Everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Thursday, Sept. 16

The latest on Alberta's COVID-19 response:

• Albertais now ina state of public health emergency, Premier Jason Kenney announced Wednesday, imposing strict and sweeping measures (see detailsbelow) tocombat the province'sfourth wave of COVID-19 and stave off the ongoing crisis in the health-care system. The measures include aproof-of-vaccination program.
• As of Thursdayafternoon, Alberta had 18,706active cases.
• Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO of Alberta Health Services, provided an update on the province's health-care system Thursday.
• The fourth wave has resulted in the sharpest increase of ICU patients since the the pandemic began in early 2020, Yiu said.
• "We do not have an endless number of staff who can provide critical care," Yiu said Thursday.
• AHS is working to find ways to increase capacity.
• Health-care workers have been asked to identify any spaces that can be used as an ICU bed, Yiu said. This includes spaces such as operating rooms, post-anesthesia care units, observation spaces and recovery wards.
• Ontario and Alberta are in discussions about a potential transfer of patients if needed, Yiu said.
• Without surge beds, provincial ICU capacity would be at 155 per cent.
• Negative COVID-19 tests from Alberta Health are not applicable as part of the "vaccination exemption program," Dr. Deena Hinshaw saidThursday. Tests must be privately paid for.
• Alberta Health Services says intensive care units in southern Alberta remain close to capacity. For multiple days this week, the South Zone has seen 100 per cent capacity in its ICUs, dipping down to 90 per cent capacity on Thursday.
• Elections Canada says Alberta'snew restrictions won't impact voting proceduresSept. 20.
• A spokespersonfor Elections Canadasays masking requirements will remain in effect forworkers and voters.

• Kenney said Wednesdaythe province may run out of staffed intensive care beds within the next 10 days.
• The premier began with a brief apologyfor his United Conservative Party government's controversial decision to be the first of all provincesto lift almost all public-health restrictions tied to COVID-19 at the start of Julyand declare Alberta "Open for summer." Kenney told the news conference Wednesday that his decision tomove from a pandemic-to-endemic approach seemed like the rightthing to do based on data fromother jurisdictions with similar vaccination rates. "It is now clear that we were wrong, and for that I apologize," Kenney said.
• However, Kenney later qualified thatapology, saying that while it was a mistake to switch from pandemic management to endemic management too soon, he didn't believe it was wrong to lift almost all public health restrictions in July. "No, I don't apologize for the decision to relax public health restrictions in the summer when numbers were declining and vaccine numbers were going up," he said. The COVID-19 numbers began to rise exponentially about two weeks after Alberta lifted all restrictions.

• Even though Kenney and the UCP government have for months opposed repeated calls from doctors, the Opposition NDP and business groups to introduce a provincial vaccine passportas some other provinces have done, Kenney said Wednesday his government has "reluctantly decided" to institute what it calleda"proof-of-vaccination"program.
• Businesses and social events that are eligible can choose whether to implement this program, called theRestrictions Exemption Program (REP). If they do,vaccine-eligible Albertanswill be required toprovide government-issued proof of immunization or a negativeCOVID-19 test to patronize businesses and social events and it will be largely business as usual for the vaccinated.

WATCH | Kenney introduces new measures to stop spread of COVID-19:

'I apologize,' Kenney says as Alberta declares state of public health emergency

3 years ago

Duration 1:57

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Wednesday introduced strict and sweeping new measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 as he apologized for his government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Toenter these establishments, which includerestaurants, bars and indoor organized events, people aged 12 and older will be required to show their proof of vaccination or a recent negativetest result.
• A QR code for proof of vaccination will be made available in thecoming weeks, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said similar to the vaccine passport systems announced months ago by Quebec and weeks ago by B.C. 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.
• Kenney also said he's proud of how Alberta has handled the pandemic compared to much of the rest of the world, saying that up until now, the province's fatality rate has been lower than the Canadian average and much lower than that in the U.S. and some other countries without "damaging restrictions."

How the restrictions and exemptions will work:

Some of the broad strokes of the new restrictions include:

As of Sept. 16:

• Private social gatherings:
  • Indoor private gatherings for vaccine-eligible, fully vaccinated people are limited to a single household plus one other household to a maximum of 10 people, with no restrictions on children under the age of 12.
  • Attendance at any indoor private social gathering is not permitted for vaccine-eligible individuals who are unvaccinated.
  • Outdoor private social gatherings are permitted to a maximum of 200 people, with two-metre physical distancing maintained at all times.
• Workplaces:
  • Work-from-home measures are mandatoryunless the employer has decided a physical presence is required for operational reasons.
• Places of worship:
• Must limit attendance to one-third fire code capacity.
• Face masks will be mandatory and there must be two-metre physical distancing between households or two close contacts for those living alone.
• Outdoor events:
  • No attendance restrictions, but two-metre physical distancing adhered to.
• Schools (K-12):
  • Mandatory masking for students in Grades 4 and up, as well asstaff and teachers in all grades. Schools that can implement an alternate COVID safety plan can be exempted from mandatory masking.
  • Elementary schools must implement class cohorting.
  • For physical activities in schools, youth aged 18 and under are not required to mask or maintain two-metre distance when engaged in physical activity.
  • There are no restrictions on outdoor activities.
  • Indoor sports/performance/recreation/special interests are permitted with requirements for two-metre physical distancing, where possible.

