MONTREAL, QUEBEC (AP) – Quebec proceeded with the first of three planned closures of non-essential retail stores on Sunday as the provincial government tried to curb a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Hospitals and health-care resources in Quebec and Canada’s remote northern communities are also being stretched as case numbers explode.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced last week that the bulk of the province’s stores would be closed for the next three Sundays, with the exception of pharmacies, convenience stores and gas stations.
President of the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce Charles Milliard urged the government to lift the measures as soon as possible.
“The last thing businesses need during these difficult times is additional restrictions,” Milliard said in a statement. “We must leave the choice to businesses to open or close at the time that makes the most sense for them, their employees and their customers.”
The closures came as Quebec reported 15,845 new COVID-19 cases, as well as 13 additional deaths linked to the virus.
The Health Department said the number of hospitalisations linked to the disease rose by 70 to 1,231. It said 162 people are in intensive care, an increase of nine.
A woman walks by a closed store in a shopping mall in Montreal. PHOTO: AP
Quebec City’s main hospital network said it will postpone half of its surgeries and medical appointments starting tomorrow due to the spike in COVID patients.
President and CEO of the CHU de Québec-Université Laval told a news conference that as many as 10,000 medical appointments could be delayed, allowing roughly 50 nurses to also be redirected to the
pandemic’s ward. The hospital network said 783 health-care workers are in isolation, in addition to the 600 nurses already missing from the workforce before the pandemic’s fifth wave hit. The strain caused by the growing number of cases is exacerbated in remote communities where health care is already limited.
Bearskin Lake First Nation, a fly-in only community in northern Ontario, declared a state of emergency on December 30 when 43 residents tested positive for the virus.
By Sunday, 169 people had confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, more than 40 per cent of the total population.
“That’s a crisis,” Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Derek Fox said in an interview.
Outbreaks in remote communities are also affecting Nunavut, northern Quebec and Labrador.
Nunavut confirmed another 22 cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total to 196 in just 10 days.
Nunavut is discouraging all non-essential travel within the territory and has banned non-essential travel to and from several communities, including Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Igloolik and Pangnirtung.
Travel bans are also in place now in Nunavik in northern Quebec until mid-January, with only critical or essential travel allowed into or out of the region’s 14 villages.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar yesterday reminded the public that hospital visits are only permitted for critically or terminally ill patients and only two immediate family members at a time.
The minister said the recently updated visitor and carer policy in government hospitals is aimed at safeguarding the well-being of visitors, patients and hospital staff from exposure to COVID-19.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said visitors are requested to comply with all instructions given by hospital staff.
The minister said, “The Ministry of Health cannot emphasise enough that the number of people allowed to visit critically or terminally ill patients at intensive care unit (ICU) or cardiac care unit (CCU) or regular wards are two immediate family members at a time.”
He iterated that antigen rapid test (ART) certificates must be shown to hospital staff prior to entering ICU, CCU or regular wards. However, one carer is permitted for any patient according to the guidelines.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Americans returning home from holiday travel had to battle another day of airport chaos on Sunday, with more than 2,600 flights cancelled due to bad weather or airline staffing woes sparked by a surge in Covid cases.
Further disruptions are predicted as a winter storm blows eastward.
As of 10pm more than 2,650 domestic flights or international ones starting or finishing in the United States (US) had been cancelled – almost as many as the 2,750 scrapped over the course of Saturday, said the flight-tracking service FlightAware.
That figure represented well over half of the nearly 4,400 flights cancelled around the world. Almost 8,600 US flights were delayed.
Southwest Airlines, one of the hardest-hit carriers, had to cancel some 400 flights on Sunday morning, a spokesperson said in an email to AFP, adding that it expected further cancellations.
On Saturday, poor weather, much of it linked to Winter Storm Frida, forced Southwest to cancel 490 flights, most of them in the centre-north states south of the Great Lakes and reaching west to the Great Plains.
The result: intense frustration for many travellers.
Airline passengers wait to collect bags from a baggage carousel at the Harry Reid International Airport. PHOTO: AFP
“This is insane,” tweeted Haley, a Southwest passenger who was trying to fly out of Chicago.
