg Lowis, Merritt's emergency public information officer, on the city's current situation:
Merritt, B.C., fortifies city as 3rd Pacific storm arrives
13 hours ago
Merritt, B.C., will continue working to defend the city against a third heavy rainstorm, says Greg Lowis, the battered city's emergency public information officer. (City of Merritt/Twitter) 7:11
Avalanche awareness
Avalanche Canada is warning that Tuesday's heavy rain on top of newly accumulated snow on South Coast mountains is a recipe for rapidly changing and dangerous avalanche conditions.
The non-profit safety organization rates avalanche risk on a scale of one to five, with five being an extreme risk.
On Tuesday, the danger rating at the alpine level is rated high at a four out of five and there is a considerable risk at the treeline level with a three rating.
Avalanche Canada's website says substantial "storm slabs" could form in the region's upper elevations before they are hammered by afternoon rain, and they pose a substantial avalanche threat.
"We will see a rapid evolution of avalanche conditions over the day," the organization warned.
The avalanche danger is forecast to be extreme in some regions tomorrow and high in others. We're expecting the storm to bring very dangerous conditions, with the potential for full path avalanches. It's time to avoid all avalanche terrain. <br>Get the fx👉 <a href="https://t.co/JwMaRhyDrR">https://t.co/JwMaRhyDrR</a> <a href="https://t.co/cfzN0ZEClR">pic.twitter.com/cfzN0ZEClR</a>
There could be more rainfall than snow in the Arctic in as little as 30 years because of the world's changing climate, according to a new study that predicts the transition will happen decades earlier than previously anticipated.
The change is expected to happen sometime between 2050 and 2080, says research led by the University of Manitoba and published in the journal Nature Communications. Previously, the transition to a rain-dominated Arctic was expected to happen somewhere between 2070 and 2090.
Lead author Michelle McCrystall, a postdoctoral fellow at the university's Centre for Earth Observation Science, said more than 50 per cent of precipitation in the Arctic falling as rain instead of snow will have "global implications" and a "very direct impact" on Indigenous people throughout the Arctic.
The biggest precipitation changes, she added, will happen during the fall. Predominant snowfall and snow precipitation is still expected in the winter months, even by the end of the century.
Some regions will make the transition earlier than others, she explained, based on their temperatures and proximity to the North Pole.
Michelle McCrystall, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manitoba, led the study. She says the Arctic is likely to become dominated by rainfall events if the world stays on its current trajectory, and that it will have a "very direct impact" on Indigenous people. (Michelle McCrystall)
McCrystall said the 2050 to 2080 range in which the transition could happen reflects the variability of all the data that was used, but the average points to it happening, more specifically, around the year 2070.
Animal starvation
McCrystall said more rain in the Arctic would also lead to more rain-on-snow events — when rain falls onto an existing snowpack and freezes, forming ice layers either on the snow or within it — which would be "very damaging" for foraging mammals like reindeer, caribou and muskox.
Because of that ice, foraging animals will have a harder time reaching the grassland that lies beneath it.
"It can cause a huge starvation and die off in a lot of these populations," she said.
Mark Serreze, a co-author of the study and the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., said in a statement "the Arctic is changing so fast that Arctic wildlife might not be able to adapt.
"It's not just a problem for the reindeer, caribou and muskox, but for the people of the North that depend on them as well."
The mounted head of a muskox looks out over two Arctic exhibits at the Military Museums in Calgary in Feb. 2016. Foraging animals, like muskox, will have trouble reaching food sources below layers of ice in the snow caused by more frequent rain in the Arctic, said McCrystall. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Kent Moore, a professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Toronto, who is outside of the research team, told CBC News that rain-on-snow events would also cause "incredible" stress on hairy animals like muskox.
"If it rains and then it freezes, then they get a kind of frozen ice on their body, and that can be very, very stressful for them. They can lose heat more rapidly."
Transition likely to happen in our lifetime, study predicts
Moore said he's not surprised the Arctic will see more rainfall in the future, but he is surprised when the researchers predict the transition to more rain than snow is going to happen.
"A couple of decades is pretty significant," he said. "Animals have to adapt quick, but we also have to adapt quicker. And that's always a challenge, that adaptation," he said.
Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center, who is also not one of the study's authors, said a difference of a few decades means that this transition is more likely to happen in the lifespan of current generations.
