COVID-19 Live Updates: News on coronavirus in Calgary for May 17

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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. Have you had an upcoming surgery postponed? Do you have a family member in the ICU, or have you recovered after spending time in the ICU? Have you changed your life for the better because of the pandemic? 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.

Alberta ICUs treating historical record-high number of patients due to COVID-19

Health-care workers in Alberta’s intensive care units are treating the highest number of ICU patients the province has seen with more than 240 people currently in ICUs, including 181 with COVID-19, the head of Alberta Health Services said Monday.

Overall ICU capacity across the province would be above 140 per cent capacity if AHS had not shifted resources to open an additional 106 ICU beds in Alberta hospitals to meet the pandemic’s demands, Dr. Verna Yiu, the president and CEO of AHS, explained. This surge in patients would have exceeded the pre-pandemic capacity of 170 ICU beds.

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“That is easily the most ICU patients that we’ve ever seen in our health-care system, and definitely higher than what we’ve seen in waves one and two,” said Yiu during a press conference with the premier.

“We also now have the highest number of patients on ventilators, at 222, of which more than half are COVID-19 patients.”

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NDP proposes replacing federal COVID-19 benefit with made-in-Alberta 10-day paid sick leave

Alberta’s NDP Opposition has drafted a hypothetical bill that would give all Albertans 10 paid sick days to isolate due to COVID-19.

Instead of tabling a private members’ bill to debate it in the legislature, the NDP is calling for the government to introduce legislation they have written, which would make changes to the employment standards code. A letter outlining the proposal has been sent to Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping.

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AHS slaps closure order on Fairview Baptist Church following pastor’s arrest

A day after its pastor was arrested for repeatedly breaching COVID-19 measures, Fairview Baptist Church was ordered closed by Alberta Health Services.

The church and its flock had been openly defying restrictions that most recently limit attendees to 15 at a service.

That’s drawn the rancour of some of the neighbours of the church at 230 78 Ave. S.E. who have complained about the lack of enforcement.

“Alberta Health Services’ Environmental Public Health has proceeded with further enforcement action at the Fairview Baptist Church in response to ongoing non-compliance with provincial public health orders from Alberta’s chief medical officer of health (CMOH),” AHS said in a statement Monday.

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“As a result of this ongoing non-compliance, AHS has now issued a closure order.”

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Mayoral candidate, pastor granted release pending contempt hearing for breaching public health orders

Mayoral candidate Kevin J. Johnston was granted his release Monday after he was arrested Saturday for breaching a court order that required him to comply with COVID-19 public health restrictions.

But Johnston complained the condition of his release that he comply with masking requirements, along with other orders issued by chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, might be difficult for him to follow pending a June 16 contempt of court hearing.

“I’m already feeling the anxiety,” Johnston told a virtual court hearing, as he sat, masked, in the prisoner’s box in a Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench courtroom where the judge and lawyers appeared on video link.

“I simply cannot wear a mask for that period of time. I’m already feeling the anxiety of this right now and I’m sweating. I’m bothered by having to have this on, I could not possibly wear a mask for that entire amount of time.”

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721 new cases, five deaths

The latest COVID-19 numbers for Alberta:

• 721 new cases on 7,002 tests
• 678 in hospital; 181 in ICUs
• Five additional deaths; 2,148 total
• 21,288 active cases; 196,246 recovered
• Provincewide R-value of 0.84 from May 10-16; 0.82 in the Calgary zone

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Five people mistakenly given saline water diluent instead of Pfizer vaccine in Lethbridge

Ten people who received the Pfizer vaccine at the Lethbridge Exhibition at the end of April are being contacted by Alberta Health Services after it was determined five of them were unknowingly given saline instead of a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

AHS discovered that five of 10 individuals who were immunized in the same window of time on April 29 were mistakenly given only the saline water diluent and not the actual vaccine. All ten individuals, however, are being contacted directly by AHS and will be offered another immunization appointment, AHS said in a release Monday.

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‘Messing around is going to cost lives’: AstraZeneca developer slams Canada’s approach to the vaccine

A Canadian researcher who oversaw the development of the AstraZeneca vaccine says the country’s vaccine strategy has been to act “on hearsay and not a lot of facts,” after several provinces have paused giving out first doses of the vaccine.

Speaking on CTV News’ Question Period, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University Sir John Bell criticized Canada’s approach to the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying that the COVID-19 immunization effort is a “race against time.”

“At my last look you guys are 3.6 per cent vaccinated with two doses, so just wait for the (B.1.617 variant) to rip through the Canadian population, and then the problems you’ve had with these very rare (blood) clotting events will look pretty insignificant,” said Bell.

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Kenney raises concerns about ICU admissions, spread in rural areas

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Premier Jason Kenney, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Dr. Verna Yiu, president and chief executive officer of Alberta Health Services are giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in Alberta. Watch the live feed above.

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Federal government begins discussions on reopening U.S.-Canada border

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has begun preliminary internal discussions about reopening the border with the U.S., even as Canada remains well behind its neighbour in vaccinations.

Senior officials have begun to formally talk about options for how to proceed, three people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition they not be identified.

One question under consideration is whether to employ a two-track system in which quarantine and testing requirements would be relaxed for vaccinated travellers.

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Also:Biden to announce U.S. will send 20 million vaccines abroad by the end of June

Canada to get 4.5 million vaccine doses as questions swirl around Fortin’s departure

Canada is set to receive a large infusion of COVID-19 vaccines this week, even as questions swirl around how the immunization drive will be affected by the sudden departure of the man tasked with overseeing it.

