Harbour westin toronto

Toronto will cancel all in-person learning at elementary and secondary schools as of Wednesday, health authorities said as Canada deals with a variant-driven third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the younger population hard.

Canada’s largest school district, serving around 247,000 students, will move to remote learning until April 18, with the potential to extend based on case trend data. It follows a similar move by another school board in Ontario province on Monday.

“Schools should be the first places in our community to open, and the last to close,” Toronto Public Health said in a statement on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, current circumstances require that difficult decisions must be taken locally to protect all those in our school communities.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned of a “very serious” third wave facing the country which is pushing up hospitalizations and rapidly filling up intensive care beds.

“Around the world, countries are facing a very serious third wave of this pandemic,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “And right now, so is Canada.”

Canada has averaged nearly 5,200 new coronavirus cases per day over the past week, and has recorded a total of more than a million positive tests and 23,000 deaths.

Younger Canadians are bearing the brunt of the latest increase in infections, creating growing demand for artificial lungs and a struggle to maintain staffing in critical care units as hospitals make last-ditch efforts to save patients.

Canada’s most populous province of Ontario entered a limited lockdown on Saturday, but some officials are calling for more drastic measures.

“We’re going to have further restrictions moving forward very, very quickly,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters in Toronto. “We’ll discuss that tomorrow.”

He expressed frustration at seeing people in Toronto “going into the mall, doing their little wander ‘round, and coming out with no bags,” Ford said. “That tells me they were just out for a daily jaunt. You can’t do that.”

Canadian provinces from Quebec westward to British Columbia, with the exception of Manitoba, are struggling against increases in coronavirus infections.

The federal government has delivered more than 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccines so far, and provincial health agencies are in the process of administering shots. Trudeau has said everyone among the 38 million Canadians who want to be vaccinated will be by the end of September.

By displaying 19 hanging mosaics of various sizes, each comprising a myriad of fabric squares from discarded garments, Vo Tran Chau has blurred the line between her two major arts practices: embroidery and photography. She granted an interview to Nhan Dan (People) Weekly Newspaper to talk more about the exhibition.

Question: As a graduate from the Vietnam University of Fine Arts with a major in lacquer work, what brought you to practice with cloth and fabric?

Artist Vo Tran Chau : I have years working on contemporary art after my graduation. I had tried different materials before realising that cloth and fabric drew my interest the most and fit with me the most. Since I was a little girl, I have worked at my family’s sewing factory.

My first solo exhibition in 2017, ‘Neo Lai Ky Lau ’ (Lingering at the Peculiar Pavilion), also featured embroidered paintings, fabric sculptures and a unique form of mosaic tapestries on daily costumes and outfits of descendants of the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945).

When embarking on the ‘Leaf Picking in the Ancient Forest’ exhibition, I decided to utilise old shirts that I had collected from unclaimed containers at the Saigon and Cat Lai harbours. I also used abandoned second-hand clothes in order to minimise the amount of waste released into the environment.

Why did you choose to work on old clothes rather and higher quality fabrics or other materials?

I think that every outfit has its own story and life, and each of them can tell the story of its owner. After collecting the huge amount of used cloths, my mother and I began classify them for recycling. I gave those which are still in good condition to workers near my house, and I used those which are unrecyclable as the material for my exhibition.

You can see the four artworks in the centre of the gallery, forming a circle. They represent four textile factories, namely the Nam Dinh, March 8, Phu Phong and Phu Lam factories, which were built under the French rule and have now been torn down to build new urban areas.

Works on display at the ‘Leaf Picking in the Ancient Forest’ exhibition Photo: The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre)

As you may know, the fashion industry is one of the major polluting industries in the world. Does the ‘Leaf Picking in the Ancient Forest’ imply your art discourse on the environment?

Through the exhibition, I want to convey my meditations on life and the environment around me. It is obvious that our environment is being devastated by the rapid development of urbanisation and pragmatism, causing many consequences for water and air, as well as climate change.

As everyone knows, the fashion industry is one of the major polluting industries, as the excessive production and consumption of fibres, and garments used in fashion all contribute to differing forms of environmental pollution.

‘Leaf Picking in the Ancient Forest’ also recreated old buildings in the county which have been passed by time, including Tra Co Church, Gia Dinh School, Saigon Tax Trade Centre, and Ba Son Shipyard. What inspired you to recreate the buildings?