"It becomes, for a lot of people, not something that maybe my children or grandchildren will see, but something I may very well live to see," he said, adding that he, too, was not surprised by the new prediction.
Rising sea levels, melting permafrost
Meier and McCrystall both said an increase in Arctic rainfall would contribute to rising sea levels, particularly because it will cause more glaciers along the coast of Greenland to fall into the water.
Rain fell on the summit of Greenland — a location where precipitation has previously always fallen as snow or ice — for the first time on record this year.
In this Aug. 2019 file photo, large icebergs float away as the sun rises near Kulusuk, Greenland. McCrystall said warmer temperatures and more rainfall in the Arctic means that more glaciers along the coast of Greenland will fall into the water. (Felipe Dana/The Associated Press)
The rain could also lead to permafrost thaw, said McCrystall.
"With more warming and more rainfall, that kind of percolates through the soil and will allow the soil to warm up," she said. Permafrost stores carbon, she pointed out, and if it thaws "you'll get a lot more greenhouse gases that will be emitted into the atmosphere."
McCrystall said that increase in carbon creates a negative impact, because carbon emissions contribute to the further warming of the atmosphere.
"Changes that happen in the Arctic don't really stay within the Arctic," she said.
Though she doesn't see her research as a call to action, McCrystall wants to see people putting more pressure on politicians to make tangible changes that will have big impacts in the fight against climate change.
The research team, which also included members from University College London, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Lapland and the University of Exeter, said that if the world is able to remain below 1.5 C of global warming, the transition to a rainfall-dominated precipitation might not happen in some Arctic regions.
But, if the world remains on it's current trajectory, the transition is likely.
TORONTO -- A study involving more than a million fully vaccinated people found that COVID-19 breakthrough infections were more common among immunocompromised individuals and were far more likely to lead to hospitalization or death.
Researchers from Pfizer published their findings in the Journal of Medical Economics on Tuesday. They looked at 1.2 million people in the U.S. who had received both doses of the company's mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 between December 2020 and July 2021 in what hey claim is the largest study of its kind.
“Several countries are currently experiencing a resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 infections despite the rollout of mass vaccination programs. While COVID-19 mRNA vaccines help protect people from getting infected and severely ill, the risk of breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people is not completely eliminated,” lead author Manuela Di Fusco said in a news release.
Of the cohort, 17.7 per cent were identified as immunocompromised. Some of the immunocompromising conditions in the cohort included solid tumours, kidney disease, inflammatory diseases, organ transplants and HIV/AIDS.
However, immunocompromised participants accounted for 38.2 per cent of all breakthrough infections, 59.7 per cent of all hospitalizations and 100 per cent of all deaths.
Proportionally, the risk of breakthrough infections was three times higher among immunocompromised individuals. These individuals had a breakthrough infection rate of 0.18 per cent, compared to 0.06 per cent among non-immunocompromised individuals.
"While some COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections among those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are expected, the findings of this study show that they are rare and less likely to result in hospitalization or death in those without an (immunocompromising) condition," the authors wrote.
Among the immunocompromised participants, organ transplant recipients were found to have the shortest time to infection as well as the highest rates of breakthrough infections.
The researchers say their findings underscore the need for health authorities to offer third doses for immunocompromised individuals, especially as vaccine immunity wanes and new variants such as Omicron emerge.
Health Canada gave the green light to use the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot for adults. The rollout of these third doses has varied among the provinces and territories, with most prioritizing seniors, immunocompromised individuals, health-care workers, First Nations communities and those who received a non-mRNA vaccine.
“The results supplement other real-world studies and support the introduction of a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to increase protection among the immunocompromised individuals," Di Fusco said.
TORONTO -- Canadians currently stuck in South Africa are running out of options as they navigate confusing travel rules to come home.
Richard Maisel arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, on Nov. 24, just as the world first learned of the B.1.1.259 variant -- later named “Omicron” – and is now looking at another two weeks in the country as airlines and governments restrict travel from southern Africa.
“This has been incredibly frustrating and stressful,” he told CTV News Channel on Monday.
Maisel said he is running low on options as most airlines will not accept Canadian travellers, while the federal government requires an in-transit PCR test for entry into Canada, which rules out several connecting airports.
“Most of the European airlines are only taking EU citizens back, not allowing Canadians to board the flights,” he said. “The American airlines -- Delta and United -- are only allowed American citizens to come back.”