The federal government says it expects around 4.5 million doses to arrive this week thanks to planned deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Pfizer and BioNTech had been scheduled to deliver around two million doses this week as their vaccines continue to flow into Canada on a regular basis after early hiccups in February and March.

But the federal government says the two companies will ship an additional 1.4 million shots, which were originally slated to land next week but are now expected to arrive before the upcoming holiday weekend.

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Calgary pastor arrested after months of defying COVID-19 restrictions

Fairview Baptist Church Pastor Tim Stephens was arrested by Calgary police Sunday afternoon after he failed to comply with public health measures and hosted another church service without proper mask use, capacity limits or physical distancing.

Calgary police said they arrested the pastor at the church, which is located at 230 78th Avenue S.E., following a church service that violated the public health measures and a pre-emptive injunction. Stephens was served a copy of the Court of Queen’s Bench Order, which was obtained by Alberta Health Services to target organizers of gatherings in breach of the health rules, last weekend.

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Free at last to hug and party: UK reopens for business

Friends are hugging, pints are being poured as swathes of the British economy reopen today, giving 65 million people a measure of freedom after the gloom of a four-month COVID-19 lockdown.

Most of the British are free once again to drink in their pub, sit down to an indoor meal or visit the cinema after a series of lockdowns that imposed the strictest restrictions in peacetime history.

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson advised people to cuddle cautiously and served notice that the spread of the coronavirus variant first identified in India meant that the final UK reopening in June could be delayed.

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Sunday

Province reports 1,140 new cases; ICU numbers increase

Alberta reported 1,140 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, which brought the number of active cases provincewide to 22,280. Of those active cases, 10,515 are in the Calgary zone.

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Despite a decline of overall hospitalizations on Sunday, the number of intensive-care unit admissions reached a new peak. There are now 647 COVID-19 patients in hospital, which is down from the 686 in hospital on Saturday. ICU admissions increased, however, from 178 on Saturday to 186 by Sunday.

Three additional deaths were reported, bringing the province’s death toll to 2,143.

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Sunday

Restrictions relaxed in time for 100th birthday party

A Calgary senior celebrated her 100th birthday in style Saturday with a celebration hosted at her long-term care home.

Marion Greene reached the century mark with a party on the front patio of Extendicare Hillcrest, a long-term care home in northwest Calgary, and a drive-by salute from city fire trucks.

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Sunday

Thousands of Alberta workers have claimed compensation for COVID-19 infection: WCB

The Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board has approved more than 8,000 claims related to workplace acquisition of COVID-19, with hundreds of Albertans missing weeks of work due to their illness, data show.

The WCB report shows through the end of April 2021, the board accepted 8,288 claims for workers with novel coronavirus illness arising in the course of their employment. About 11 per cent of those claims resulted in workers missing more than 21 days of work, and about two per cent were out of work for more than 60 days.

These are workers with “long COVID,” an illness where patients can experience debilitating symptoms of the virus weeks or even months after they first become sick.

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Sunday

Grey Eagle Drive-In to resume, but frustrations persist around Alberta rules

A drive-in movie theatre on Tsuu’tina Nation is reopening after the First Nation’s council gave drive-in events the green light.

But other Alberta drive-ins are questioning COVID-19 restrictions that have temporarily halted operations in recent days.

The Grey Eagle Drive-In will resume film screenings starting Wednesday, after the Tsuut’ina Nation chief and council approved the events Sunday. Tsuut’ina may determine which activities can take place on their lands as a sovereign First Nation.

The drive-in, located near the Grey Eagle Casino, cancelled several planned screenings after receiving notice Thursday evening that all drive-in events were banned in regions with high case numbers under new COVID-19 restrictions.

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Sunday

GraceLife church continuing to gather in secret locations

GraceLife Church of Edmonton is continuing to hold services despite having their church shuttered and Alberta putting a stronger emphasis on enforcing public health measures.

Despite the closure, the church has uploaded YouTube videos each week over the past month showing Pastor James Coates delivering sermons in undisclosed locations.

A video of last Sunday’s service shows Coates delivering a nearly hour-long sermon in front of a grey background. No one else can be seen in the video, but others can be heard in the background on multiple occasions. In past videos, parts of a crowd can be seen watching the sermons.

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Sunday

Fortin’s departure unlikely to slow down Canada’s vaccine rollout operation, says expert

The sudden departure of the senior military officer in charge of Canada’s vaccine rollout is unlikely to slow down the high-profile operation, an expert in military affairs said Saturday.

Christian Leuprecht, a professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., said the unexpected reassignment Friday of Maj-Gen. Dany Fortin won’t affect vaccine distribution because the military always has a second in command ready to get the job done.

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Sunday

People with disabilities even more alone during pandemic: cerebral palsy spokeswoman

YELLOWKNIFE — Riley Oldford is usually out playing sledge hockey or hanging out with friends, but since the start of the pandemic he’s mostly been at home.

The 16-year-old, who has cerebral palsy and a chronic lung condition, was the first person in the Northwest Territories under 18 to get vaccinated when he got the shot earlier this month.

The N.W.T. prioritized residents with chronic conditions or at high risk for COVID-19 in its vaccine rollout, but Oldford wasn’t originally eligible because of his age.

On May 6, the territory started offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to youth between 12 and 17, a day after Health Canada approved its use.

Yellowknife has had relatively few cases of COVID-19 compared with other cities in Canada, but Oldford was taken out of school to reduce the risk of him getting infected.

For the past 14 months, the Grade 10 student has been learning from home.

“By now, I’ve almost gotten used to it,” Oldford said.

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