In contrast with the growth of that clothing mountain is the disappearance of cultural heritages. Therefore, I want to use things no one uses anymore to recreate a space of the past, which is in memory of people.

I worked with Tran Quang Duc, a person with a great understanding of history who shares the same aspiration to share about things from the past through history.

As an artist, what do you think about the disappearance of heritages and vestiges?

As an artist, I am working as a story teller. From the bottom of my heart, I still feel regretful and uneasy when a beautiful thing is about to disappear. I have seen that many countries in the world have worked to convert or restore old buildings, which can tell a story about their history.

I hope that similar solution will be adopted in Vietnam. As the buildings disappear, I keep wondering about visual evidence with which to tell our descendants about history.

Thank you so much for your sharing!

The project has been implemented by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the US-based Google Group, for nearly two years. It has so far featured 1,369 high-quality art photos and attractive interactive features.

Google Arts and Culture is the largest online digital library platform in the world, formed in 2011 with the aim of digitising tangible and intangible heritage in order to preserve and promote its value. The platform is both like a museum and an online tour accessible to everyone around the world at any time, anywhere and for free. Its outstanding feature is the ability to store unlimited high-resolution images and videos as well as applying the latest technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

With 35 component exhibitions, the “Wonders of Vietnam” programme introduces not only the beauty of Vietnam’s majestic and pristine nature but also its unique cultural heritage in areas such as architecture, cuisine, the performing arts, festivals and trade villages. Photographer Tran Tuan Viet, who was selected for the photography section, took more than 5,000 photos within three months around the central provinces. He then chose nearly 1,400 photos for the virtual exhibition. He has also been a well-known name in the Vietnamese photography community for many years thanks to his exclusive collaboration with many leading magazines and social networks around the world and his unique “storytelling” photography style that uses images to tell stories.

Divided across many small themes, each photo in the “Wonders of Vietnam” exhibition is a story (in both Vietnamese and English) that helps foreigners and Vietnamese people learn more about the country through famous destinations such as caves in Quang Binh province, tombs and temples in Hue ancient city, bridges across the Han river in Da Nang and old craft villages in Hoi An city (Quang Nam province). The virtual exhibition takes visitors on a journey to Vietnam through interesting and evocative information.

One of the most impressive exhibitions in the project is the exhibition on Son Doong cave in the central province of Quang Binh, the largest cave with its own climate and ecosystem. In addition to admiring the overwhelmingly vast images and magical light, viewers can experience the sound of the wind blowing through the caves.

From a new perspective, viewers have the chance to admire the collection of panoramic images and photos taken from above by remote control flying devices. The seemingly familiar destinations such as beaches, roads, harbours, field and monuments appear with a different beauty. For visitors who are interested in culture, music and history, the exhibition introduces artifacts revealing the life of kings during the Nguyen Feudal Dynasty, 3D models of the tombs of Tu Duc and the Khai Dinh Kings, Champa antiques, Hue’s Royal Court Music and ancient craft villages.

The organisation of the virtual exhibition “Wonders of Vietnam” was one of the outstanding efforts made by Vietnam’s tourism sector in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Originating in the four central localities of Hue, Quang Binh, Da Nang and quang Nam, the project will be expanded to spread the attractiveness of Vietnamese tourism to international visitors during a time when international tourism is temporarily “frozen”.

The VNAT’s General Director Nguyen Trung Khanh affirmed that the exhibition is considered a “window” to show off Vietnam’s unique culture, wonders and heritage honoured by UNESCO to the world, meeting international visitor demands in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic having affected global tourism and attracting them to Vietnam as soon as conditions allow.

In the coming time, cooperative campaigns between the Vietnamese tourism sector and many global digital platforms will continue to be implemented, significantly contributing to the digital transformation of Vietnam’s tourism and realising the ambition of making Vietnam one of the leading destinations in Asia.

Maya Malik, P roject D irector of the La Gan Offshore Wind Project

Maya Malik, Project Director of the La Gan Offshore Wind Project, emphasised La Gan’s social and economic benefits, and contribution to Vietnam’s green energy transition.

The statement came as part of the Earth Hour 2021 programme on VTV1 on March 27 – the day designated around the world in which individuals and businesses are encouraged to switch off all non-essential electric lights for one hour as a symbol of our commitment to the planet.

