Alberta reports 1,519 new COVID-19 cases, 29 deaths
Alberta reported 1,519 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths on Tuesday as Tyler Shandro resigned from his position as health minister.
The province has 20,917 active cases and 996 hospitalizations, including 222 ICU admissions.
Alberta Health Services' ICU capacity is at 87 per cent including surge beds, according to Premier Jason Kenney.
The 29 deaths increased Alberta's pandemic death toll to 2,574.
"Some of these individuals were double vaccinated and had pre-existing health conditions that compromised their immune systems, but most were not vaccinated at all," Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.
THIRD DOSES
More immunocompromised Albertans will be eligible to get a booster shot starting on Friday, the premier announced.
The expansion includes people with Stage 3 or advanced HIV, transplant recipients and patients with chronic kidney disease.
"The data shows that individuals with certain immunocompromising conditions do not develop as robust an immune response from two doses and benefit from a third dose," Hinshaw said.
Booster shots will be available at least eight weeks after the second dose.
Of eligible Albertans, 81.4 per cent have one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 72.8 per cent have two doses.
NEW HEALTH MINISTER
In a cabinet shuffle on Tuesday afternoon, former Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping became Alberta's health minister.
Kenney said Shandro offered his resignation and he accepted it, and Shandro will take over Copping's previous portfolio.
Copping told reporters his main three goals are to increase hospital capacity permanently, educate vaccine-hesitant Albertans and prepare the health system to respond to potential future waves.
Alberta health officials will give another COVID-19 update later this week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.