Maisel said he’s only been able to find a flight to Germany that accepts Canadians and provides in-transit PCR testing, but the next flight isn’t for one or two weeks.
“Luckily for me… I have my parents to stay with,” he said. “Most Canadians on the chat group are staying in hotels or Airbnbs and they have no where to go.”
Jonathan and Rene Goldman are in a similar situation. They flew to Cape Town for a family member’s 90th birthday and are now stuck in South Africa with few flight options to return home.
“Because we don’t have a direct (flight) to Canada, on one really wants to help us,” Rene told CTV News.
“We’re playing a waiting game right now,” said Danielle Husar, a player on the team. “We’ve got a big team of people back home working, as well as the government.”
Canada had been set to play against Uruguay, England and Belgium in the first two weeks of December, but the tournament has been cancelled.
"Everyone is safe and well – the team will remain in [sic] situ while the flight home is arranged," said Kevin Underhill, spokesperson for Field Hockey Canada, in a statement to CTV News Vancouver Island.
"(Sports Canada and Global Affairs) understand this is a junior national team which is only in South Africa to represent Canada at the world level," said Underhill. "Field Hockey Canada feels fortunate to have the highest levels of government working on this on our behalf."
On Friday, the Canadian government banned travellers from the southern African countries of South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini. Anyone who had travelled through those counties in the previous 14 days is asked to quarantine until they can provide a negative test result.
Health officials have confirmed three cases of the Omicron variant in Canada: two in Ottawa and one in Quebec. There are also four more suspected Omicron cases in Ontario.
It is still unclear how transmissible and dangerous this new variant may be. Researchers have said more information is needed to make those conclusions.
With files from CTVNews.ca Writers Nicole Bogart and Hannah Jackson, CTV News Montreal Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin and CTV News Vancouver Island
The skies were grey once again over the Cabot Trail on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. However, with more rain in the forecast, the fear of water levels rising is top of mind for many in the area.
“It is a worry for sure, having any more rain on top of what we already had,” says Barbara Longva, Victoria County councillor.
In the community of Tarbotvale, N.S., and on the Oregon Road, more than 12 people are still stranded after two bridges were swept away.
Food and medical supplies were flown in over the weekend. Officials hope a footbridge will soon be built across the river.
However, Longva is worried the weather could cause setbacks.
“With any rain, there is a risk of water levels rising again, but at this point the river has dropped considerably,” Longva added.
In the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, extensive road repairs are underway.
“One of the big things we are doing is just keeping people off the roads. We have to be very careful especially with the events of last week,” says Robie Gourd, with Parks Canada.
The concern now though, according to Gourd, is weakened infrastructure from last week’s storm that officials are not yet aware of.
“If we have any culverts that have failed or any sink holes in the road bed, new water could possibly activate some of those and we just don't know where the water is going to go now that it has found a new course,” says Gourd.
In the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, floodwaters reached their highest levels since the Thanksgiving storm of 2016. With many people still trying to dry out, the last thing residents want to see is rain.
“It was pretty stressful. Since 2016, I think a lot of people, myself included, are up most of the night watching the levels of the wash brook and if there's any water in my basement, and checking around your house to make sure things are dry,” says Wayne Mackay, Sydney, N.S. resident.
Residents in the Antigonish, N.S. area are echoing the same concerns with rainfall warnings issued for the area once again.
Andrew Swim's home was one of the hardest hit by last week's flooding in his trailer court in Antigonish. He says the walls, floors and insulation all need to be replaced in his home.
"We don't have a place to live for probably two months," said Swim.
In total, more than a dozen homes were damaged in Swim's trailer court.
"There's 10 that need quite a bit of work done on them and there's four that have been deemed uninhabitable," said Laurie Boucher, mayor of Antigonish.
Antigonish County Warden, Owen McCarron, says with rain on the way, there is reason for concern.
"With the amount of rain we’ve had, the ground is quite saturated. Any incoming rain is certainly going to pose more problems because the ground won’t absorb water as quickly," said McCarron.
Last week's storm washed out 25 roads across Nova Scotia – most of which have reopened with a long-term fix in the works.
"This is a temporary fix until next summer when we put a bigger bridge in but we wanted to do this just so we could get the residents out the other night," said John Barter, supervisor with Transportation and Infrastructure Operation.
