COVID-19 Live Updates: News on coronavirus in Calgary for Feb. 14

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With news on COVID-19 happening rapidly, we’ve created this page to bring you our latest stories and information on the outbreak in and around Calgary.

What’s happening now

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My COVID Story: How have you been impacted by coronavirus?

Postmedia is looking to speak with people who may have been impacted by COVID-19 here in Alberta. Are you quarantining due to being exposed to the variant? Have you received your vaccine, and if so did you feel any side effects? Send us an email at reply@calgaryherald.com to tell us your experience, or send us a message via this form.

Read our ongoing coverage of personal stories arising from the pandemic.

Sixth Alberta health-care worker dies from COVID-19; province reports 284 new cases

A sixth health-care worker has died from COVID-19 in Alberta, as the province reports 284 new cases and five deaths on Sunday.

One of the four deaths listed in the Edmonton zone was a health-care worker at a continuing-care facility. The continuing-care worker was a man in his 50s with comorbidities, Alberta Health said.

He is the sixth health-care worker to have died from COVID-19 in Alberta. All six of these deaths have occurred within the last several weeks.

The 284 new cases of COVID-19 detected Sunday came from 7,972 completed tests for a positivity rate of about 3.6 per cent. This was lower than the 3.8 per cent positivity rate on Saturday, and brings the total number of active cases in Alberta to 5,215 — only 56 fewer than the day prior.

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Newfoundland, battered by COVID-19 variant, warns workers of virus outbreaks at 11 Alberta oilsands sites

A recent surge in COVID-19 cases that has thrown life in Newfoundland and Labrador into chaos could have links to nearly a dozen Alberta oilsands operations, according to the Maritime province’s outbreak list.

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The province is warning rotational workers at 13 out-of-province sites about confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks at workplaces, with all but two in the Alberta oilsands. The list includes outbreaks at the Suncor Base Plant, Syncrude Mildred Lake and Canadian Natural Resources Albian Sands, which have each seen more than 125 cases.

In total, the 11 sites have seen a combined 891 cases, but only nine of those infections remain active.

In discussing the province’s restrictions on returning rotational workers at a press conference Saturday, Newfoundland and Labrador chief medical officer of health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said additional precautions must be taken for those returning from these worksites.

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GraceLife Church of Edmonton defies closure order, holds in-person service after pastor charged by RCMP

A Parkland County church continued to allow people into their morning service today after weeks of defying public health orders and recently having a pastor arrested for his role in past gatherings.

Dozens of vehicles were seen in the parking lot of Gracelife Church of Edmonton, located three kilometres west of the city limit on Highway 627 east of Highway 60, prior to the weekly Sunday service. A check stop was set-up at the entrance to the church and several vehicles were seen passing through shortly before 10:30 a.m.

Two ‘no visitors allowed’ signs were seen at the entrance to the parking lot outside the check stop. Postmedia was told to stand off the property and was referred to the church’s website after asking for comment from workers.

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Manitoba First Nation waits for lab to confirm whether seven cases are U.K. variant

PAUINGASSI FIRST NATION, MAN. — A northern Manitoba First Nation was waiting for confirmation Sunday from the National Microbiology Lab on whether multiple COVID-19 cases in the community are a contagious variant first discovered in the U.K.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said in a news release late Saturday that public health officials found seven probable cases of the contagious variant of COVID-19 in Pauingassi First Nation.

The release said the samples were screened at the Cadham Provincial Lab and have since been sent to the national lab in Winnipeg for genomic sequencing, which will confirm whether or they are cases of the British variant.

“This is clearly a very serious situation that continues to evolve and change,” Pauingassi Chief Roddy Owens said in the release.

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Ontario plans to expand vaccination as COVID cases stabilize in several provinces

Ontario unveiled plans to expand its COVID-19 vaccination rollout to more target groups on Sunday ahead of an expected boost in nationwide shipments of the Pfizer vaccine that could lend ammunition to the provinces’ fights against the spread of contagious variants.

The Ontario government reported Sunday that all long-term care residents across the province had been “given an opportunity” for a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

The province’s vaccine taskforce told regional public health officers in a memo that it is expanding its focus in the coming weeks, with staff and essential caregivers in long-term care homes, top priority health-care workers and Indigenous adults in remote and higher risk communities among those first in line for the vaccine.

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Delays in vaccine shipments forced the province to concentrate its inoculation efforts on long-term care residents in recent weeks, but the memo says the province expects those deliveries to increase again, allowing it to expand the scope of its vaccination drive.

“Given the expected gradual increase in Ontario’s vaccine supply, the next target groups within the Phase One priority populations have been identified for vaccination,” the memo read.

