Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Sunday, Jan. 31

The latest:

• Alberta reported 461new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday with around a 5.1per cent positivity rate.
• The province reported 8new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to1,639.
• Alberta announced the lifting of some restrictions on Friday afternoon, including allowing restaurants to reopen in-person dining and gyms to reopen with limited capacity.
• Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwingand Air Transathaveagreed to suspend service to some sun destinations fromJan. 31 to April 30,Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday.
• All international passenger flights, including from the U.S., will land at the Vancouver, Toronto, Calgaryand Montreal airports starting next week.
• The governmentwill be introducingmandatory PCR testingas soon as possible at the airport for people returning to Canada, on top of the pre-boarding test already required, Trudeau said.
• Travellers will then have to wait up to three days at an approved hotel for their test results, at their own expense, which Trudeau said is expected to be more than $2,000.
• It is currently unclear how this will impact travellers taking part in a rapid-testing pilot project in Calgary, which is expanding to Edmonton in February.
• A shortage of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that left Alberta unable to administer even one first dose this week had provincial Health Minister Tyler Shandro bristling at the federal government Thursday. Deliveries to Canada have ground to a halt as a temporary shutdown at Pfizer's plant in Belgium disrupted its shipments. Shandro said Alberta will receive 63,000 fewer vaccine doses by the end of March than were promised by the federal government. A total of 105,752vaccine doses had been administered as of Saturday and 15,648Albertans were fully immunized with two doses.
• Since reaching a peak on Dec. 7 of 1,767 new cases per day, the seven-day average of daily new cases has been declining in Alberta. As of Jan. 29, the seven-day average was 463.57, which is roughly the level it was at in late October when the numbers were rising sharply.

• There are 7,505active cases in the province.
• The total of active cases in Alberta has been dropping slowly but steadily since it peaked at 21,138 on Dec. 13, a day after the UCP government introduced tighter restrictions that made working from home mandatory for those who could, banned in-person service at restaurants, pubs and bars, and entirely closed entertainment and recreation facilities from movie theatres to gyms, personal and wellness services like spas and hair salons. A few days earlier, the province had also instituted a mandatory provincewide mask requirement, and banned all outdoor and indoor social gatherings with people beyond one's immediate household.

• Provincial officials are also concerned about new and far more highly contagious variants of the novel coronavirus. As of Saturday, Alberta has reported 31 cases of the more easily transmitted coronavirus variant from the United Kingdom, and sixof the variant from South Africa. One of the U.K. cases could not be linked to travel, prompting concern it was circulating among the broader community.
• The variants seem to have an infection rate that's 30 to 50 per cent higher than the strain that's been in Alberta so far. England and Ireland have seen the variant spread rapidly throughout their populations and the U.K.'s daily mortality rate is the highest it's been since the start of the pandemic.
• There are 561people in hospital, which is a drop to what it was in early December before peaking at more than 900 people. As of Sunday, 101 were in intensive care.
• Alberta's big cities were the epicentre of COVID-19 for a period last fall but lately it's rural areas that have seen the highest rates of active cases, relative to their population, the data reveals.
• For the second year in a row, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Calgary's public and Catholic school boards to cancel traditional graduation events.
• Currently, 291 schools, about 12 per cent, are on alert or have outbreaks, with 607cases in total.

See the detailed regional breakdown:

Here is the detailed regional breakdown of active cases as of Sunday.

• Calgary zone: 3,026, down from 3,063 reported on Saturday(44,137recovered).
• Edmonton zone: 2,475, down from 2,529(48,131 recovered).
• North zone: 947, up from 929(9,121 recovered).
• South zone: 334, up from 327(5,468 recovered).
• Central zone: 700, up from 666(8,089 recovered).
• Unknown: 23, up from 16 (118 recovered).

Find out which neighbourhoods or communities have the most cases, how hard people of different ages have been hit, the ages of people in hospital, how Alberta compares to other provinces and more in: Here are the latest COVID-19 statistics for Alberta and what they mean

Here are the latest Alberta COVID-19 stories:

Servers and retail workers plead for compliance with public health restrictions

Kurtis Belangerwas at work on Saturday at a Calgaryfitness store when a customer knocked at the door, looking for dumbbells and weights. Heasked the woman to first use hand sanitizer at the store's front station, as requested on a sign outside the business.

