Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Wednesday, Sept. 15

The latest COVID-19 numbers:

• Alberta is now in a state of public health emergency, Premier Jason Kenney announced on Wednesday.
• The province may run out of staffed intensive care beds within the next 10 days, Kenney said. 
• The government will introduce a "proof-of-vaccination" program for participation in some activities, to be rolled out Sept. 20. Restrictions will apply to "discretionary" businesses that don't require proof of vaccination.
• A QR code for proof of vaccination will be made available in the coming weeks, similar to the vaccine passport system in British Columbia, Shandro said. 
• Premier Jason Kenney said on Wednesday that now is not the time for resignations or a public inquiry due to how his government has handled the pandemic, but that now is the time to focus on immediate action to tackle this crisis.
• The premier apologized for treating the pandemic as endemic too soon, but said he did not apologize for ending restrictions in the summer. 
• He said he's proud of how Alberta has handled the pandemic compared to the rest of the world, and that "up until now" the province has had a lower fatality rate without "damaging restrictions."
• Alberta reported 1,609 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, out of 15,831 tests. 
• Alberta reported 24 more deaths from COVID on Wednesday. A total of 2,495 Albertans have died of COVID-19. 
• The positivity rate was 10.46 per cent.
• The province is leading the country by a wide margin in daily new COVID cases and active cases. 
• There were 18,421 active cases across Alberta, the highest count in the country.
• By comparison, Ontario, a province with more than three times the population, has one-third the number of active cases.

• There were 877 people being treated in hospital, 218 of whom were in intensive care beds. 
• Of those not in ICU, 74.1 per cent were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, as of Friday. Of those in ICU, 91.2 per cent were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
• The R-value, which represents the average number of people infected by each infected person, was 1.12 (with a confidence interval of 1.1 to 1.14) for Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.
• 252,904 Albertans are considered to have recovered from COVID-19.​​​​

• Three patient deaths are linked to a COVID-19 outbreak at Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary. There are currently four units at the hospital experiencing outbreaks, and at least 28 people have tested positive (21 patients and seven health-care workers).
• Critically ill patients are now regularly being airlifted out of the Red Deer hospital as it fills up with COVID-19 patients. The number of COVID patients in the hospital there jumped 65 per cent in the last week.
• Alberta's ICUs were at 156 per cent of capacity on Wednesday — the most patients the province has ever seen in ICU, AHS CEO Dr. Verna Yiu said. The province has continued to add surge beds to keep up. 
• The province is preparing to activate its triage protocol, which means health-care workers will have to decide which patients are given potentially life-saving interventions like ventilators.
• Non-emergency surgeries have been cut by as much as 60 per cent provincewide and the Calgary health zone has cancelled all non-urgent procedures for the rest of the week.

The latest on restrictions and reopenings:

• New public health measures were announced Wednesday, Sept. 15. As of 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, the new public health restrictions will come into effect province-wide.
• Businesses can participate in a "restrictions exemption program," as of Monday, Sept. 20. Through this program, those with valid proof of immunization or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours, will not need to adhere to all restrictions. Businesses that do not participate in the proof of vaccination program must adhere to all new health measures.
• The printable immunization record on the My Health Alberta website will not be available until Sunday morning, Shandro said, as improvements to the website are being made. 
• Masking will continue to be mandatory in all indoor public spaces, physical distancing of two metres will once again be required. 
• All private indoor social gatherings for vaccinated individuals will be limited to two households and a maximum of 10 people. There are no restrictions on children under 12 years old regarding gatherings.
• Individuals who live alone may have up to two non-household vaccinated close contacts. 
• Unvaccinated people older than 12-years-old will not be allowed to attend any private indoor social gatherings. 
• Outdoor private gatherings are permitted to a maximum of 200 people with physical distancing required for those not from the same household. 
• Places of of worship are restricted to one-third of the venue's normal capacity, masking is required. 
• Masks will be mandatory for all students Grades 4 and up, plus staff and teachers. 
• Children younger than 18 and under will not be required to mask or maintain physical distancing during sports, spectators will be limited to one-third capacity with masking and physical distancing. 
• There will be a mandatory work from home order, unless employers say a physical presence is required for operational effectiveness. 
• Additional restrictions will be coming into effect Sept. 20: Indoor weddings and funerals will be limited to no more than 50 people or 50 per cent of fire code capacity, indoor receptions will not be permitted. 
• Restaurants, bars, pubs, and lounges must close indoor dining unless they implement proof of vaccination, Shandro said. Those that don't implement proof of vaccination will also be restricted as to when they can serve alcohol. 
• Indoor entertainment venues will be restricted to one-third of fire code occupancy if they don't implement proof of vaccination. 
• One-third capacity will also apply to indoor fitness, recreation, sport and physical activity centres, and group fitness classes, team practices or games will not be permitted for those that don't implement proof of vaccination.  
• A full list of restrictions and exemptions is available on the government's website. 
• Dr. Deena Hinshaw also said in a Zoom meeting with Primary Care Network physicians on Monday night that she "deeply" regrets her part in contributing to a narrative that "COVID's over."
• The Alberta government has cancelled plans to end the mandatory 10-day quarantine requirement for people with confirmed cases of COVID-19, Alberta Health has confirmed.
• Other measures that the provincial government had set to ramp down on Sept. 27 — including contact tracing and testing — will continue in their current form.
• The decision to maintain the status quo comes several weeks after the Alberta government announced a six-week delay of measures that were originally set to take effect on Aug. 16. 
• The first announcement, on July 28, would have made the 10-day isolation period a recommendation rather than a requirement. Testing would have been moved from screening centres to doctors' offices. 
• Those measures were met with strong criticism from physicians and the public. 

WATCH: Dr. Gabriel Fabreau, who works on the COVID-19 unit at the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, reacts to the province's handling of the fourth wave:

Calgary doctor worried province not doing enough to grapple with surging COVID cases

3 years ago

Duration 6:19

Dr. Gabriel Fabreau, who works on the COVID-19 unit at the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, speaks to the CBC's Rob Brown about the update on Thursday from Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro and Alberta Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

• Calgary reinstated a state of local emergency and passed a municipal mask bylaw on Sept.3.
• The City of Calgary will require all staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and is postponing mandatory return to work for city employees until Oct. 20.
• The latest school restrictions and updates:
  • The Calgary Catholic School District says even though Alberta Health Services has ceased notifying schools when there is a positive case in their building and doing contact tracing, the board will continue to notify families of positive cases when they're aware of them. 
  • The Calgary Board of Education reopened registration for its online learning option because of the continued uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Mask requirements remain in place for both Edmonton and Calgary public schools and Catholic schools.
  • Both Edmonton school districts intend to work with Alberta Health Services to offer pop-up vaccination clinics for older students.
• The latest post-secondary restrictions and updates:
  • Nine of Alberta's post-secondary institutions — such as University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, MacEwan University, Medicine Hat College, Mount Royal University, NAIT, SAIT and NorQuest College — will introduce a vaccination mandate, require vaccination proof, and add changes to rapid testing programs.
  • The Alberta University of the Arts has announced most of its classes are moving online starting Sept. 8 for the first two weeks of school, because of delays in getting a rapid testing program off the ground. President Daniel Doz said the move is temporary, and the Calgary university has every intention of bringing all classes back in person.
  • Students and staff at Calgary's Mount Royal University are required to wear masks in all indoor spaces on campus, including classrooms, labs, hallways and meeting/study rooms. MRU is working out details for a frequent rapid testing program for students who have not declared they are fully vaccinated.
  • A number of other post-secondary institutions are requiring masks in all indoor spaces, including SAIT and Bow Valley College in Calgary, and NAIT and Concordia University in Edmonton. 

