Watch this page throughout the day for updates on COVID-19 in Edmonton
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COVID-19 news happens rapidly, we have created this file to keep you up-to-date on all the latest stories and information on the outbreak in and around Edmonton.
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What’s happening now
Share your COVID-19 stories
As Alberta grapples with a fourth wave of COVID-19 at the start of another school year, we’re looking to hear your stories on this evolving situation.
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- Have you or a loved one had a surgery rescheduled or cancelled in recent weeks?
- Are you someone who has decided to get vaccinated after previously being skeptical of the vaccines?
- Have you changed your mind about sending your children back to school in person?
- Have you enrolled your children in a private school due to COVID-19?
- Are you a frontline health-care worker seeing new strains on the health system?
Send us your stories via email at [email protected]
1:33 p.m.
Alberta Health Services responds to more than 3,000 COVID-19 health measure complaints
Anna Junker
Alberta Health Services has received more than 3,000 COVID-19 related complaints or requests in recent weeks.
The calls have come in between Sept. 16 and Oct. 5, said spokesman Kerry Williamson. They include requests from the public asking for AHS Environmental Public Health (EPH) to check if businesses, facilities, operators or events are complying with current COVID-19 public health measures, including masking, capacity and gathering limits, and compliance with the Restrictions Exemption Program.
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“If AHS is made aware of a complaint, Public Health Inspectors carry out an education or advisory role as an initial step when responding. AHS does not issue tickets or fines,” Williamson said.
“The goal of AHS’ Safe Healthy Environments team is to protect the health and safety of the Albertans. AHS Public Health Inspectors always seek to work collaboratively with businesses and organizations to ensure compliance with CMOH orders and current public health measures.”
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11:52 a.m.
U.S will open to travellers immunized with vaccines approved by WHO, FDA and CDC
The Canadian Press
The United States will accept international travellers immunized with COVID-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organization and the Food and Drug Administration.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the decision today in an email and said more guidance will be provided as requirements are finalized.
White House officials said last month the U.S. would begin welcoming fully vaccinated international travellers in November, but they did not say which vaccines would be accepted.
The news means Canadians immunized with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will be able to travel to the U.S. when new travel rules come into play next month.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is approved by the World Health Organization, but not by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The CDC says it began informing airlines of its decision last week.
Sunday
Canada’s overworked health-care sector brace for staff shortages as vaccine mandates loom
National Post
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Canada’s health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line stances.
For hospitals and nursing homes, a shortage of workers would strain the already overburdened workforce dealing with nearly two years of the pandemic.
The uncertainty sparked by vaccine mandates underscores the challenges on the road to recovery. Devon Greyson, assistant professor of public health at the University of British Columbia, said officials are steering into uncharted waters with mass vaccine mandates and it’s not clear how workers will respond.
“A shortage of workers can mean people’s health and well being. It’s scary,” Greyson said.
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However, he added, “we’re in an ethical situation where it’s also scary not to ensure that all health workers are vaccinated. So it’s a bit of a catch-22.”
To tackle staff scarcity, at least one province is offering signing bonuses to nurses. Provinces including Quebec and British Columbia have made it mandatory for healthcare workers and nursing staff to be vaccinated to continue working in their respective fields.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also unveiled one of the strictest vaccine mandates in the world last week, saying unvaccinated federal employees will be sent on unpaid leave and making COVID-19 shots mandatory for air, train, and ship passengers.
Layoffs have already started to hit, with one hospital in southern Ontario last week dumping 57 employees, representing 2.5 per cent of staff, after its vaccine mandate came into effect. A long-term care home in Toronto put 36 per cent of its staff on unpaid leave after they refused to get vaccinated, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported.
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Letter of the day
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Letters Welcome
We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: [email protected]
Saturday
Pregnant patients can bring COVID-19-positive person for support while giving birth at Alberta hospitals
Lauren Boothby
Maternity patients giving birth in Alberta hospitals can bring a person infected with COVID-19 with them for support, Alberta Health Services (AHS) said in a series of tweets Saturday afternoon.
