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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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 to bring in legal protection for businesses requiring COVID-19 vaccines
Lauren Boothby
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Alberta plans to roll out new supports and incentives for businesses opting into the vaccine passport program including a one-time $2,000 grant, increased fines for people who harass staff that enforce COVID-19 rules and legal protections for employers who require staff to be vaccinated.
The changes are meant to help businesses take part in the restriction exemption program which, by requiring proof of vaccination, is paying off as part of the province’s efforts to boost vaccination rates, Premier Jason Kenney said at a Thursday news conference.
“The bottom line is this: vaccines are essential to avoid a collapse in our health-care system, and even more preventable deaths, and we’re doing everything we can to get as many Albertans vaccinated as possible,” he said.
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“The restrictions exemption program is another part of these efforts, and it is paying real dividends. That’s why we’re making it easier to use, helping businesses utilize the program, and protecting those Alberta businesses and workers who have implemented this program.”
Small and medium businesses requiring patrons to be vaccinated, show a negative COVID-19 test or medical exemption, can apply for a one-time $2,000 grant meant to offset costs within the next four to six weeks.
An upcoming new law that protects employers who require staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is meant to ease their worries around potential legal troubles, Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minster Doug Schweitzer said.
“That’s why we’re moving on this legislation, to provide absolute certainty that they can put in place a vaccine mandate for their workers as well as implement the (vaccine passport) program without worry about frivolous lawsuits,” he said.
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Fines for breaking health orders including mistreating workers who are enforcing them will also be increased to $4,000 from $2,000. The government is also putting $1 million for industry associations to develop or procure workplace safety training for staff to manage challenging situations that may come up while enforcing rules.
Schweitzer said boosting fines is meant to prevent public-facing workers from being harassed — as in cases where people don’t want to show identification — which is “completely unacceptable and we want to send a strong signal that that type of behaviour will not be tolerated in Alberta.”
The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations has recently levelled off after seeing a spike after the restriction exemption program, and new COVID-19 rules, were announced.
1,254 cases, 13 deaths
Another 1,254 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Alberta on Thursday and 13 more people have died, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said at the news conference.
The positivity rate was around eight per cent, the fourth day in a row under 10 per cent, which Hinshaw said is encouraging news.
“But it is much too early to declare victory. This weekend poses a significant risk … in order to keep numbers going down, we need all Albertans to have a safe Thanksgiving.”
By Thursday, the number of people in hospital for the disease climbed by nine to 1,083, including 248 in ICU, an increase of one. The Edmonton Zone had the most in ICU at 109.
Active cases declined to 18,411. But Alberta still leads the country in active cases, reporting nearly three times as many as B.C., the province with the second most active infections. There were 4,304 and 4,539 active cases in the Edmonton and Calgary zones, respectively.
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Thursday
Former anti-vax Edson woman shares husband’s COVID-19 ICU horror story
Hamdi Issawi
As a rural Alberta man fights for his life in an Edmonton ICU, his wife, who was once against COVID-19 vaccines, is urging others to get the shot and guard against misinformation online.
On Tuesday, Carla Palkun, 41, made an impassioned plea over Facebook — where she’s a member of several anti-vaccination groups — for unvaccinated Albertans to get the jab after the virus tore through her family last week and left her husband, Chris Palkun, 40, in an intensive care bed more than 200 kilometres away.
Having an otherwise healthy family with no comorbidities, Carla said she was adamantly against COVID-19 vaccines, even when she was driving Chris, who was on the same page, to an Edson hospital on Saturday to be treated for the disease. But on the drive over, her husband had a change of heart, she added.
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“He said to me, ‘I think when I get out, I’m going to go get a shot,’ and I said to him, ‘That’s fair enough … but I’m probably still not gonna get it,’ ” Carla told Postmedia in a phone interview Thursday. “I didn’t know he was going to need all this. As soon as he was intubated and taken to (Edmonton) my mind instantly changed over — that I’m going to get the shot too.”
Living “out in the country” near Edson, where the couple’s lives had been untouched by the disease, Carla said she and her husband began to believe that the virus wasn’t real. She sought out information online and joined “anti-vax” Facebook groups that led her to accept some conspiratorial views.
“Everybody’s saying that you shouldn’t get vaxed because there’s something in the vaccinations that the government wants in your body so they can follow you everywhere and control you,” she said.
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That all changed when her husband was transferred to the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton on Sunday.
“It sounds so stupid now,” Carla added.
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Letter of the day
I had no idea I had lost it, but presumably it must have fallen out of my jacket pocket in the parking lot when I reached inside for my car keys. I stood there dumbfounded, repeatedly thanking her and I asked her what I could do to pay her back for her kindness and consideration. She simply smiled and asked me only to pay it forward.
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Thursday
Pfizer to seek approval for its vaccine for kids as young as five in about a week
Canadian Press
The first COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 12 could be in front of Health Canada’s review team in just days and the company expects to start shipping its new pediatric formulation of the vaccine shortly after it gets the green light.