Ottawa Public Health is confirming two more positive cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, bringing the city's total to four.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches announced Monday her team is monitoring the new cases closely, and tracking down any contacts. Both people had recently returned from travel from Nigeria, Etches said.
All four people are currently self-isolating, said Etches, but none of the cases are connected to each other.
At this point, there is no evidence of local transmission of the new variant, Etches said. Based on testing, no other cases are currently suspected in the region.
She said anyone who returned from Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini and Namibia within the last 14 days should self-isolate, even if they're fully vaccinated and have no symptoms. The same goes for other members of the same household.
People are also asked to get tested, even without symptoms, immediately upon arrival and then again eight days later.
WATCH | Two more cases of omicron variant found in Ottawa
Two more cases of omicron variant found in Ottawa
2 hours ago
Dr. Vera Etches, Ottawa’s medical officer of health, says two more returning travellers have tested positive for the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, making for a total of four known cases of the variant in the city. 1:50
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) is currently monitoring 15 other people who recently returned from travel from these areas. All of them are self-isolating. Etches also cautioned against travel to any country where positive cases of the omicron variant have been detected.
"What we have right now is a fairly stable level of COVID in our community. We watch it every day," Etches said.
"If there is a sign of any increasing rates of COVID that are rising quickly or something different ... we'll let people know."
She said basic health measures are still the best way to limit transmission, even of the new variant, including wearing a mask, maintaining physical distancing and limiting close contacts.
Ontario is reporting 788 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, as the counts continue to rise week over week. The provincial case total now stands at 617,803.
For comparison, last Monday saw 627 new cases and the previous Monday saw 552. All three Monday’s saw similar testing volumes in the 20,000 range.
Of the 788 new cases recorded, the data showed 412 were unvaccinated people, 27 were partially vaccinated people, 315 were fully vaccinated people and for 34 people the vaccination status was unknown.
According to Monday’s report, 106 cases were recorded in Toronto, 84 in Windsor-Essex, 80 in Simcoe Muskoka, 49 in Peel Region, 48 in York Region and 47 in KFLA. All other local public health units reported fewer than 45 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 9,997 as three more deaths were reported.
Vaccinations, recoveries, testing, 7-day average in Ontario
As of 8 p.m. on Sunday, 22,442 vaccines (19,375 for a first shot and 3,067 for a second shot) were administered in the last day.
There are more than 11.2 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 86.3 per cent of the aged 12 and older population. First dose coverage stands at 89.7 per cent.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, told reporters on Monday that 6.4 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 have already been vaccinated since doses went into arms late last week.
Meanwhile, 600,990 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is around 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 453 from the previous day.
Active cases in Ontario now stand at 6,816 — up from the previous day when it was at 6,484, and up from Nov. 22 when it was at 5,597. At the peak of the second wave coronavirus surge in January, active cases hit just above 30,000. In the third wave in April, active cases topped 43,000.
Ontario reported 145 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 23 from the previous day) with 148 patients in intensive care units (up by 13) and 131 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (up by 13).
As of Sunday, there are 5 patients from Saskatchewan in Ontario hospitals, three of whom are in the ICU.
Ontario Health officials have recently said intensive care occupancy can hit between 250 or 300 patients before the health care system would be impacted and require ramping down some non-urgent surgeries and procedures.
In the third wave peak, which was the worst wave for hospitalizations, the province saw as many as 900 patients in ICUs with COVID and almost 2,400 in general hospital wards.
Due to the weekend, the latest data comes from Saturday. For those in general hospital wards with COVID, 83 were unvaccinated, 8 were partially vaccinated and 48 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 60 were unvaccinated while 3 were partially vaccinated and 11 were fully vaccinated.
Provincial officials noted this new dataset with vaccination status for hospitalizations will grow and improve over time as more information is collected. There may also be a discrepancy due to how and when the information for both is collected.
Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:
308,816 people are male — an increase of 396 cases.
306,808 people are female — an increase of 390 cases.
18,013 people are under the age of four — an increase of 38 cases.
34,915 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 159 cases.
54,904 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 65 cases.
230,914 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 217 cases.
172,428 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 180 cases.
79,920 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 111 cases.
26,601 people are 80 and over — an increase of 18 cases.
The province notes that not all cases have a reported age or gender.
Here is a breakdown of the total deaths related to COVID-19 by age:
Deaths reported in ages 19 and under: Seven
Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 106
Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 695
Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,289
Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,899
The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data
Cases among students and staff at Ontario schools
Meanwhile, government figures show there are currently 717 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.