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Australia suspends travel ‘bubble’ with New Zealand as Auckland goes into lockdown

WELLINGTON — Australia has suspended quarantine-free travel with neighboring New Zealand after three new community cases of COVID-19 were detected in Auckland over the weekend.

New Zealand said on Sunday it was locking down its largest city after new cases emerged in the country, which has been credited with virtually eliminating the virus within its borders.

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Saturday

Health specialist warns contagious variants pose new risks for those dining out

More than love could spread this Valentine’s Day, warns an Alberta public health specialist, as local restaurants expect to be fully booked as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

Dr. Hakique Virani said the romantic holiday might be important for local businesses but it runs the risk of bringing people from different households together, possibly spreading both COVID-19 and its more infectious variants.

“It’s so disappointing that we are in a rush to reopen,” he said. “The narrative that we do this in the interests of small business survival is a bit disingenuous.”

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Restaurants and staff should receive financial supports to remain closed, Virani said, rather than taking on the risks of reopening in an effort to stay afloat.

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Saturday

Choir director floored by religious-only allowances for singing

A Calgary choir director wants to know why religious groups are getting permission from Alberta Health to sing during worship services, while his commercial choir will have to wait until Stage 4 of the re-opening for practices.

“I can stand in a church and sing Godspell, but I cannot stand in a church and sing Grease, because COVID apparently knows the difference between religious music and non-religious music, and that is the circus of it all,” said Jamie Serafi, the leader of Calgary-based Cool Choir.

Before COVID, he had about 500 members who paid membership fees to attend regular practices, but now he’s down to 150 members who join in online Zoom practices.

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Saturday

U of C joins trial of novel drug Metablok, hoped to reduce organ inflammation in severe COVID-19 patients

A made-in-Calgary drug researchers hope can treat organ inflammation is now being tested on local COVID-19 patients.

The University of Calgary has joined a Phase II human trial of Metablok, a novel drug developed to combat inflammation of the lungs, kidneys and other organs — complications often seen in those with moderate to severe cases infections of the novel coronavirus.

The drug, which has the generic name LSALT peptide, was discovered by Toronto-based Arch Biopartners. The company’s chief science officer Dr. Dan Muruve said the drug was identified about five years ago but emerged as a possible therapy for COVID-19 when the pandemic began.

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Saturday

305 new cases, 15 deaths

Saturday brought another 305 new cases of COVID-19 to Alberta.

The newly detected infections came from 8,070 tests, representing a 3.8 per cent positivity rate — about the same as the seven-day average.

The province also reported an additional 15 deaths from the virus, including six within the Alberta Health Services Calgary zone. Two of the new deaths were residents of Calgary’s Sagewood AgeCare continuing-care centre.

To date, 1,775 Albertans have died of COVID-19, including 595 since the start of 2021.

Though Alberta’s death toll continues to climb, its active case count and hospitalization numbers declined once again Saturday.

There are now 5,271 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta, down from 5,407. It marks the lowest number of active infections in the province since Oct. 29.

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As well, there are now 359 Albertans in hospital with the virus, 64 of whom are in ICU. It’s a decrease from 371 hospitalizations and 66 ICU admissions the previous day.

Vaccination rates continued a slow climb, with the province administering another 3,725 doses through end-of-day Friday to reach 144,114 total jabs. There are now 49,166 Albertans fully immunized after receiving two shots of vaccine.

Alberta did not provided updated counts for variant cases Saturday, as the province currently updates those numbers on weekdays.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw will next address Albertans Tuesday, following the long weekend.

With three separate holidays landing on the long weekend, Hinshaw took to Twitter Saturday to urge continued adherence to COVID-19 public-health guidelines.

“Stay safe this long weekend as you’re celebrating Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day and Family Day,” Hinshaw said. “Don’t give COVID-19 the chance to spread. Connect with family, friends and loved ones online or meet outdoors with no more than 10 people and stay two metres apart.”

– Jason Herring

Saturday

Notifications start going out for next phase of COVID-19 vaccination campaign

New details on the next phases of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout are emerging, despite no official update from Alberta Health.

Seniors in one licensed supportive living facility, which was left out of the first wave of the immunization campaign, received an update by email Friday saying their first dose is now scheduled for Feb. 24.

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But unlike those in the designated supportive living and long-term care vaccinated previously, immunization will be limited to those residents 75 and older.

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Saturday

Most Canadians say they will get COVID-19 vaccine if their employer makes it mandatory: poll

Though most Canadians don’t support mandatory vaccination, an overwhelming majority say they’ll get the vaccine if their employer makes it necessary in order to keep their job, a new poll reveals.

In total, 80 per cent of Canadians say they would agree to get vaccinated if their employer required them to do so, reveals a Léger poll conducted in late January on behalf of the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS).

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