Business
Alberta reports 195 new COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths – CBC.ca
Alberta reported 195 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and 12 more deaths from the illness.
Across the province, 427 people were being treated for the illness in hospitals, including 78 in ICU beds.
More than 124,000 doses of vaccine have been administered so far, with 32,700 people now fully immunized with two doses.
There were 5,831 active cases. A regional breakdown of those cases on Tuesday was:
- Calgary zone: 2,335
- Edmonton zone: 1,748
- Central zone: 656
- South zone: 325
- North zone: 758
- Unknown: 9
One more case of a virus variant was detected over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 104 in the province. Of those, 97 are the strain first identified in the United Kingdom and seven have been the strain first identified in South Africa.
“I know there are concerns about one of these more contagious variants becoming the dominant strain in the province,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday at a news conference. “This is a serious worry for me, too.”
According to statistics posted Tuesday on the Alberta government website, more than half of the 104 cases are in the Calgary zone.
The breakdown shows the Calgary zone with 52 cases of the variant first identified in the U.K., compared to 32 in Edmonton zone and 13 in Central zone. Calgary zone also has five cases of the other variant of concern, with the other two in Edmonton zone.
Hinshaw said it’s important to keep the numbers in context and to understand what they indicate about the spread of the virus.
“For context, the first variant case in Alberta was identified retrospectively in a sample originally taken on Dec. 15 from a returning traveller,” she said. “From that day until now, there have been 104 positive variant cases identified among all the samples that have been taken.”
During that same time, more than 43,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the province, which means variant cases made up one-quarter of one per cent of all the cases identified since Dec. 15.
‘Variants are still very rare’
“This does not in any way minimize the threat that these variants pose or the impact they will have if we let them spread widely,” Hinshaw said. “However, so far, variants are still very rare and we are working hard to keep it that way.”
Hinshaw said there are six classes in five different schools where a student attended while infectious with a variant of the virus.
“To date, there has been no in-class transmission of variants of concern that has been reported to me,” she said.
The precautions in place in schools appear to be protective against in-class spread of the virus, including the variants, Hinshaw said.
“Alberta Health Services has followed up with all of these locations, has offered double testing to all of the students in those classes, and in some cases their household contacts, when there has been a delay based on the timelines of testing.”
Monday marked the first step on Alberta’s four-stage plan to ease restrictions.
Restaurants were allowed to open their dining rooms and gyms were allowed to open for one-on-one training sessions.
Sports and entertainment-related activities resumed in schools. Lessons and practices for youth team-based minor sports and athletics were once again allowed but games remain prohibited.
Indoor gatherings remain banned
Retail stores and churches can operate at 15 per cent capacity. Entertainment venues such as museums and movie theatres remain closed.
All indoor gatherings remain banned. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people.
The four-stage reopening is tied mainly to hospitalization rates. There will be a three-week lag between each stage to assess any impact on infection rates.
A decision on Step 2 is expected to be made on Feb. 28. If 450 or fewer people are then in hospital with the illness, restrictions could be further eased.
The restrictions have been in place since mid-December, when cases spiked and put dangerous strain on the health-care system. Daily infections topped 1,800 and more than 800 COVID-19 patients were in hospitals.
The total number of deaths now stands at 1,722.
Business
Rupture on TC Energy's NGTL gas pipeline sparks wildfire in Alberta – The Globe and Mail
A section of TC Energy’s TRP-T NGTL gas pipeline system in Alberta ruptured and caught fire on Tuesday, sparking a wildfire in a remote area, the company said.
“An initial ignition of natural gas at the rupture site is now extinguished. We are working to support Alberta Wildfire in their response to contain a secondary fire,” the company said in a statement on its website.
TC said there were no injuries and it was working closely with first responders in the region.
How fire broke out at the TC gas pipeline near Edson, Alberta
The fire broke out about 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Edson, Alberta, in Yellowhead County. Canadian broadcaster Global News said there was a plume of flames and smoke visible from many kilometres away.
The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) said initial investigations indicated a rupture in a gas pipeline caused the fire, which was under control.
TC Energy said it has isolated and shut down the affected section of the NGTL system, and the remainder of the system is operating normally with no commercial impact.
The CER said it is sending inspectors to the area to monitor and oversee the company’s response and determine the impact of the incident.
NGTL is TC Energy’s natural gas gathering and transportation system that transports gas produced in Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to markets in Canada and United States.
Business
Gas prices in GTA expected to rise 14 cents on Thursday – CityNews Toronto
Drivers in the GTA are bracing for a double-digit spike at the gas pumps on Thursday, as the price is expected to rise 14 cents at midnight.
Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst with En-Pro International Inc., tells CityNews the price at gas pumps is set to rise to 178.9 cents/litre at local stations. The price as of Wednesday is 164.9 cents/litre.
The last time gas prices were this high was back in August 2022.
McKnight says the spike is due to price increases for wholesale gas and only applies to gasoline. He adds the price for diesel will increase by 0.4 cents.
Earlier this month, the price rose to its highest levels in six months following the implementation of the federal carbon price, also referred to as the carbon tax.
That saw the carbon tax on gasoline go up by 3.3 cents per litre, while diesel increased by 4.1 cents per litre.
With files from John Marchesan of CityNews
Business
TC Energy responds to incident in Yellowhead County – TC Energy
Update #1
Media statement – April 16, 2024, 1:30 p.m. MDT
We can confirm that we are actively responding to an incident involving the NGTL natural gas system approximately 40 kilometres northwest of Edson, Alta in Yellowhead County.
TC Energy received notification about this incident at approximately 11 a.m. MT and immediately activated our emergency response procedures. We are coordinating with emergency first responders. The affected section of the pipeline has been isolated and shut down. There are no reported injuries. Our primary focus right now is the health and safety of responding personnel, surrounding communities and mitigating risk to the environment.
We are making all appropriate notifications to regulators, customers, stakeholders and Indigenous communities.
We will provide more information as soon as it becomes available.
Further inquiries can be sent to TC Energy media relations at media@tcenergy.com
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