The latest on vaccines:

• Starting Sept. 20, businesses or events that implement proof of vaccination will be exempt from new health restrictions. If a business or service chooses not to require proof of vaccination, they will be required to adhere to the new health measures.
• Hinshaw says pregnant people are at high risk of very serious illness and are urging them to get their COVID-19 vaccinations. An unvaccinated pregnant Alberta woman died from a COVID-related infection following admission into intensive care units, sources familiar with the death say.
• Dr. Eliana Castillo, a clinical associate professor with the departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medicine at the University of Calgary, says the proportion of unvaccinated pregnant women in Alberta admitted into the ICU is rising dramatically as the pandemic surges.
• Hinshaw said on Sept. 9 that in the past four months, 84 per cent of all those who died from COVID-19 have not been fully immunized. 
• The province announced on Sept. 3 that Albertans will be given $100 to get a first or second dose of vaccine against COVID-19. The $100 incentive will be a debit card available starting Friday for people who register for it online. It will be available until Oct. 14.
• 60.7 per cent of all Albertans (or 71.4 per cent of those eligible) have received two doses of a COVID vaccine, and 67.6 per cent of all Albertans (or 79.5 per cent of those eligible) have received at least one dose.

• Those are still the lowest numbers in the country, save for Nunavut. Canada-wide, 68.5 per cent of the total population (or 78.4 per cent of those eligible) have received two doses of vaccine, and 74.6 per cent of the total population (or 85.3 per cent of those eligible) received at least one dose, according to the CBC's vaccine tracker.
• Alberta Health Services announced on Sept. 7 it would require all employees and contracted health-care providers — including physicians — to be fully vaccinated.
• The Alberta government is making a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine available for immunocompromised Albertans and for all seniors living in congregate care facilities.
• In addition, mRNA doses — that's Pfizer or Moderna — will be made available to Albertans travelling to a jurisdiction that does not accept visitors vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Covishield, or mixed doses.

See which regions are being hit hardest:

Here is the detailed regional breakdown of active cases as reported by the province on Wednesday.

• Edmonton zone: 5,408.
• Calgary zone: 5,297.
• North zone: 3,254.
• Central zone: 2,620.
• South zone: 1,805.
• Unknown: 37.

The latest on hospital outbreaks:

The province says that as of Tuesday there were COVID-19 outbreaks at 17 AHS and Covenant Health acute care facilities:

• North Zone:
  • Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital.
  • Redwater Health Centre.
• Edmonton Zone:
  • Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
  • Misericordia Community Hospital. 
  • Royal Alexandra Hospital.
  • Sturgeon Community Hospital.
  • University of Alberta Hospital.
• Central Zone:
  • Drumheller Health Centre.
  • Hanna Health Centre.
  • Myron Thompson Health Centre.
  • Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.
  • Wainwright Health Centre.
• South Zone:
  • Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
  • Pincher Creek Health Centre.
• Calgary Zone:
  • Foothills Medical Centre.
  • Rockyview General Hospital.
  • Peter Lougheed Centre.

The latest on school outbreaks:

There are ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks at a number of schools across the province.

• The Calgary Board of Education told parents Friday that, as of Sept. 13, schools will begin providing notifications when families self-report an AHS-confirmed case of COVID-19 to their school. 
• "If families report a positive case to the school, you are providing consent for the school to send out a notice to specific classes associated with the self-reported case, as well as a general notice to the school community at the end of the school day," the board's notice said.
• To date, four Calgary Board of Education schools have outbreaks: Cappy Smart School, Woods School, Children's Village School and Niitsitapi Learning Centre. 
• In a letter sent home to families from these schools, Alberta Health Services says a greater than 10 per cent absenteeism rate has been confirmed at the schools due to respiratory illness, and that AHS has initiated investigations.
• Outbreaks have also been confirmed at École Notre-Dame des Monts in Canmore — which is a part of the Franco Sud board — as well as the Prairie Rose School Division's Eagle Butte High School, which has reported 21 active cases.
• Every school in the Medicine Hat Public School Division is reporting positive COVID-19 cases, superintendent Mark Davidson said in an online update on Sept. 8.

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