The U.S. drugmaker submitted data from a clinical trial involving kids five to 11 years old last week, and made the formal request for it to be authorized for that age group in the U.S. Thursday.
Thursday
Strathcona County requiring staff to be vaccinated, effective Nov. 1
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Strathcona County is requiring vaccines for all staff, effective Monday, Nov. 1.
In a news release Thursday, Strathcona County announced they will be requiring all staff to be vaccinated by Nov 1. Eligible employees who are not fully vaccinated by that date will be required to participate in rapid testing, paid for by the individual employee. The rapid testing program will be in effect until further notice.
On Sept. 17 County staff were notified to provide their vaccination status to Strathcona County by Sept. 27. Approximately 79 per cent of the 89 per cent of staff who shared their status were fully vaccinated.
The County has implemented COVID-19 health and safety measures which exceed provincial guidlines, including staff daily health screening, hand sanitizing stations, enhanced cleaning, signage and plexiglass barriers.
You can find COVID-19 information and updates at https://www.strathcona.ca/council-county/news/covid19/
Thursday
Study finds COVID-19 immunity weakens faster in men than in women, within months of Pfizer’s second shot
National Post
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Immunity provided by the COVID-19 vaccine from partners Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE weakens significantly within months, with men having less protection than women, according to research that supports the use of booster doses.
Protective antibodies decreased continuously during the six months after the administration of the second dose of the vaccine, according to a study of about 5,000 Israeli health workers, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The levels fell first at a sharp pace and later at a more moderate one.
Researchers worldwide are trying to identify the critical threshold of antibodies needed to prevent coronavirus infection, severe illness and death, said Gili Regev-Yochay, one of the authors of the study. Such studies will help assess risk levels for various groups and the measures needed to protect them, the researcher said.
Antibody levels were found to be lower in older people than in younger, and in immunosuppressed individuals compared to the healthy population, according to the study from Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. Men’s antibody counts were lower than those of women both at their peak and at the end of the study.
The research shows why there are breakthrough infections in individuals who have had two vaccine doses, Regev-Yochay said in an online press briefing. The U.S., which has restricted its booster recommendation to older people and other vulnerable groups, will likely follow Israel’s decision to offer a third dose to the entire population, she said.
“I would be more than surprised if we are not going to start to see a lot of breakthrough infections in the United States,” among those who have received just two doses, Regev-Yochay said.
Thursday
Sister of pregnant Edmonton woman who died of COVID-19 urges others to get vaccinated
The Canadian Press
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This Thanksgiving will be a tough one for Carol Charles and her family.
The 50-year-old from Regina usually travels to her younger sister’s house in Edmonton for the holiday.
But Jennifer Rosebluff-Thomas died of COVID-19 last month. She was about 29 weeks pregnant with her ninth child. She was also unvaccinated and contracted the more dangerous Delta variant.
“When they did the emergency C-section, they explained to me that it was to help my sister get more oxygen into her lungs, and they confirmed at that same time that she wasn’t vaccinated and that it was preventable,” Charles said.
“That was the most hurtful part, when they told me it was preventable.”
Charles said she last spoke with Rosebluff-Thomas days before the C-section when her sister told her she was dying.
“I told her that I was going to be with the kids and not to worry,” Charles said, fighting back tears.
Rosebluff-Thomas delivered a baby girl in late August. The baby survived, but Rosebluff-Thomas died a few days later, Charles said.
She said her 35-year-old sister, who was a single, stay-at-home mother, leaves another eight children between the ages of one and 19. Charles is taking care of five of the children in Regina and the other three are with their father in Alberta.
She isn’t sure yet where the baby will be raised.
“My sister was so giving. It was hard for her to say no to her kids or anybody,” Charles said.
“She was such a giver and it’s just not fair that she is not here.”
Thursday
AMA calls for stronger measures to combat COVID-19, including mandatory vaccinations for public gatherings, schools and workplaces
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The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) is calling on the Alberta government to institute stronger measures to help in the fight against COVID-19.
In a news release, on Thursday, the AMA outlined additional measures they would like to see in place to combat COVID-19, including mandatory vaccinations for all public social gatherings, group employment locations with employees from more than one household and for in-person school attendance for children who are eligible.
The AMA says they appreciated Tuesday’s announcement from the government regarding additional public health measures for schools, but the association doesn’t believe these measures go far enough. AMA president Dr. Michelle Warren said that they are grateful that they have taken these steps but additional steps need to be taken to protect all children.
“Appreciating the importance of in-person schooling for children, if there is to be an accommodation to mandatory vaccination in children, this should be accompanied by other measures such as frequent testing of unvaccinated students,” said Dr. Warren in the news release.
“While the entire world has been impacted by COVID-19, few jurisdictions are facing the grim reality that Alberta is experiencing right now,” she said. “Although we know some of the measures we are recommending will be difficult for Albertans, especially when we are all so tired, we believe that we have no other choice. These are strong actions that we know will have serious consequences, but we still believe they are appropriate and are needed to save lives.”