The shopperleft the store, swearing at Belanger and gave himthe middle finger, and spat on the store's front window.

Belanger took out his phone out of his pocket to record the woman's license plate. But as he took down the plate, the woman quickly reversed, clipping him in the side of the leg with her car before speeding off.

Police say Belanger's complaint is resolved, but wouldn't say if tickets or charges were issued.

• For more, see:With eased restrictions on the horizon, servers and retail workers plead for compliance

Gym owners frustrated by Alberta's easing ofrestrictions

On Feb. 8, gyms will be allowed to reopen, but only for scheduled one-on-one training appointments.

Some gym owners saythe remaining restrictions on indoor fitness don't make sense,leavingtheir facilities inaccessible to most clients and financially unviable.

Indoor fitness facilities have been closed to clients since mid-December in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, but personal training has been allowed inside private homes or outdoors.

Emily Slaneffis the chair of the Alberta coalition of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada.

"We thought that this step should have already been in place, they were allowing personal training in homes, which is just crazy, like, a facility is much safer and cleaner and hygienic," she said.

• For more, see:Gym owners say one-on-one training restriction mean fitness facilities won't be accessible to most

Province to begin easing COVID-19 restrictions

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says the province will begin loosening up its health measures on Feb.8 as part of a new"path forward for easing COVID-19 health restrictions, with clear benchmarks for hospitalizations."

Under the loosened restrictions, restaurants andpubscan invite diners back Feb. 8, though Kenney said physical distancing requirements, activity restrictions, group size limitations and masking will be mandatory.

Gyms will also reopen Feb. 8, butpeople will only be allowed to take fitness classes with a trainer, one-on-one and by appointment.

"It is important that we show Albertans that there is a path forward," Kenney said at a news conference Friday.

"But this must be done carefully, slowly and in a way that's driven not by opinions but by data."

• For more, see: Alberta will begin easing COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants, gyms Feb. 8, premier says

Airlines suspending certain flights, Ottawa introducing quarantine hotel stays to discourage travel

Canada's main airlines have agreed to cancel service to theCaribbean and Mexico and the federal government is introducing new mandatory quarantine rules as it triestodiscourage international travel.

On Friday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwingand Air Transathaveagreed to suspend service to some sun destinations starting this Sunday until April 30, andwill be making arrangements with their customers who are in these regions now to organize flights home.

"With the challenges we currently face with COVID-19, both here at home and abroad, we all agree that now is just not the time to be flying," said Trudeau outside his home at Rideau Cottage.

Prime minister introduces new restrictions for international travel

4 years ago

Duration 3:13

Justin Trudeau announced that Canada's main airlines have agreed to suspend service to sun destinations until April 30.

Starting next week, all international passenger flights, including from the U.S., will land at the Vancouver, Toronto, Calgaryand Montreal airports.

The prime minister said as soon as possiblethe governmentwill be introducingmandatory PCR testing at the airport for people returning to Canada, on top of the pre-boarding test already required.

Travellers will then have to wait up to three days at an approved hotel for their test results, at their own expense, which Trudeau said is expected to be more than $2,000.

Those with a negative test will then be able to finish their 14-day quarantine at home, with increased surveillance.

It is currently unclear how this will impact travellers taking part in a rapid-testing pilot project in Calgary, which is expanding to Edmonton in February.

"By putting in place these tough measures now, we can look forward to a better time, when we can plan those vacations," said Trudeau.

He also said that, in the coming weeks, Canada will begin requiring non-essential travellers to show a negative test before entry at the land border with the U.S.

• For more, see: Airlines suspending certain flights, Ottawa introducing quarantine hotel stays to discourage travel

Alberta health minister blames Ottawa for vaccine 'standstill'

A shortage of Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine that left the province unable to administer even one first dose this week had Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro bristling at the federal government Thursday.

"We're ready and we're able to push ahead as fast as the vaccines come, but they're not coming. We were already at a standstill this past week doing no new first doses because of the cut in the supply from Pfizer," Shandro said at a news conference Thursday.