On Monday, Ontario reported 131 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 120 among students, 10 among staff and one individual was not identified. The data was collected between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon — a 24 hour period.
There are 1,591 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 1,541 active cases reported the previous day.
Sixteen schools are closed as a result of positive cases.
The third in a series of Pacific storms bringing heavy rainfall to already-flooded areas of southwest B.C. is due to arrive Tuesday, with up to 100 millimetres of rain predicted for the Fraser Valley.
On Sunday, evacuation orders were issued for properties close to waterways around Abbotsford and in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. For more on evacuation alerts and orders see here.
Flood warnings have been issued for the Coquihalla River, Sumas River, Tulameen River, Coldwater River and Lower Nicola River. For all flood advisories see here.
Highway 1 between Chilliwack and Hope was closed to traffic at 5 p.m. PT Sunday. For a full list of closures, see here.
The third in a series of increasingly powerful storms is approaching British Columbia while the province is still surveying damage across the Lower Mainland and southern Interior caused by previous weather events.
Cleanup is still underway after an atmospheric river system caused devastating flooding and fatal mudslides Nov. 13-15. Three more systems have since been forecast to hit the province, the second of which forced more evacuation orders and road closures this weekend.
The third is expected to slam into B.C. later Tuesday, with officials warning it could be the worst one yet.
Environment Canada has issued a series of special weather alerts for much of B.C.'s southwest and coast, with up to another 100 millimetres of rainfall predicted for the Fraser Valley between Tuesday and Wednesday along with winds up to 60 km/h. Areas of Vancouver Island and the Central Coast could see as much as 200 millimetres of rain.
1/ If you’re ordered to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/evacuate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#evacuate</a>, take your:<br>- Emergency kit<br>- Emergency plan<br>- Essential medications and copies of prescriptions<br>- Phone, charger, battery bank<br>- Your pets<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCFlood?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BCFlood</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCStorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BCStorm</a> <a href="https://t.co/HUDaTwchbG">pic.twitter.com/HUDaTwchbG</a>
Geoff Coulson, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Monday morning that the storm is expected to hit the North Coast late tonight and move south overnight.
He said the two recent storms dumped precipitation for about 24 to 36 hours, while this one could bring relentless rain for 48 hours.
"The concern with this event is the long duration," said Coulson.
Nooksack River threatens areas of Abbotsford
The Fraser Valley has borne much of the brunt of the flooding and late Sunday several more residents of Abbotsford were ordered to evacuate their homes due to the ongoing threat.
Crews in the city, including members of the Canadian military, worked through the night to pump water into Tiger Dams to try to hold back floodwaters from the Sumas River. A Tiger Dam is a series of water-filled tubes over a metre in height that are used to create a barrier.
"We are pumping about a billion gallons a day," said Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun, speaking Monday on The Early Edition.
Floodwaters move in toward the wall of sandbags built by CAF this weekend in Huntingdon Village. A rainbow reaches up into the Abbotsford sky. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BcFloods?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BcFloods</a> <a href="https://t.co/eLWRt3XtKD">pic.twitter.com/eLWRt3XtKD</a>
Braun said his "worst nightmare" is if the Nooksack River in Washington state breaches Abbotsford's dikes.
He said 17 kilometres of the city's dikes have been repaired and reinforced since they were damaged earlier this month, but the mayor is not positive it will be enough to hold back the Nooksack.
"Once it breached, you had a three-storey wall of water," he said, referring to last time the U.S. river overflowed its banks and crossed the border.
Bins of sand are placed across the road next to a wall of sandbags along rail tracks to form a temporary dike in the Huntingdon Village area of Abbotsford, B.C., on Nov. 28. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
Braun said as of Monday shortly before 8 a.m., water about 20 centimetres deep was already coming across the border and entering the Sumas Prairie area of Abbotsford, which was extensively flooded after the Nov. 13-15 storm.
Abbotsford city staff are in hourly contact with counterparts in Whatcom County across the border who are monitoring the Nooksack, said Braun.
CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said Abbotsford was hit with record rain on the weekend, with 118 millimetres falling on the already saturated city.
On Sunday evening, the District of Hope, about 155 kilometres east of Vancouver, declared a state of local emergency and later placed homes on Riverview Drive on an evacuation alert.
