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
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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.
- 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 edm-feedback@postmedia.com
Thursday
Alberta public service employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by end of November
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Public service employees who do not submit proof of vaccination by the end of November will be required to produce a negative PCR or rapid COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of every scheduled workday or shift, on an ongoing basis, or they will be required to obtain an accommodation based on the Alberta Human Rights Act.
“The message is clear we value our public servants, and the important work that they do,” Kenney said.
“That’s why we want to ensure that they are operating in safe workplaces, and that we are doing everything we can to protect the millions of Albertans, to whom they provide services.”
“Our aim is to encourage and educate all the members of the public service to get vaccinated, we believe that’s the best, the safest, the most appropriate route to go,” Grant said.
“However, if at the end of the day, an individual decides that they won’t get vaccinated, they don’t have an exemption, we can’t accommodate them, and they do not want to get tested, then we would put them on unpaid leave.”
Meanwhile, Kenney said there has been a significant uptick in COVID-19 vaccinations over the last three weeks. On Sept. 3, 78 per cent of eligible Albertans aged 12 and up had received one dose, while as of end-of-day Wednesday, 83.6 per cent have received one dose.
Alberta reported 1,706 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. Over the last 24 hours, 17,590 tests were completed for a positivity rate of approximately 9.7 per cent.
Across the province, there are 20,255 active cases, a decrease of 51 from Wednesday.
There are 1,083 Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19, a decrease of one. Of those, 263 are in intensive care units, a decrease of five.
Twenty more deaths raised the provincial death toll to 2,717.
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Thursday
Outside ICU help on the way to Alberta
Medical staff from other parts of Canada will soon join Alberta ICU workers fighting to hold back a deadly fourth wave of COVID-19, the province announced Thursday.
But Premier Jason Kenney said the help from the Canadian military, the Red Cross and Newfoundland and Labrador won’t staff more than four or five ICU beds and won’t rescue a health-care system buckling under the weight of the pandemic.
“This isn’t going to immediately abate the pressure on hospitals, it will provide some relief,” Kenney told reporters.
“Every bit of help counts — it may mean we have a bit extra capacity to address surgical pressures.”
Some of the 35 medical personnel from those three sources will head to hospitals in Fort McMurray and Red Deer where ICU capacity has been severely stretched, largely due to lower vaccination rates in those areas, said Kenney.
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The climbing number of COVID-19 deaths in ICUs is another reason the system hasn’t completely buckled, he said, echoing comments made last week by Alberta Health Services head Dr. Verna Yiu.
Thursday
10% of Alberta schools have COVID-19 outbreaks: student advocacy group
An advocacy group tracking COVID-19 cases among students across Alberta is calling for a return to contact tracing, saying almost 10 per cent of schools are dealing with outbreaks.
Wing Li, a lead tracker and communications director for Support Our Students Alberta, says she has confirmed 228 of about 2,400 elementary and secondary schools have active outbreaks.
Li says the group started tracking cases because the provincial government has ended contact tracing and mandatory isolation of close contacts of positive cases.
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The mother of two says Support Our Students is receiving about 100 messages a day from parents reporting an outbreak or expressing their frustration about the pandemic.
Letter of the day
Edmonton is my hometown, Alberta my home province and I have family still living there, including my 85-year-old mother.
I have lived through COVID under Trump here in the U.S., and lived with the horror of knowing thousands of U.S. citizens were dying unnecessarily because of poor leadership, anti-maskers, and anti-vaxxers. Of course, I said, this will happen in the U.S. because the “individual” is more important than the “common good.” I was adamant that could never happen in Canada, in my home, where we care about our neighbour.
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How wrong could I be? How absolutely wrong has Kenney and his pathetic excuse of a health department, and, yes, Hinshaw have been and still are. A lockdown is required, and now! Life and death are at stake. Politicizing a pandemic is something I never thought would happen in Canada.
Alberta has been called Texas of the north for a long time; now I know why and it isn’t because of the oil.
Elli Reiner Jones, Orange, Calif.
Read more letters to the editor
Letters Welcome
We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximimum 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 subjct to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@edmontonjournal.com
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Thursday
AHS limiting maternity unit patients to only one support person due to COVID-19
Alberta Health Services is limiting visitor access in the province’s maternity units to only one support person per patient.
In a series of tweets posted online Thursday, AHS said the new rules would be fully implemented by Monday in an effort to manage the escalating impact of COVID-19 in hospitals.
“These adjustments are necessary to protect the health & safety of our patients/staff & to support patient care as we manage capacity challenges,” AHS said.