Earlier this month, the province was told its share of vaccines would be reduced between 20 and 80 per cent over four weeks. Then, Alberta learned it would receive none at all in the last week of January and 63,000 fewer vaccine doses by the end of March than expected from the federal government, Shandro said.

"This is a grim situation that seems to be getting worse every week," Shandro said. "We know that life for Canadians will not begin returning to something resembling normal until our most vulnerable are immunized."

Canada was among one of the first countries in the world to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for use but other nations have since caught up, as Canada contends with shortages because of a plant shutdown in Belgium.

Pfizer is making upgrades to its Belgian plant so it can manufacture up to two billion doses this year to meet the insatiable demand.

In order to complete those upgrades, some production lines were idled and Pfizer didn't have enough vials to go around in the short term to meet its previously promised delivery schedule.

A Belgian newspaper reported Thursday those upgrades are now complete, but a spokesperson for Pfizer confirmed Canada's deliveries won't return to a more normal level until next month.

As of Wednesday, 101,123 Albertans had been vaccinated, with about 12,000 of them having received the required second dose.

• For more, see: 'Grim situation': Alberta health minister blames Ottawa for vaccine 'standstill'

Highest rates of active COVID-19 now in rural areas

Alberta's big cities were the epicentre of COVID-19 for a period last fall but lately it's rural areas that have seen the highest rates of active cases, relative to their population, the data reveals.

"I think there's a misconception that there are no cases and no impact in rural zones," Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said last week. "But, in actual fact, we have seen quite high numbers in some rural places."

• Watch how active COVID-19 rates (in cases per 100,000 population) have changed since April, by local health area, in the time-lapse graph below:

Many of these rural areas don't have massive outbreaks in terms of absolute numbers, but do have high numbers of active cases relative to the number of people who live there.

In the Frog Lake and Wabasca areas of northeastern Alberta, for instance, nearly 1 out of 100 people had an active case of COVID-19, as of Tuesday's data update. A bit further north and west, in the La Lac Biche and High Prairie areas, it was about 1 out of 150 people.

Wetaskiwin County in central Alberta had the highest rate in the province in early January, with about 1 in 50 people battling an active infection at that time. But the numbers there have since been on the decline.

• For more, see: Alberta's highest rates of active COVID-19 are in rural areas now

Calgary school boards to cancel graduation ceremonies for 2nd year

There will be no dances, no parties and no large ceremonies for Calgary grads again this year.

For the second year in a row, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Calgary's public and Catholic school boards to nix traditional graduation events.

Bryan Szumlas, chief superintendent of the Calgary Catholic School Division, said the decision is about ensuring safety.

"Safety of our students, safety of our family and safety of our staff, and because of the COVID-19 restrictions that are in place right now," he said.

Christopher Usih, chief superintendent with the Calgary Board of Education, said he understands students are disappointed.

"Certainly as a parent I know what I felt like for my daughter, who was not able to have a formal graduation. So I know that this is very important for families," he said.

Both school boards said they are now brainstorming ways to celebrate and recognize the milestone in a safe way.

• For more, see: Pandemic forces Calgary school boards to cancel graduation ceremonies for 2nd year

Alberta won't follow Manitoba's stricter travel rules

Alberta's health minister says the province won't join Manitoba in placing new COVID-19 restrictions on interprovincial travellers.

Tyler Shandro says it's important to put in health restrictions as needed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, but travel within Canada remains important.

"We know that there is travel that needs to be made through provinces," Shandro said Wednesday. "We're not looking at advocating for any changes to interprovincial travel at this time."

Starting Friday, Manitoba is expanding its restrictions to require all domestic travellers even Manitobans heading home to self-isolate for 14 days after entering the province.

Alberta is one of four Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, to report cases of new virus variants, which spread faster than the original strain and could rapidly overwhelm hospitals.

• For more, see: Health minister says Alberta won't follow Manitoba's stricter COVID-19 travel rules

Calgary has now issued 140 violation tickets

Calgary said Thursday it has now issued 140 violation tickets for failure to wear a face covering where required since Aug. 1, 2020.

Six of those have been issued since Jan. 21.

The city has also issued 173 violation tickets since Nov. 24, 2020, for violations under Alberta's Public Health Act.

Six of those were issued since Jan. 21.

• For the latest on what's happening in the rest of Canada and around the world, see here.