Wagstaffe said Hope had 140 millmetres of precipitation over the weekend.
Hope Mayor Peter Robb told CBC Monday district staff have been piling sandbags along the banks of the Coquihalla River and two evacuation centres are ready to receive people if necessary.
"We're doing the best we can," said Robb, adding residents can stay up to date on the situation on the district's website.
A mailbox is surrounded by floodwaters in the Sumas Prairie flood zone in Abbotsford on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Evacuation alerts mean residents must be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice. Evacuation orders mean residents should leave immediately.
The Abbotsford School District said Robert Bateman Secondary and W.J. Mouat Secondary schools would offer virtual learning for the week, while all other district schools would meet in person.
It also upgraded flood watches to warnings for the Tulameen River, Coldwater River and Lower Nicola River.
A flood warning means river levels have exceeded banks and that flooding in adjacent areas will occur.
Parts of the Coquihalla Highway were washed away in heavy rains near the Caroline Mine area close to Hope, B.C. on Nov. 15, 2021. The District of Hope is currently in a state of emergency as the Coquihalla River rises again after another weekend of heavy rain. (Submitted by Jeremiah Steberl)
B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth is advising against non-essential travel in the coming days as the province braces for the third consecutive storm.
Farnworth says the government doesn't want to implement any unnecessary road closures that would further strain resources.
Those who must be on the road should drive carefully and never attempt to drive through floodwaters because the depth isn't always obvious, he said.
He also said people should prepare for emergencies by carrying food, water, warm clothes, blankets and well stocked emergency kits in their vehicles.
Farnworth has said the province is prepared to use Alert Ready — a system that pushes emergency notifications directly to cellphones — if local authorities believe the next storm poses a threat to life or public safety.
WATCH | If you're driving, here's how to prepare for an emergency:
How to prepare for emergencies on the road
10 days ago
Extreme weather on B.C. highways recently left hundreds of travellers stranded in their vehicles for days. Here are some key items you should always have ready in an emergency bag in your vehicle. 1:38
TORONTO -- Toronto police say they are worried there may be more victims after a man was charged with more than 130 offences in connection with a child luring investigation.
According to investigators, a suspect made fake online profiles with usernames similar to those of child social media celebrities. Police claim the profiles were used to lure children into sending sexually exploitative photos and videos.
Officers executed search warrants late last month near Lawrence and Midland Avenues.
A suspect identified by police as 35-year-old Jose Paolo Caoitan was taken into custody last week. He was charged with 138 offences, including luring a child, invitation to sexual touching and several child pornography charges.
The charges have not been proven in court and police say the investigation is ongoing.
The transition between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is complete, though it's still many of the same deals in place. We're tracking the best Cyber Monday deals live, along with the best Amazon Cyber Monday deals, Walmart Cyber Monday deals and the best ones from Best Buy and Target, too. Today is probably the last day you'll be able to score record-low prices on the Apple Watch, AirPods and dozens of other top products, so don't delay: We don't see these prices getting any better in the days ahead.
We get it: You don't want to look through huge lists of deals to figure out what you want. No worries, CNET has you covered. Here are a bunch of our absolute favorite Cyber Monday deals that you won't want to miss out on.
Best Cyber Monday TV Deals
David Katzmaier/CNET
TCL's 6-series features a Mini-LED QLED 4K panel, comes in a variety of different sizes, and run's Google TV. David Katzmaier, in the CNET review of the 6-Series, says "Compared to the 2019 6-Series the 2020 version is better in pretty much every way." and the 6-Series was recently awarded an Editors' Choice award. If you are looking for an affordable TV that's truly great in almost every way, this is the one to buy.
David Katzmaier/CNET
More great Cyber Monday TV deals:
Best Cyber Monday Streaming Stick Deals
Roku
The Roku LE is the cheapest streamer we've ever seen. It's a small dongle that connects to your TV and via an included HDMI cable, comes with a basic infrared remote and streams in HD (1080p) resolution. It's basically identical to the Roku Express except that it's white, not black.
The LE is cheap, but we think it's still worth paying a bit more for a 4K Roku with a better remote, which are on sale for as little as $29. On the other hand at this price it makes sense if all you want is basic streaming for the lowest price.
Sarah Tew/CNET
This is the newest Apple TV 4K with the all-new (and vastly improved) Siri remote to accompany it. This version is powered by Apple's A12 Bionic chip to help maximize speed and app experiences.
