Alberta is not bringing in any new health measures, despite Friday’s announcement of a record 1,155 new cases of COVID-19.
“Our current situation is grim,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said at a news conference.
But Hinshaw said officials are waiting to see if measures announced one week ago have an effect on case numbers before pursuing further restrictions to slow the spread.
“Of course, I am concerned,” she said. “The measures that we have put in place over the past several months may have somewhat slowed the growth, but they have not bent the curve as much as we need to.
“And we do need everyone to pull together to follow all of those measures to the letter, or unfortunately we will need to put in additional restrictions.”
Alberta has one of the highest infection rates in the country, but has among the fewest restrictions.
On Friday, Ontario restricted shopping, closed high schools, restaurants and bars, while other provinces mandated face masks.
‘Even if you don’t like them’
Hinshaw urged Albertans to follow mandatory and voluntary health measures.
“This weekend, I encourage everyone to abide by all public health measures even if you don’t like them, even if they’re inconvenient or even if you don’t agree with them. We must all do our part to bend the curve, prevent the health-care system from being overwhelmed and prevent more restrictive measures from coming into effect.”
WATCH | Alberta’s chief medical officer of health says health measures need to strike right balance
When asked about potential further restrictions, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, says it’s important to control COVID-19 spread while having “minimum impacts on people’s health in other ways.” 1:39
There were 11 deaths new deaths attributed to the disease, bringing the total number of deaths to 462.
Hinshaw dismissed the idea that only the elderly are vulnerable, pointing out two individuals in their 30s were among the deaths announced this past week. She also made it clear that people with co-morbidities include a significant number of Albertans of all ages.
“Severe outcomes are not limited just to those already at the very end of their lives, and it is a mistake to think so,” Hinshaw said,
“Having a chronic medical condition is very common,” she said. “These conditions include things like high blood pressure and diabetes. In Alberta, almost one-quarter of all adults over the age of 20 have a chronic condition. That is almost 800,000 people.
“When looking just at men in Alberta, more than half of men over 50 and almost 70 per cent of men over 65 have high blood pressure. That should not be a death sentence.”
Currently, 310 people are being treated in hospital, of which 58 are in intensive care units.
Hinshaw said that there are 173 general adult ICU beds in the province. While 70 have been designated for COVID-19 patients, more beds can be shifted if the need arises, she said.
“Alberta Health Services manages ICU beds and staff depending on demand from both COVID-19 patients and patients with other conditions that require intensive care,” she said.
“These beds can be used for many patient types. I want to assure Albertans that as more COVID-19 patients require intensive care, AHS is able to add additional intensive care capacity.”
AHS has prepared more ICU beds in the Edmonton and Calgary zones to be ready if needed, Hinshaw said.
“This is where most of the capacity is likely to be required, but creating this capacity means stopping or delaying other services, and this is the impact we want to avoid.”
More exemptions to long-term care single-site rule
As the pandemic continues to hammer long-term care homes, Hinshaw has signed an increasing number of exemptions to a rule that prevents staff from working at multiple facilities.
The province confirmed 22 long-term care or supportive living facilities have active exemptions to the single-site rule, an increase of seven in two weeks.
Exemptions to the rule were expected to be “extremely rare,” according to a public health order signed by Hinshaw in April.
But with 76 supportive and long-term care facilities in Alberta facing outbreaks as of Friday, Hinshaw says some operators need additional staff, as workers fall sick or are forced to quarantine.
“It really is about allowing the safe care provision for all the residents’ needs and allowing the workers to come to that site and support the staff that are there,” Hinshaw said Friday.
Hinshaw implemented the rule in late April in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus between facilities. The vast majority of long-term care staff are part-time or casual workers, who routinely took jobs at multiple sites to make ends meet before the pandemic.
Susan Slade, vice president with the Alberta Union of Public Employees, reiterated the union’s call for the government to hire more workers and take over staffing across private and public facilities, a move B.C. implemented early in the pandemic.
“I don’t understand why Alberta is not looking at this approach, why they’re not having consultations with the unions that are representing these members to ensure there is staffing,” she said.
Slade said staff who are picking up shifts at exempt facilities worry they could end up being the source of transmission to another long-term care home or their loved ones.
“The whole situation is frightening,” she said.
Hiding symptoms, risking health workers
Hinshaw said she has heard of people who have the disease covering up their symptoms while visiting hospitals to see loved ones.
“I understand that it is hard to not be able to see a loved one or accompany them to hospital, but we must all think beyond ourselves right now,” she said.
“If a provider or other member of a health care team gets sick, it means they are not available to treat patients for at least two weeks, which translates to a lack of staff to care for all patients.
“Ultimately if this behaviour continues, Alberta Health Service will have to consider limiting designated family and support and visitation even further. And that is not something we want AHS to have to do.”
The number of active cases now sits at 10,655, the highest number in Alberta since the pandemic began in March.
Here is how the active cases break down in the zones:
Edmonton zone: 4,520 cases
Calgary zone: 4,272 cases
North zone: 651 cases
South zone: 569 cases
Central zone: 564 cases
Unknown: 79 cases
The 11 deaths reported Friday include:
A woman in her 90s from Edmonton, linked to the outbreak at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
A woman in her 80s, also linked to the outbreak at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
A man in his 80s, linked to the outbreak at Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre.
A woman in her 60s from Edmonton, linked to an outbreak at Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
A woman in her 90s from the Edmonton zone, linked to the outbreak at Covenant Care Chateau Vitaline.
A man in his 90s, also linked to an outbreak at Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
A man in his 70s from the North zone, linked to the outbreak at Grande Prairie Care Centre.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
