Vital updates:
- Ontario has begun to vaccinate frontline healthcare workers today, with over 2,500 healthcare workers in hospitals and long-term care homes to be vaccinated in the coming days and weeks. Premier Ford has asked the province to be patient, and meanwhile, to continue following public health measures to keep everyone safe and healthy, especially during the holiday season.
- A new report by Statistics Canada conducted in June, 2020 examines gender differences in the self-reported division of parental tasks during the pandemic. Women reported that they were the ones who mostly performed the parental tasks in their household during the pandemic, including homeschooling. Further, employment status and work location affected the division of parental tasks within couples. For example, men who worked from home reported a more equal division of parenting tasks, but it was the opposite for women who worked from home as they were less likely to report sharing tasks equally and more likely to take on the bulk of the parenting responsibilities.
- Canada Post has moved up deadlines for pre-Christmas parcel delivery within Canada in response to unprecedented holiday demand caused by COVID-19 but is still telling Canadians to expect delays. While all deadlines for mail remain unchanged, the local deadline is Friday for Priority, Xpresspost, flat rate box and regular parcel services. The regional deadline is Friday for Priority and Xpresspost, Wednesday to Friday for flat rate box and Monday to Wednesday for regular service. The national deadline is Friday for Priority, Thursday for Xpresspost, Thursday for flat rate box and Tuesday for regular parcel services, though the regular parcel delivery deadline depends on the destination and may have already passed in some locations.
- A new briefing note from Niagara Workforce Planning Board (NWPB) focuses on the link between retail trade and tourism as part of a series on COVID-19 and its impact on the retail trade industry. Throughout 2019, the tourism sector in Niagara housed an estimated 40,741 full- and part-time jobs, including employees and self-employed individuals. These tourism-related jobs represented approximately 18.6% of all jobs in Niagara. Comparatively, the retail trade sector housed approximately 27,278 full- and part-time jobs in 2019 – approximately 12.4% of all jobs in Niagara (excluding self-employment). While an exact number of jobs lost to tourism due to COVID-19 is not available, we can estimate the potential impacts locally. Pairing current employment trends and 2019 job count data, NWPB estimates that Niagara saw an estimated 16,327 people lose employment in tourism. This would be a decrease of 42.3% in tourism-related employment between February and July 2020. This decrease is particularly troubling as it comes at a time when tourism is usually at its peak in Niagara. For more information, review the full briefing note here.
Reading recommendations:
- The future of money: After the pandemic, will you have your own ‘financial pandemic’? Melissa Leong, BNN Bloomberg
With the pandemic, our world seemed to change overnight and suddenly, the state of our finances became more salient, more pressing, and for many, perilous. Some of us have adopted behaviours when it comes to spending, saving, borrowing and investing that are unique to this time — ranging from helpful to harmful. But with officials touting light at the end of the tunnel, how will the pandemic have affected our money habits and financial values on the other side of it? Will the trauma of financial tumult change us forever? More importantly, how can we leverage the lessons for our own good?
- The Disunited Kingdom, Diane Francis, Financial Post
Britain has only 17 days to kowtow to Europe’s wishes. Regardless of what happens, the country will face difficulties that could tear the kingdom apart. Brexit will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in British history and recent polls show that 70 per cent of Britons agree. The country has already lost manufacturing, head offices and research opportunities during the lead-up to the departure. What’s astonishing is that there was no strategy in place then, or even now, as to how the country will retain its living standards. The idea of Britain becoming a free-trade, low-regulatory “Singapore on the Thames” is laughable. Europe will not allow the U.K. to undermine its rules, and the country’s structural flaws — a poor work ethic plus large income and educational disparities — will be exacerbated by going it alone.
- Once someone is vaccinated, do they still have to wear a mask? Your COVID-19 vaccine questions answered, Emily Chung, Amina Zafar, CBC News
Once someone is vaccinated, do they still have to wear a mask and physically distance? Can you still carry and spread the virus if you’ve been vaccinated? Will those who have tested positive for COVID get the vaccine or will they be deemed to have immunity? Is there any danger if they do get the vaccine? Can a person that has an active case of COVID-19 get the vaccine, and will it be effective while they are ill? What if only half the population is vaccinated? How much of the population has to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity?
If you are showing symptoms, contact your health care provider, call the Public Health Info-Line at 905-688-8248, or chat to Public Health online. For testing, call 905-378-4647 ext. 42819 (4-CV19) for information on test centres in Niagara and to book an appointment.
Previous updates can be accessed here.
The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