Amazon
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is new this year, and it sits just above the Fire TV Stick 4K in Amazon's lineup. It's $10 more than the regular Fire TV Stick 4K, but for the extra $10 you get 40% more power (which means faster app loads and better overall navigation), as well as Wi-Fi 6 support for faster streaming.
More great Cyber Monday streaming hardware deals:
Best Cyber Monday Headphone Deals
David Carnoy/CNET
With the arrival of Beats new Fit Pro earbuds, I assumed we'd see some nice discounts on the earlier and less feature-rich Beats Studio Buds, which list for $150, or only $50 less than the new $200 Beats Fit Pro. I predicted we might see their price dip to $100 and sure enough, that's what their price is now (and a new low).
The Beats Studio Buds look a lot like the rumored stemless AirPods that people were talking about but never materialized -- as AirPods anyway. Geared toward both iOS and Android users, they're missing a few key features on the Apple side of things (there's no H1 or W1 chip), but they're small, lightweight earbuds that are comfortable to wear and offer good sound. They fit most ears securely, including mine -- I run with them without a problem -- but others may find a better fit with the Beats Fit Pro and their integrated wing tips.
Amazon is one-upping its competitors by also offering a $10 Amazon gift card at checkout with the code BYZPPJADUODB.
Unlike many other robot vacuums, this option from Neato has a D shape instead of being fully round, which allows it to get closer to walls and into corners better. It has a laser smart mapping system that you can use to block off areas that you don't want it to vacuum. You can schedule it for times that work best for you, or use the free app to control it and start it at any time. It offers up to 120 minutes of cleaning time per charge, and it will automatically recharge itself to complete the floor if it runs out of power.
More great Cyber Monday robot vacuum deals:
Best Cyber Monday Home & Kitchen Deals
Nespresso
Making a delicious cup of coffee at home just got a whole lot more affordable with these great Nespresso deals. You can make coffee, iced coffee, espresso and much more with just the tap of a button. The roast is consistent every time and the Nespresso does all the work for you, there's no settings to change or anything based on the pod you use.
Calphalon
This 10-piece set comes with everything you need to get started in a new kitchen and makes for a perfect upgrade for anyone with a mismatched set of pots and pans. It's an aluminum nonstick cookware set that is oven-safe up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (212 C). Be sure to use code ENJOY15 for the full savings, and remember that you'll also score $30 in Kohl's Cash for a future purchase.
More great Cyber Monday home and kitchen deals:
Best Cyber Monday Laptop and PC Deals
Apple
Storage is important, especially if you use a computer for work, school and gaming. Fortunately, the 512GB version of the MacBook Air with Apple's M1 chip is currently discounted for $1,099 over at Amazon. While the listing says you can save $150, the discount won't appear until you check out.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
The Surface Go 2 is designed to be an ultra-portable laptop. It offers a long-lasting battery, 10.5-inch display, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and will be available to upgrade to Windows 11 when it's available for this model. At this price, it does not come with the keyboard attachment, though that can be purchased separately.
More great Cyber Monday laptop and desktop deals:
More great Cyber Monday Chromebook deals:
More Cyber Monday computer accessory deals:
Best Cyber Monday Phone Deals
Battery life has become a bit better on modern phones, but this option from Motorola beats the competition pretty easily. It's said to feature three-day battery life while still offering great specs including a 48-megapixel camera for capturing all your big memories. It comes in two different colors and you can grab it with 32GB of storage or upgrade to 64GB for a bit more.
More great Cyber Monday phone deals:
More Cyber Monday phone accessory deals:
Best Cyber Monday Smart Home Deals
Amazon
This bundle includes the all-new Echo Show 5 and the new Blink Mini indoor camera at a massive savings. For Cyber Monday, Amazon has the Echo Show 5 on sale for $45, which means that you can add an indoor security camera for just $5 extra. What's great is that you can view that camera from the Echo Show 5 (and your phone), making it a perfect combo.
More great Cyber Monday smart home deals:
Best Cyber Monday Wearable Deals
Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNET
The Apple Watch SE is seeing its first price-drops ever this Black Friday shopping season. The $220 price is for the 40mm mode, but the 44mm model is $60 off as well (selling for $250). These watches come in lots of cool color combinations, but are selling out quickly (some colors are already gone), so we recommend moving fast on this deal.
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