Alberta reports 12 deaths, 442 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday
Alberta has reported 442 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday after 7,786 tests were completed on Monday.
In her COVID-19 update, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said there are 242 active alerts or outbreaks in schools in the province. Two of those schools had 10 or more students with COVID-19 who were at the school.
There are currently 836 people in hospital in Alberta with COVID-19, including 182 in intensive care. Hinshaw reported 12 people have died from the disease in the last 24 hours.
THANKSGIVING IMPACT
Hinshaw called the decreasing number of hospitalizations “encouraging” as it is past the point in time where an increase directly due to Thanksgiving would have occurred.
“There is one small caveat… if there are significant spreading events on that particular date or on that weekend, it could potentially cross into multiple networks and sometimes we see a secondary impact,” said Hinshaw. “Right now we’re at that point in time where we’re monitoring for that.
“We know there’s still a lot of COVID out there and we do need to maintain caution.”
Hinshaw encouraged people who are fully vaccinated to remember that people who have not yet gotten a vaccine may have different reasons for not doing so.
“Good decision making is hard to do when we are in a strong emotional state like anger or fear, so whether we are fully vaccinated or not, the more we can listen respectfully to each other, without anger, the more possible it is to open space for ongoing dialogue and understanding each other’s perspectives,” said Hinshaw.
As of Tuesday, 6,482,574 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province. Of Alberta's eligible population, 86.7 have had one dose of vaccine and 79.2 are fully vaccinated.
There have been around 505,000 vaccine doses administered in the past six weeks, which Hinshaw attributed to the Restrictions Exemption Program in the province.
She added that it is “much too soon” to begin easing restrictions “because we do not have the capacity to take any more surges in acute care admissions right now.”
Hinshaw will host a telephone town hall with two doctors from the University of Calgary on Wednesday between 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. She will be answering questions about vaccines, fertility and maternal health.
Anyone who wants to participate can register before noon Wednesday at Alberta.ca/townhall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.