Last year’s Earth Hour inspired a huge following – in Vietnam the initiative specifically called for a change in three areas related to consumption behaviours– energy, plastic waste, and wildlife. All 63 provinces in the country took part, with 44 LED screens being erected for public advertising, and 100 electricity booths set up in Hanoi’s iconic Old Quarter, supported by Vietnam Electricity.

Earth Hour’s goals for 2021 include supporting the critical role of nature in a healthy future and promoting sustainable behaviours. The campaign targets to reach 2 million people on social media within Vietnam, and include the participation of over 30 media partners in the country.

With that, the La Gan project has committed to support the event and join forces with MoIT and MoNRE to help Earth Hour achieve even more this year.

Ms Malik said, “Vietnam is lucky to have some of the best renewal energy resources in the world, and in the latest draft of the National Power Development Plan, the Vietnamese government has sent a clear signal that it will keep supporting the growth of renewables. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Asiapetro, and Novasia, in collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark, are strongly committed to building one of the first large scale offshore wind farms in the country”.

The 3.5GW La Gan project is expected to provide a range of social and economic benefits to Vietnam. According to a detailed economic impact study conducted by international experts BVG Associates, the 3.5GW La Gan project could generate over 45,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, where 1 FTE is 1 job for 1 year. In addition, the venture could contribute over $4.4 billion to the Vietnamese economy.

About 250 TWh of clean energy will be generated over the project’s lifetime, which could power around 7 million households. Furthermore, up to 130 million tonnes of CO2 emissions could be avoided over the lifetime of the project.

La Gan has obtained provincial approval for a survey license and pre-feasibility study, and is currently awaiting central government approval. According to Ms Malik, four major survey contracts worth $10 million USD have been finalised to carry out site investigations upon survey license approval, and several MoUs with Vietnamese-based companies have been inked for foundation supply and harbour services.

“I’m passionate about supporting this green energy transition, and ensuring we transfer knowledge and support the Vietnamese economy as much as possible,” Malik explained. “We have a great team who work really hard. We are looking forward to seeing offshore wind take off in Vietnam.”

PV

OTTAWA/TORONTO — Canadian health officials said on Monday they would stop offering AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to people under age 55 and require a new analysis of the shot’s benefits and risks based on age and gender.

The moves follow reports from Europe of rare but serious blood clots, bleeding and in some cases death after vaccination, mainly in young women. No such cases have been reported in Canada, with about 307,000 AstraZeneca doses administered.

“We are pausing the use of AstraZeneca vaccine to adults under 55 years of age pending further risk benefit analysis,” Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo said at a media briefing.

Njoo later noted that Canada was taking this “prudent” approach because alternative vaccines are available. Most of Canada’s supply so far has come from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc.

The National Advisory Council of Immunization (NACI), an independent expert panel, said the rate that the clotting complication happens at is not yet clear. So far, 40% of people who have developed it have died, but that may fall as more cases are identified and treated early, it said.

“From what is known at this time, there is substantial uncertainty about the benefit of providing AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to adults under 55 years of age,” the council in a written recommendation.

Older people face a greater risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, and the complication seems to be more rare in that age group, NACI said, so they can be offered the vaccine “with informed consent.”

Health Canada said in a statement it would add new terms and conditions to the vaccine’s authorizations, including “a requirement that the manufacturers conduct a detailed assessment of the benefits and risks of the vaccine by age and sex in the Canadian context.”

Health Canada said it had been in talks with AstraZeneca, and once it has the requested information, it “will determine if additional regulatory actions are necessary.”

It was not immediately clear how long the assessment might take.

The pause affects both versions of the vaccine approved in Canada: One granted to AstraZeneca Canada, and a second for the Serum Institute of India (SII) – which is manufacturing its own version of the vaccine under license – and its Canadian partner Verity Pharmaceuticals.

Many European countries briefly stopped using the Anglo-Swedish firm’s vaccine while investigating the blood clot incidents earlier this month. Canada continued to administer doses, arguing that the benefits of vaccination outweighed potential risks.

Nearly all countries have since resumed use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. But France broke with guidance from the European medical regulator and said on March 19 it should only be given to people aged 55 or older. France said the decision was based on evidence that the clotting affected younger people.

Canada is expecting another 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this week from the United States, which has not yet authorized its use. Canada has ordered more than 20 million doses from AstraZeneca and SII.