Coronavirus (COVID-19) Local News

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney apologizes as he ushers in restrictions, including limits to social gathering to curb the fourth wave.

"We're looking at a situation in which an entire cohort of health-care workers, doctors, nurses, anesthetists, and administrators are going to live with long-term consequences of having to make life or death decisions for a situation that was completely preventable," Dr. James Talbot, a former chief medical health officer for Alberta, said in an interview Tuesday.

Dr. Verna Yiu, the president and CEO of Alberta Health Services, says there may be 200 potential patients that could be moved into continuing care in the next week or two.

On Thursday Alberta saw another 1,510 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed after 13,800 tests, and a positivity rate of 11 per cent. There are 679 Albertans in the hospital, with 154 of those in intensive care. There have been nine new deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

"This is much, much worse than I think people understand," she said. "We, as health-care workers, are telling you that things are very dire, that ICU beds are running out, that we are stretched very thin in terms of our hospital capacity."

There are currently 15,486 active cases in the province, with 602 people in the hospital and 137 in intensive care. Another 17 Albertans lost their lives to the virus, bringing the total deaths during the pandemic to 2,407. 

The meeting was originally called to discuss a municipal mask mandate. Hours before, Alberta’s premier announced, effective Sept. 4, masking will be mandatory in indoor public spaces province-wide.

'For the love of God, please get vaccinated now,' Kenney pleads.

Move “a large mistake,” says former mayor

“Right now, as a business community it's frustrating because it's an ever-changing landscape,” St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce chair Curtis Crouse said.