“This is the third cancellation and still not home. Was supposed to be home four days ago!!!”
Airports in Chicago – a major transit hub – were the most affected on Saturday, but by Sunday the airports in Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, Houston and Newark were also hard hit.
A woman named Kayla described her own ordeal: “I was supposed to get home at 10.30am yesterday and at this point I’ve had three flights cancelled and one delayed to the point where I missed my connection.”
Around the world, air traffic has suffered snarls since the holidays because of airline staffing issues linked to the spread of the highly contagious Omicron coronavirus variant. Many pilots and flight attendants have called in sick after testing positive for the virus or being forced to quarantine due to contact with someone who has the virus.
This has left carriers with staffing shortages and forced them to delay or cancel flights.
The latest travel chaos carried echoes of a frustrating holiday weekend, when around 7,500 flights around the world were scrapped.
And rebooking cancelled flights has been a major challenge for many. One traveller, Eric Crawford, described his frustration at trying to call a Delta Airline agent to reschedule.
“An estimated wait time of 22+ hours to speak with a rep about a cancelled flight,” he said on Twitter, “is not the best look for starting 2022.”
And Kowshick Boddu offered this account, also on Twitter, about his troubles with Alaska Air: “We were supposed to fly out from Fairbanks to San Jose on December 30, but our flights got rescheduled to today which is eventually cancelled again??? Long customer call wait hours, no response and flights not been rebooked? Need help!!”
AMSTERDAM (AFP) – Thousands of protesters defied authorities and gathered in the Dutch capital Amsterdam on Sunday to oppose coronavirus restrictions, leading to clashes and 30 arrests.
“This is Holland! Power to the people!” chanted one protester.
The demonstrators rallied in one of the city’s main squares, despite Dutch authorities banning the protest beforehand.
Police said anti-riot officers had to use force after protesters refused to leave the square despite a warning.
Four officers were injured in the clashes with protesters and 30 arrests were made for offences including assault, public disorder, possession of a forbidden weapon and not respecting security forces, they added.
Local media reported that at least two protesters suffered injuries.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced a lockdown on December 18, one week before December 25, 2021, in response to a fresh wave of COVID infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Non-essential shops, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and museums will remain closed until January 14 and schools until January 9.
Under the new rules, only two people may meet outdoors, with an exception for burials, but no travel restrictions were imposed.
Dutch riot police beat a protestor during clashes as thousands of people defied a ban to gather and protest the Dutch government’s coronavirus lockdown measures in Amsterdam. PHOTO: AP
There were reports of antigen rapid test (ART) kits giving false negatives for Omicron variant because of reduced sensitivity. However, Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar said it is unknown which ART kits the reports referred to.
During a press conference yesterday, the minister added, “We must understand that ART is not 100 per cent accurate but it is in the 90 per cent and above range.The test kits approved for sale in Brunei had gone through rigorous tests to ensure reliable results.”
Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said false positives are more commonly reported but the results can easily be confirmed with a PCR test.
The minister noted, “What we fear is false negative as it gives false assurance”, while urging the public to use only approved test kits.
MADRID (AFP) – Over 4,000 migrants died or disappeared trying to reach Spain by sea in 2021, twice as many as in the previous year, a migrant rights group said yesterday.
Migrant arrivals in Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic have increased since late 2019 after increased patrols along Europe’s southern coast dramatically reduced crossings to the continent via the Mediterranean.
This route is fraught with dangers due to strong currents and the greater distances involved.
A total of 4,404 migrants perished or vanished in attempts to reach Spain last year, up from 2,170 in 2020, according to Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras, which tracks data from boats in distress.
That is the highest yearly number since the group started keeping records in 2015.
The bodies of the vast majority of migrants, 94 per cent, were never found so they are counted as missing.
Over 90 per cent of the deaths or disappearances last year, 4,016, took place during attempts to reach Spain’s Canary Islands.
The shortest route to the archipelago is more than 100 kilometres from the Moroccan coat.
“There are painful figures,” Maria Gonzalez Rollan, one of the authors of the annual report, told a news conference.
Migration routes to Spain were becoming more “feminised”, with 628 women and 205 children among those who died or went missing last year while trying to reach the country, she added.
