Watch this page throughout the day for updates on COVID-19 in Calgary
Article content
What’s happening now
Advertisement 2
Article content
Monday
Alberta sees ‘massive increase’ in deaths among youth during pandemic: study
Advertisement 3
Article content
Alberta logged a “massive increase” in deaths from causes other than COVID-19 among youth during the pandemic, a recent study has found.
The conference abstract found excess mortality in Alberta from January 2020 to May 2021, meaning the number of deaths that took place in the province during that time was higher than would be expected when compared to death rates from 2015 to 2019.
During that time frame, there were an average of 248 monthly excess deaths in Alberta. That ranged from as few as 49 excess deaths in January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alberta, to as many as 781 excess deaths in December 2020.
Over those 17 months, 2,226 Albertans died of COVID-19, representing about 54 per cent of the 4,214 excess deaths in the province over that time period. And younger Albertans made up a large share of those deaths.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Monday
Crown seeks direct indictment for one of four accused in Coutts border blockade
The Crown is attempting to streamline the cases of four men charged with conspiracy to commit murder at a border blockade protest in southern Alberta.
Prosecutor Steven Johnston told court in Lethbridge on Monday that the Crown is preparing a direct indictment for Christopher Lysak, 48, who has already waived his right to a preliminary hearing so his trial can go ahead.
He requested a trial by judge and jury.
An accused is normally entitled to a preliminary hearing, but the Crown can override that by filing a direct indictment, which has to be approved by the attorney general.
“The Crown has prepared a direct indictment in this matter and it also joins three other gentlemen with the same person,” Johnston told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Dallas Miller.
Advertisement 5
Article content
Monday
City of Toronto declares end of emergency order declared over COVID-19 pandemic
Canada’s most populous city is ending the municipal emergency it declared over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toronto Mayor John Tory says he’s “very happy” to be declaring the end of the municipal emergency that took effect on March 23, 2020.
Tory says the declaration allowed the city to redeploy some 1,700 public employees to shelters, long-term care homes and other priority areas that required extra support during the pandemic.
Despite terminating the emergency order, Tory warns that the pandemic is not over and says the city will continue its vaccination efforts, receive public health guidance from the city’s top doctor and offer recovery supports as it keeps up the fight against COVID-19.
Advertisement 6
Article content
The city’s top doctor, Dr. Eileen de Villa, says Toronto’s COVID-19 indicators are either decreasing or holding stable this week, and that she’s “encouraged” to see signs of improvement in Toronto’s health system capacity as well as in weekly case rates, per cent positivity and wastewater signals.
Monday
Over a quarter of Quebec adults developed COVID-19 antibodies in early 2022: study
More than one in four Quebec adults developed COVID-19 antibodies between January and mid-March of this year, according to a study released Monday by the province’s blood services organization.
The study by Hema-Quebec, which was carried out at the request of the province’s Health Department, used a test that was able to detect COVID-19 antibodies in adult blood donors.
Advertisement 7
Article content
Researchers compared the presence of antibodies to an earlier sample from the same person taken before the arrival of the Omicron variant.
Using samples donated to the province’s plasma bank, the organization concluded that 27.8 per cent of Quebec’s adult population was infected with COVID-19 in the first two-and-a-half months of the year.
Monday
COVID vaccine makers shift focus to boosters
COVID-19 vaccine makers are shifting gears and planning for a smaller, more competitive booster shot market after delivering as many doses as fast as they could over the last 18 months.
Executives at the biggest COVID vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc said they believe most people who wanted to get vaccinated against COVID have already done so — more than 5 billion people worldwide.
Advertisement 8
Article content
In the coming year, most COVID vaccinations will be booster shots, or first inoculations for children, which are still gaining regulatory approvals around the world, they said.
Pfizer, which makes its shot with Germany’s BioNTech SE, and Moderna still see a major role for themselves in the vaccine market even as overall demand declines.
Upstart U.S. vaccine maker Novavax Inc and Germany’s CureVac NV, which is working with GlaxoSmithKline, are developing vaccines they hope to target at the booster market.
The roles of AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson, whose shots have been less popular or effective, are expected to decline in this market.
Monday
‘Like a prison’: Shanghai, Beijing ratchet up COVID curbs
Advertisement 9
Article content
China’s two largest cities tightened COVID-19 curbs on Monday, fueling public angst and even questions about the legality of its uncompromising battle with the virus that has battered the world’s second-largest economy.
In Shanghai, enduring its sixth week of lockdown, authorities have launched a new push to end infections outside quarantine zones by late May, according to people familiar with the matter.
While there has been no official announcement, residents in at least four of Shanghai’s 16 districts received notices at the weekend saying they would not be allowed to leave their homes or receive deliveries, prompting a scramble to stock up on food.
Some of these people had previously been allowed to move around their residential compounds.
“Go home, go home!” a woman shouted through a megaphone at residents mingling below an apartment block impacted by the new restrictions on Sunday, a scene that might baffle the rest of the world that has opted to open up and live with the virus.
