Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said Monday that the varying daily new case numbers should not be a reason for complacency.
“There is some irony in the fact that my cautious optimism last week was followed by three days with new case counts over 100. It is a reminder that COVID continues to be with us and we cannot turn our backs on this virus.”
A massive backlog of cattle in the Alberta beef industry brought on by the pandemic is now easing, as large meat processors have ramped up production to pre-pandemic levels.
Face masks have been mandatory in all indoor spaces in Edmonton since Aug. 1, but a program brought forward by the City of Edmonton this past weekend provides exemptions to those who are unable to wear a mask due to physical or health conditions.
Edmontonians can go to any recreation centre in the city and can get an orange card that states, “I cannot wear a mask or face covering” in bold white letters. The card allows them to walk in malls, grocery stores and other indoor spaces mask-free.
While most students across Alberta will return to school in person this fall, some southern Alberta First Nations will adopt a separate scenario because schools on reserves are a federal responsibility, Alberta Education says.
At the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, students will return to school under what’s being called Scenario 2 — partial resumption of in-school classes with some distance learning.
The Kainai Nation — located in southern Alberta, with a 2015 population of 12,800 — says it’s too risky to send kids back to school full-time and has created its own hybrid scenario. Students will be split into two cohorts, one of which will attend school all day on Mondays and Wednesdays while the other will attend Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The Tsuut’ina Nation said in a release in late July that it will not be pursuing Scenario 1, but that it is reviewing Scenario 2.
Last week, the Alberta government announced that masks will be mandatory for all school staff and most Alberta students when they return to school in September.
Students from Grades 4 through 12 will be required to wear masks in all public spaces and can choose to wear them while seated in the class. Masks will be optional for younger students.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said in an emailed statement Saturday that “some have recently questioned the ability” of the provincial government to purchase the needed number of masks in time, adding that the government approached “experienced, established vendors” to ensure the masks would arrive before classes resume.
Here’s a regional breakdown of active cases across the province as of Monday.
Calgary zone: 365 cases (17 in hospital, 1 in ICU).
Edmonton zone: 388 cases (26 in hospital, 7 in ICU).
Central zone: 157 cases ( 11 in hospital, none in ICU).
North zone: 116 cases ( 5 in hospital, 2 in ICU).
South zone: 61 cases (7 in hospital, 4 in ICU).
Unknown: 3 cases
What you need to know today in Canada:
As of 5:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Canada had 120,132 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 106,355 of those as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 9,025.
A federal ministerial order issued Friday closes a loophole that may have made it easier for some airline passengers to avoid face coverings. Passengers who are unable to wear a face mask due to a medical condition must now present an official doctor’s note stating that they are exempt from the rule, or they will be denied boarding.
However, it reported that this still leaves Canada’s economy with 1.3 million fewer jobs than it had in February, before widespread lockdowns to limit the spread of COVID-19 began.
National figures on house prices from the Canadian Real Estate Association are out next Monday, and even while rental properties face a glut, sales and prices for homes in Vancouver and Toronto are both up sharply.
In Toronto, real estate board figures show detached home prices in July rose more than 25 per cent year over year — increases similar to the biggest boom years, from 2010 to the spring of 2017, of what many described then as a growing real estate bubble.
Thirty-five people tested positive for COVID-19 in Manitoba as of Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 182 — the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Ontario government has cleared Windsor-Essex — the last region in Ontario that was still in Stage 2 — to move into Stage 3 of reopening on Wednesday.
Ontario reported its sixth-straight day of fewer than 100 new cases of COVID-19 last week, with 70 new cases reported Saturday and one new death.
The province has seen nearly 40,000 cases of the virus and 2,784 deaths. Hospitalizations and ICU admissions also continue to decline in the province.
Self-assessment and supports:
Alberta Health Services has an online self-assessment tool that you can use to determine if you have symptoms of COVID-19, but testing is open to anyone, even without symptoms.
The province says Albertans who have returned to Canada from other countries must self-isolate. Unless your situation is critical and requires a call to 911, Albertans are advised to call Health Link at 811 before visiting a physician, hospital or other health-care facility.
If you have symptoms, even mild, you are to self-isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms, until the symptoms have disappeared.
The province also operates a confidential mental health support line at 1-877-303-2642 and addiction help line at 1-866-332-2322, both available 24 hours a day.
Online resources are available for advice on handling stressful situations and ways to talk with children.
There is a 24-hour family violence information line at 310-1818 to get anonymous help in more than 170 languages, and Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence is available at 1-866-403-8000, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