The figures from the non-governmental organisation are much higher than those from the United Nations International Organization for Migration which has tallied 1,279 deaths or disappearances of migrants on their way to Spain from northern Africa last year.
At least 37,385 migrants arrived in Spain by sea last year, according to Spanish interior ministry figures, slightly less than the 38,014 that arrived in 2020.
Izah Azahari, Daniel Lim, Azlan Othman & James Kon
Fully-vaccinated students yesterday headed back to school for face-to-face learning for the first time since the second wave of COVID-19 hit the Sultanate. The adoption of temperature check and weekly antigen rapid test (ART) are set to be part of the new school norm.
Some 291 Meragang Sixth Form Centre students returned to their classroom yesterday after getting their temperatures checked, and BruHealth code verified at the entrance to the school premises. COVID-19 testing will be conducted every Monday morning at the school’s hall.
According to PTEM PR officer, students tested positive for COVID-19 will be isolated and requested to take a PCR test.
“We have all the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place, including social distancing and wearing face masks at all times.”
“Meanwhile, partially vaccinated students will receive home-learning packs.”
The sixth form centre hoped the students will take advantage of the physical lessons to receive the best education and prepare themselves for upcoming examinations.
“We want to take this opportunity to thank teachers, parents and students for their support during home-based learning,” added the officer.
The sixth form centre also thanked the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) for the support and provision of personal protective equipment.
A student gets his temperature checked. PHOTOS: BAHYIAH BAKIR, JAMES KON & SMSAA student verifies her BruHealth code with a school staffStudents at Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School take an antigen rapid testABOVE & BELOW: Meragang Sixth Form Centre students on the first day of school; and Sayyidina Ali Secondary School students await result from their COVID-19 test
ABOVE & BELOW: PTEM students during a class; and Amirah Syaqinah binti Abu Bakar and Ummi Nur Sabrina during an interview with the Bulletin
Acting Principal of Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School Pengiran Mohd Ariffin bin Pengiran Haji Aliuddin oversees COVID-19 testing for studentsTeachers and staff ready to assist students during the antigen rapid test session
“We are confident our teachers are ready to continue teaching and learning,” said the PR officer.
In adhering to the rules, regulations and guidelines set by the MoH and MoE, returning Years 10 and 11 students of Sayyidina Ali Secondary School in Belait District yesterday took the ART and attended an hour-long refresher course.
Principal Steven Shim Sheau Huei said the course aimed to help students acclimatise themselves to the new norm.
“Over the course of five months of hiatus from physical lessons since August 7 last year, Sayyidina Ali Secondary School outlined SOPs that are aligned with the guidelines set by the MoH and MoE,” Shim said.
Shim also said the staff and teachers have taken extra precautionary steps in ensuring the health and safety of both the students and teachers.
“We advised our teachers to be fully vaccinated and to conduct ART every two weeks,” Shim said. “And for those who are not yet fully vaccinated, they have to take the test every two days.”
“This,” he added, “is in addition to the regular temperature check as well as the use of BruHealth application.”
The principal said the school not only focusses on ensuring that the students are on track with their education; but also safeguarding the health, both physically and mental of the students and teachers.
To mark the start of new academic year, SMSA will conduct Year 7 orientation virtually, starting today.
Meanwhile, students from Arabic schools across the country and Institut Tahfiz Al-Quran Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah joined others in resuming face-to-face classes yesterday as part of the first stage of the Endemic Phase after months of remote learning due to the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Sanah 10, 11 and Pre-U students began physical classes yesterday, while others continue their lessons online using home learning pack.
Some 707 Pre-U1 and Pre-U2 Hassanal Bolkiah Boys Arabic Secondary School students, 634 Sanah 10 and 11 Hassanal Bolkiah Boys Arabic Secondary School students, 712 Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha Girls Arabic Secondary School students and 99 Ma’had Islam Brunei students began their physical lessons yesterday.
Meanwhile, 68 Aliyah Qiraat Diploma students and 136 Years 10 and 11 Institut Tahfiz Al-Quran Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah students also stepped onto the school grounds for the first time since August 2020.
Others continue learning via home learning packs.
