COVID-19 Live Updates: News on coronavirus in Calgary for June 3

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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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296 new cases, five deaths

Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw provided an COVID-19 update from Edmonton on Thursday afternoon.

Hinshaw provided data on vaccines to prove how effective they’ve been in Alberta since the beginning of the year.

“The evidence is clear,” Hinshaw said, “vaccines work and they save lives.”

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Watch the full livestream below.

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Kenney insists no rules were broken during patio dinner that defied COVID-19 restrictions

Premier Jason Kenney is doubling down on the claim that he and three of his cabinet ministers did not violate public health orders with a Tuesday night patio dinner at the Federal Building.

Photos obtained by Postmedia show Kenney, Health Minister Tyler Shandro, Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon, Finance Minister Travis Toews and at least two others eating on the patio of the offices commonly known as the Sky Palace.

In question period Thursday, Kenney said the meeting was fully complaint with rules that took effect on Tuesday.

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UCalgary eyes return to campus for fall semester

Students and staff will be back on campus this fall following more than a year of online learning, the University of Calgary announced Thursday.

In a news release, the school said more classes will be held in-person and more labs will be open for research, signalling a return to normal operations following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Students and staff won’t be expected to return to their classroom, lab or office immediately. UCalgary is planning a gradual return that will take place this summer and build throughout the fall,” the release said.

University president Ed McCauley said the move is possible due to widespread immunization against COVID-19. As of Wednesday, 64 per cent of Albertans age 12 and up have had at least one of two necessary shots.

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China would have destroyed any evidence that COVID-19 leaked from Wuhan lab: MI6 expert

If any evidence exists that a lab leak in Wuhan caused the pandemic it would probably have been destroyed by China, the former head of MI6 has said.

Sir Richard Dearlove, who headed the secret intelligence service between 1999 and 2004, said it would be difficult to prove that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was working on “gain of function” experiments to make a natural coronavirus that would be more deadly to humans.

He said that the West had been naive in its trust of China, which had infiltrated scientific institutions and journals in Britain and beyond.

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Pop-up ‘vaccine rodeo’ aims to combat disparities in northeast Calgary

Alberta’s first walk-in COVID-19 clinic for the general population will open this weekend at Village Square Leisure Centre, aiming to combat vaccine inequity in Calgary’s northeast.

The pop-up clinic, which organizers have dubbed the “vaccine rodeo,” will offer first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to residents of Calgary’s northeast and southeast communities.

It will run Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the leisure centre’s hockey rink, with 5,000 doses available on a drop-in basis to anyone born in 2009 or earlier.

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Wednesday

AHS offers ICU beds for COVID-19 patients from Manitoba; Alberta reports 410 new cases

Alberta is offering intensive-care space to Manitoba as the province to the east grapples with its third wave of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.

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Up to 10 critical care patients from Manitoba are being transported to hospitals in either Edmonton or Calgary, where they will be cared for, Alberta Health Services said in a news release Wednesday.

Manitoba’s health authority Shared Health said in a news release Tuesday they were experiencing an “unprecedented” increase in ICU admissions due to COVID-19. As of Wednesday, there are 40 Manitoba COVID-19 patients receiving care in neighbouring provinces — 38 in Ontario and two in Saskatchewan — while Shared Health cares for 69 ICU patients themselves.

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Wednesday

410 new cases, four deaths

The latest COVID-19 numbers for Alberta:

There was no live update from Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw Wednesday.

Wednesday

Survey says Albertans ready for a road trip this summer

Canadians, and especially Albertans are ready to hit the road this summer after many months of staying close to home, according to a new survey conducted by Leger Marketing for Toyota Canada.

When travel is permitted, 49 per cent of Canadians are planning a road trip this summer. But that number jumps even higher in Alberta, where 61 per cent say they want to hit the road.

Of those Albertans going out, 84 per cent say they will stay closer to home than usual.

Being cooped up and unable to fly farther afield has also given Albertans a newfound love of the outdoors, according to the poll. In this province, 73 per cent of those polled said they have a greater appreciation for the outdoors since the pandemic, and 51 per cent plan to visit a provincial or national park this summer.

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Wednesday

Flouting Calgary’s mandatory mask bylaw will now get you a $500 ticket

The fine for failing to wear a mask in a place where Calgary’s bylaw requires one is now $500.

City council gave third and final reading to the change late Tuesday after a technical move delayed the approval last month. In the 11-2 vote, only Coun. Sean Chu and Coun. Joe Magliocca were opposed. Coun. Jeromy Farkas was absent.

The discussion about boosting the fine from $100 to $500 happened just three weeks ago, but the course of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed dramatically.

In early May, frustration around enforcement of health restrictions was running high as Alberta was at the peak of the third wave, with more than 25,000 active coronavirus infections.

Now, daily cases are declining rapidly and the province is proceeding through its three-step reopening plan. If vaccination targets are hit as the government expects, the province-wide mask mandate could be removed as early as late June, and Calgary’s bylaw would likely follow suit.

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