As of Sept. 20:

• Restaurants:
  • Restaurants that choose to implement the Restrictions Exemption Program canoperate as usual when it comes to vaccine-eligible Albertanswith proof of vaccination.
  • Otherwise:
    • Outdoor dining only with a maximum of six individuals per table (one household or two close contacts for those living alone).
    • Liquor sales to end at 10 p.m. and consumption at 11 p.m.
• Weddings and funerals:
  • Hosting facilities that choose to implement the Restrictions Exemption Program canoperate as usual when it comes to vaccine-eligible Albertanswith proof of vaccination.
  • Otherwise:
    • All indoor ceremonies and services are limited to 50 attendees or 50 per cent fire code capacity, whichever is less.
    • No indoor receptions are permitted.
    • All outdoor ceremonies and services for weddings and funerals must be limited to 200 attendees.
• Retail, entertainment and recreation facilities such as libraries, nightclubs and casinos:
  • Hosting facilities that choose to implement the Restrictions Exemption Program canoperate as usual when it comes to vaccine-eligible Albertanswith proof of vaccination.
  • Otherwise:
    • Limited to one-third fire code capacity, attendees are only permitted to attend with their household or two close contacts for those living alone.
    • People must be masked and keeptwo-metre physical distancing between households.
• Adult sports, fitness and recreation:
  • Facilities that implement the Restrictions Exemption Program can operate as usual when it comes to vaccine-eligible Albertans with proof of vaccination.
  • Otherwise:
    • No indoor group classes or activities are permitted.
    • One-on-one training or individual workouts are permitted but three-metre physical distancing is required.
    • No contact between players; no indoor competitions except where case-by-case vaccine exemptions have been granted.
• A full list of restrictions and exemptions is available on the government's website.

The latest COVID-19 numbers:

• Alberta reported 1,718 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, out of16,364tests.
• Alberta reported 10moredeaths from COVIDon Thursday.A total of 2,505Albertans have died of COVID-19.
• The positivity rate was 10.6per cent.
• The province is leading the country by a wide margin in daily new COVID cases and active cases.
• There were18,706active casesacross Alberta, the highest count in the country.
• By comparison, Ontario, a province with more than three times the population, has one-third thenumber of active cases.
• There were 896people being treated in hospital, 222of whom were in intensive care beds.
• Of those in hospital, 78 per cent are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated, Hinshaw said Thursday.
• 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) forAug. 30 to Sept. 5.
• 254,327Albertansare considered to have recovered from COVID-19.
• 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.
• 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.
• After cancelling in-person learning for the rest of this week in the wake of the new provincial rules, the University of Calgaryannounced Thursday that its on-campus classes will resume Sept. 20 because its previously announced protocols includingmandatory masking, vaccination or enrolment in regular rapid testing has been determined to meet the province's standards for exemption from the restrictions.
• Multiple Alberta post-secondariesannounced late Wednesday thatthey were cancelling all in-person classes for the remainder of this week, in response to the provincial government implementing new COVID-19 restrictions and declaring a state of emergency. The U of C, MRU and other universities hadpreviously announcedplans for students and staff to provide proof of vaccination in the coming weeks. SAIT said it will also close its campuses for the remainder of the week due to the public health emergency, and the University of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat College cancelled in-person classes.
• In Edmonton, the University of Alberta said all in-person classes would be cancelled for Thursday and further clarification will be communicatedabout the status of classes and activities for Friday as well as the university'srequirements and procedures for complying with the province's new proof of vaccination programeffective Monday.
• There are ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks at a number of primary and secondary schools across the province.
• The province says that as of Wednesday there were COVIDoutbreaks at 17AHS and Covenant Health acute care facilities. At one of the hardest hit, Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, four patient deaths had been linked to the outbreak as of Thursdaywhile atleast 29people in four units have tested positive (21 patients and eight health-care workers).

The latest on vaccines:

• As of Thursday, 60.8per cent of allAlbertans(or 71.5per cent of those eligible) have received twodoses of a COVIDvaccine,and 67.7per cent of allAlbertans (or 79.6per cent of those eligible) have received at least one dose.
• Those are still the lowest numbers in the country, save for Nunavut.Canada-wide, 68.7 per cent of the total population (or 78.6per cent of those eligible)have received two doses of vaccine, and 74.7per cent of the total population (or 85.5per cent of those eligible)received at least one dose, according to the CBC'svaccinetracker.
• Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, sayspregnant 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 departmentsof 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.
• Alberta Health Services announced on Sept. 7it 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 thedetailed regional breakdownof active cases as reported by the province on Thursday.

• Edmonton zone: 5,441.
• Calgary zone: 5,383.
• North zone: 3,261.
• Central zone: 2,758.
• South zone: 1,823.
• Unknown: 40.

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