Returning students were tested for the virus, had their body temperature checked and attendance taken as part of SOPs for schools during the Early Endemic Phase.
Among the activities arranged included Hajat prayer, reading 30 chapters of Al-Quran, Doa Khatam Al-Quran, Thanksgiving prayer, Doa against COVID-19 and Doa Peliharakan Sultan and Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Over 300 Years 10 and 11 students of Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Masna Secondary School also returned to face-to-face learning yesterday.
Acting Principal Pengiran Mohd Ariffin bin Pengiran Haji Aliuddin was present to oversee the school re-opening following a four-month hiatus due to the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak in the Sultanate.
Students got their temperatures checked and underwent testing for COVID-19 at the schools’ multipurpose hall prior to the first class.
Teachers and staff were on hand to assist the students carrying out the test to ensure safety and efficiency.
Teachers and staff were asked to conduct their own ART the day before the school re-opening.
According to Pengiran Mohd Ariffin, “All teachers and staff have already received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and half have also received their boosters.
“Alhamdulillah, we can continue face-to-face lessons today. Students who are allowed to come to school, do not have to worry about anything other than the class. The important part is to always follow the SOPs. We hope that the resumption of classroom learning will motivate the students to give their best in school.”
A Year 10 student, Ummi Nur Sabrina, relished the opportunity to be back on school grounds with her friends.
“After four months off missing classroom learning, I am thankful to be back in school again. Online classes were challenging and very stressful. I feel very excited and happy to be back in school to see and meet my friends as well as teachers while at the same time maintaining a social distance with others. We also need to wear face masks all the times and use hand sanitiser regularly.
She added, “I have done ART before, so I am comfortable with it. It’s easy to use. However, I do feel nervous when I am waiting for the result. When the result shows I’m negative, I feel immediate relief.”
Meanwhile, Amirah Syaqinah binti Abu Bakar, also in Year 10, said, “I am very happy to be able to come back to school again. I am very thankful to be able to continue my studies in the classroom.
“Online classes were quite stressful; I struggled to fully grasp some of the subjects. Now, I can see my friends and teachers in person after four months of learning remotely.
“The ART can give us a peace of mind, knowing that we are not infected. It was my first time taking ART and I felt ticklish in the nose and wanted to sneeze.
“At first, I felt nervous. But once the result was out, I was relieved to learn I am negative for the coronavirus.”
AP – Is anyone going to CES this year? A long-simmering question in the tech world will finally get its answer as the gadget show returns to the Las Vegas Strip after a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We know it will be a smaller show this year, for obvious reasons,” said Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Senior Vice President Jean Foster. CTA is the event organiser.
Several huge tech companies have abandoned plans to attend in person. The latest sign of its dwindling size was Friday’s announcement that CES will run one day shorter than originally planned.
The sprawling exhibition floors open tomorrow as the spread of COVID-19’s omicron variant has heightened concerns about the safety of indoor events and international travel.
The CTA by late December was anticipating between 50,000 and 75,000 attendees for this week’s conference, down from more than 170,000 who came for the last in-person gathering two years ago.
Some die-hard CES devotees were mulling over the choice to go or stay home right up until last week.
“An online CES is not a real CES,” said Prince Constantijn of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in a December interview. “You’ve got to see the products and meet the people.” But a week later, the royal who regularly serves as a special envoy for Dutch technology start-ups had opted to stay home after all.
His country is sending a barebones crew to CES 2022. So are many big tech companies – if they send anyone at all.
The last physical CES in January 2020 pumped an estimated USD300 million into the Las Vegas economy.
Few attendees would have known then about the coronavirus outbreak emerging in central China and still months away from being declared a pandemic.
The CTA took the conference online in 2021 as COVID-19 hospitalisations were spiking around the world and vaccines weren’t yet widely available.
The trade group announced eight months ago it was ready to come back to Nevada in 2022 but would offer options for remote participants to see some of it virtually.
Those who do travel to CES are required to show they are fully vaccinated and will be given a COVID-19 test kit. Masks are required inside.
“CES is maybe the most significant event economically of the year in terms of conventions,” said Alan Feldman, a former executive who is a fellow at the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Even a significantly reduced event will be “something to look forward to” for local hotels, restaurants, retailers and entertainment crews, Feldman said.