“COVID-19, particularly the Delta variant, is highly infectious & pregnant individuals are at a higher risk of severe outcomes.”
Thursday
‘It’s really scary;’ Alberta physicians face more aggressive misinformed patients
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Some family physicians in Alberta say they are dealing with an increasing number of aggressive, misinformed and untrusting patients who want a note exempting them from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Two of three Calgary doctors who spoke to The Canadian Press also said some people have yelled racist comments at them after they declined to write a note because the patients did not have health conditions known to cause serious side-effects to a shot.
“They mostly comment on my brown skin and hijab” said Dr. Sakina Raj. “I’m also Muslim … so they come to religion and they get personal with that.
“It’s really scary because I feel sometimes they were so abusive verbally, that they could harm us. But I still am kind to them. I calm them down nicely. I’m too experienced to be stressed by them.”
Raj said since Premier Jason Kenney announced a proof of vaccination program to try to turn back a crippling fourth wave in the province, safety has become such a concern that Sehet Medical Clinic is now dealing with new patients wanting an exemption only on the phone.
Wednesday
Copping slams health-care workers opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandate as Alberta ICUs see 268 patients
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Claims by health-care workers opposed to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees of Alberta Health Services are dangerous and misleading, said Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping, as intensive care unit admissions reach a record high.
In an open letter dated Sept. 20, a group calling themselves Health Professionals United that claims to represent health-care workers objected to the requirement to be fully immunized against COVID-19 by Oct. 31.
The letter has more than 3,500 signatories, including 73 doctors and 1,100 nurses. Many of those who signed did not provide their full name.
Alberta reported 1,682 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Over the previous 24 hours, 15,025 COVID-19 tests were completed for a positivity rate of approximately 11 per cent.
Across the province, there were 20,306 active cases Wednesday, a decrease of 207 from Tuesday
There are 1,084 Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19, a decrease of 16. Of those, 268 are in intensive care units, an increase of five, and a record high. The previous record was reached on Monday, when there were 265 patients in ICUs.
Thirty-four more deaths raised the provincial death toll to 2,697.
Alberta reported 1,682 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Over the previous 24 hours, 15,025 COVID-19 tests were completed for a positivity rate of approximately 11 per cent.
Across the province, there were 20,306 active cases Wednesday, a decrease of 207 from Tuesday
There are 1,084 Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19, a decrease of 16. Of those, 268 are in intensive care units, an increase of five, and a record high. The previous record was reached on Monday, when there were 265 patients in ICUs.
Thirty-four more deaths raised the provincial death toll to 2,697.
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Physicians and staff in some of our Edmonton Zone ICUs are receiving harassing phone calls to their units from people questioning patient numbers and capacity. It is unacceptable for anyone to harass our staff and physicians – it’s never acceptable and it’s unfathomable now. 1/3
— Alberta Health Services (@AHS_media) September 29, 2021
“It is unacceptable for anyone to harass our staff and physicians — it’s never acceptable and it’s unfathomable now,” the health authority said.
“ICU and overall hospital capacity in the Edmonton Zone and across the province remains high, with Edmonton currently sitting at 87 per cent and overall provincial capacity at 84 per cent.”
Wednesday
‘You are not alone:’ A letter to the unvaccinated from the Alberta Medical Association
While the province grapples with the deadly and damaging effects of a mounting fourth wave of COVID-19, an Alberta Medical Association psychiatrist is trying to help the vaccine-hesitant see the bigger picture.
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On Wednesday, Dr. Kathy Fitch, president of the association’s general psychiatry section, addressed Alberta’s unvaccinated in a letter that acknowledged their reasons for hesitating, postponing or outright dismissing being vaccinated, and offered some tools to keep emotions from clouding their judgment.
Wednesday
UNA president concerned expansion of Bill 1 to cover hospitals could impact future job action
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The head of Alberta’s nurses union is worried hospitals were added to a bill preventing infrastructure from being blocked by protesters as a way of impeding possible job action by heath-care workers.
The move, announced by Premier Jason Kenney Tuesday, comes as the province is weeks away from when the government says the health-care system could hit its limit battling the COVID-19 pandemic while still in contract negotiations with 30,000 nurses.
Kenney said adding hospitals to Bill 1, the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act, is meant to protect staff, patients and families at health-care facilities. Earlier this month Alberta hospitals faced protests against vaccinations and COVID-19 restrictions.
United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) president Heather Smith said she is “concerned” by the timing of Alberta’s change, suggesting the government could be trying to impede future job action, since the hospital protests have already passed.