AHS confirmed an exemption to quarantine rules allows a COVID-19 positive person to join a pregnant patient in exceptional circumstances and if the hospital is made aware ahead of time. A chief medical officer of health order in effect since July 29 says this designated support person must stay two metres away from everyone except the patient and infant.
“These exemptions, which have been in effect since July 2021, are granted under exceptional circumstances and only at the request of the patient giving birth. We know the importance of having support at this time. This is a critical part of our approach to patient centred care,” reads an AHS tweet.
Despite this, the provincial health authority says there are protocols in place to make sure people are safe.
“The patient & essential support person will remain under contact & droplet isolation. This includes the facility providing access to bathroom facilities & food,” AHS says.
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Saturday
Alcohol-related illnesses in Alberta surging during COVID-19 pandemic
Blair McBride
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Alberta is seeing a surge in alcohol-related illnesses that can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.
Mental and behavioural disorders resulting from alcohol use as well as alcohol-related depression and withdrawal are among the few non-COVID causes of hospital admission that have increased in the province since March 2020, says Calgary physician Dr. Eddy Lang.
An article co-written by Lang that was published in the medical journal PLOS ONE in June revealed alcohol consumption rose from the fifth-highest cause of hospitalization in the province to the third during the first six months of the pandemic.
Alcohol-related illnesses accounted for 3.46 per cent of hospital admissions between March and September 2020, up from 2.65 per cent in that timeframe the previous year.
“Considering the number of hospitalizations we have in Alberta, that’s a significant increase,” Lang said, attributing the rising drinking rates to heightened feelings of pandemic anxiety.
“There’s been lots of lost employment and family separation. We know that people are managing that with alcohol and cannabis. That’s going to manifest with people going overboard,” he said. “Alcohol is like gasoline on the fire of mental illness. If you’re already depressed you might think alcohol will make you feel better but in long run it makes things worse because it contributes to suicidal thoughts.”
Increased rates of drinking in Alberta are also showing up in liver health.
Hospitalizations for alcoholic hepatitis rose by 90.5 per cent in the first wave of the pandemic, according to a study soon to be published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
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Saturday
Albertans leave messages at UCP MLA offices to say no thanks to the government
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Albertan have been leaving messages at UCP MLA offices to say no thank you to the government that has needlessly endangered peoples lives.
In a Thursday news release, the Alberta Federation of Labour asked Albertans to leave messages at UCP MLAs offices saying no thank you for the government’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks on Saturday. They could also leave comments on social media using #NoThanksGivenUCP
The group says that Albertans are angry that hospitals are over capacity, health-care workers are being pushed to their breaking point, surgeries are being cancelled and many schools are facing outbreaks in the news release.
“The UCP refuse to take needed actions to keep Albertans safe,” says the release.
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Saturday
‘I see you ICU:’ Albertans express gratitude for health-care workers at Thanksgiving
The Canadian Press
Hundreds of Albertans are sending coffee, gift cards and Thanksgiving meals to those working in intensive care units overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
J’Val Shuster says she and her staff at Devour Catering will be delivering turkey dinners to 200 nurses, doctors and health-care staff at four Calgary hospitals on Sunday and more meals are to be delivered in the days to come. People have been paying $15 a meal through the company’s “I See You ICU” drive.
“We’ve had over 1,700 people purchase a total of 6,000meals for doctors, nurses and staff,” Shuster said.
“Nurses (have said) even if they don’t get the meals, they’re very uplifted just by the fact that people are showing their support and wanting to do something.”
Shuster said she began the idea last month as she struggled to keep her business afloat. Support has been so overwhelming, she said, she has had to temporarily stop taking meal orders.
“We’re going to co-ordinate with all the departments at what frequency they want the remaining ordered meals. We can’t prepare 6,000 meals at once.”
Betty Wade of Calgary purchased 50 dinners for health-care staff.
“I’m absolutely thankful for them, particularly now in this fourth wave,” said the retiree.
“They’ll have something at the doorstep when they leave their shift that makes them realize that they are appreciated more than they know by so many people. We are very, very thankful for every one of them doing their job saving lives as best they can in this situation.”
She recalled that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic many cheered and clapped for workers on the streets.
“But there’s a difference now … it’s the intensity in the ICU and in the hospitals,” she said.
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