With a smaller audience and the same sprawling footprint occupied by some 2,000 exhibitors, and a desire to keep people distanced, the CTA’s Foster said the “main change for people” will be more empty space and wider aisles.
Much about the Omicron coronavirus variant remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness.
Scientists said Omicron spreads even more easily than other coronavirus strains, including Delta.
Even without a pandemic to dampen the party, tech industry analyst Carolina Milanesi said “big industry events like this are becoming less important than they used to be” as digital technology has supplied other ways to network and keep up with trends.
CES used to stand for Consumer Electronics Show, but Milanesi said the decades-old gathering has become less a place to find the next line of consumer gadgetry and more focussed on longer-term technology cycles, like self-driving cars or the artificial intelligence applications being fused into smart homes and cities.
“You no longer go to CES to see what’s going to be in the Best Buy near you by summer,” Milanesi said. New expo categories centred around the digital assets called non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, as well as space technology and food, reflect the latest tech buzzwords on the minds of investors and marketers.
Some companies also plan to hype their vision for the next generation of the Internet – a collection of virtual worlds known as the metaverse – though explored from the confines of a physical convention floor.
Milanesi has regularly attended CES for a decade to keep an eye on tech companies and trends but public health concerns led her to mull over whether she’d go this time.
She made a final decision in mid-December to attend, but plans to do things differently – visiting the exhibition halls but skipping big speaking events she can watch from her hotel room.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Verizon and AT&T have rejected a request by the United States (US) government to delay the rollout of next-generation wireless technology.
A joint letter on Sunday from the telecommunications giants to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, sought to dismiss concerns brought by US airlines that a new 5G wireless service could harm aviation.
But CEO of Verizon Communications Hans Vestberg and CEO of AT&T John Stankey also wrote that they were willing to accept some temporary measures over the next six months to limit the service around certain airport runways.
Airlines had asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to delay the scheduled 5G rollout, saying the service, set to launch tomorrow, could interfere with electronics that pilots rely on.
Airlines for America, a trade group for large US passenger and cargo carriers, said in an emergency filing that the FCC has failed to adequately consider the harm that 5G service could do to the industry.
A China Airlines cargo jet lands at John F Kennedy International Airport. PHOTO: AP
The group wants more time for the FCC and the FAA, which regulates airlines, to resolve issues around aviation safety.
Those are related to a type of 5G service that relies on chunks of radio spectrum called C-Band, which wireless carriers spent billions of dollars to buy up last year.
Siding in part with airlines, Buttigieg and Dickson wrote late Friday to the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon to propose a delay in activating 5G C-band service near an undetermined number of “priority airports” while the FAA studies the potential for interference with aircraft operations.
AT&T and Verizon previously agreed to a one-month delay in 5G, which provides faster speeds when mobile devices connect to their networks and allows users to connect many devices to the internet without slowing it down.
But the telecommunications executives said on Sunday that further delays requested by the government would harm their customers.
NEW DELHI (AFP) – Oxfam India said restrictions on its access to international funds will have severe consequences for its humanitarian work and hinder provision of vital medical equipment to fight the COVID pandemic.
The charity group’s local arm said a decision by the country’s home ministry meant that from January 1 it was no longer able to receive foreign funding to finance relief work.
It comes just a week after India imposed the same restrictions on the Missionaries of Charity, founded by the late Mother Teresa.
Oxfam India chief Amitabh Behar said his organisation had worked closely with local partners to “provide life-saving equipment and support” during the pandemic.
The ministry’s decision “will severely hamper these collaborations which were providing relief to those who needed it the most during times of crisis”, he said in a Sunday statement.
Charities and non-profit firms in India need to register under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to receive money from abroad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been accused of cutting off access to funding for rights groups and charities based in the country.
Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, which runs shelter homes across India, had its permission revoked last week for “not meeting the eligibility conditions”, according to the home ministry, which did not give further details.
In total the ministry refused to renew FCRA registration for 179 non-government organisations, according to The Hindu newspaper.
Amnesty International announced it was halting operations in India after the government froze its bank accounts in 2020.
