Watch this web page all through the day for updates on COVID-19 in Calgary
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Assist us inform the COVID-19 story in Calgary
Simply when it appeared like issues had been getting again to regular, Omicron has modified every thing. We’d like to listen to from you on this newest wave of the virus.
- If you’re a well being care employee, how does Omicron evaluate with previous COVID-19 waves?
- How have you ever coped with testing necessities and speedy check kits?
- Is your employer or faculty asking for a written physician’s be aware rather than a provincial PCR check?
- Are you having a troublesome time proving you had COVID-19?
Contact us by sending an electronic mail to answer@calgaryherald.com or ship your feedback through this kind.
Survey reveals widening hole between views of double-vaxxed and boosted individuals
A brand new survey suggests a widening hole between the pandemic views of people that have opted to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster and those that are holding regular with solely two pictures.
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An online panel survey carried out by Leger for the Affiliation for Canadian Research exhibits 67 per cent of individuals with a booster dose who responded are afraid of contracting COVID-19, in comparison with simply 52 per cent of these with two doses.
“We’re seeing what I name a ‘booster hesitancy,’ versus a vaccine hesitancy, and it’s shaping a few of their attitudes. Their degree of concern about COVID is a bit totally different from the boosted. The diploma to which they’re involved in regards to the vaccination is a bit totally different,” mentioned Jack Jedwab, president of the Affiliation for Canadian Research.
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Two-thirds of those that catch Omicron say they beforehand had COVID-19: U.Ok. examine
About two-thirds of the individuals in a big U.Ok. Covid-19 examine who examined constructive this month reported a earlier an infection with the virus, researchers discovered.
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Scientists examined a number of constructive outcomes to get on the root of which variant was infecting individuals within the Actual-Time Evaluation of Group Transmission (REACT) examine.
They discovered 99% of the samples analyzed had been Omicron. A small handful of the assessments had been the BA.2 variant — a sub-lineage of Omicron, which has not too long ago come underneath investigation — whereas the remaining 1% had been Delta.
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Howard Stern asks Meat Loaf’s household to assist sway anti-vaxxers
Howard Stern is interesting to the household of late musician Meat Loaf to publicly help COVID vaccinations.
“Poor Meat Loaf received sucked into some bizarre f——— cult,” mentioned the SiriusXM radio present host in an episode on Tuesday. “And someway actually believed that — he made a press release, ‘I’d slightly die a free man than take that vaccine.’ And now he’s useless!”
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Stern then urged the singer’s household to talk out towards vaccine scepticism, studies Mediaite.
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‘I really feel forgotten’: Sufferers in Ontario await surgical procedures postponed as a consequence of COVID-19
The ready has turn into excruciating for Shelley Brownlee and her companion, Jonathan Clow.
Brownlee, who’s been recognized with a type of most cancers in her stomach, has been ready months to endure surgical procedure at a hospital in Toronto. Her physician mentioned he had hoped to proceed with it subsequent month however the Ontario authorities’s pause on all non-urgent surgical procedures and procedures amid hovering COVID-19 instances means she’ll doubtless have to hold on a bit longer.
“That is excruciating ready, not having an endpoint so we all know for certain she’ll be capable of get the surgical procedure, and figuring out that as time goes by, the choices obtainable to the surgeon when he’s doing the surgical procedure turn into much less,” mentioned Clow, who detailed Brownlee’s scenario as she wasn’t up for an interview.
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“She’s solely 40 years previous and she or he has youngsters and it’s excruciating.”
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Eric Clapton says individuals who get COVID-19 vaccines are victims of ‘mass hypnosis’
Rock and Roll Corridor of Famer and stark vaccine critic Eric Clapton claims that those that have taken the vaccine are being subjected to “mass hypnosis”.
The Actual Music Observer, a rock music gossip YouTube channel additionally identified for its anti-vaccination stance, aired Clapton’s interview final week. There, the musician mentioned pharmaceutical corporations are utilizing “subliminal promoting” through social media platforms to dupe individuals into getting vaccinated.
Clapton mentioned his collaboration with Van Morrison, one other vaccine skeptic, and their single “Stand and Ship” — a tune evaluating COVID-19 lockdowns to slavery.
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Beijing’s native COVID instances rise earlier than Olympics; extra areas discover Omicron
Beijing reported 14 native confirmed COVID-19 instances on Wednesday, the very best each day rely in its present outbreak, lower than two weeks earlier than the Winter Olympics are set to start out within the Chinese language capital and the neighboring province of Hebei.
Though the numbers for Beijing’s outbreak since Jan. 15 are decrease than elsewhere on the planet, town has ordered focused lockdowns for tens of 1000’s of individuals and examined just a few million residents to dam an infection.
The restrictions, consistent with a nationwide effort to curb virus flare-ups as quickly as attainable, tackle additional urgency as China has vowed to soundly host the Winter Video games and stop main outbreaks throughout the Lunar New Yr journey season.
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New Omicron sub-variant BA.2 arrives in B.C.
A variant of the Omicron pressure of COVID-19 that’s tougher to detect and is reported to unfold extra simply has arrived in B.C.
On Tuesday, the B.C. Well being Ministry confirmed 66 instances of the BA.2 Omicron variant had been detected within the province utilizing genome sequencing up till Jan. 21. Of those instances, 33 had been associated to “worldwide journey surveillance,” the ministry mentioned in a ready assertion.
The BA.2 variant is a derivative of the unique Omicron variant — now referred to as BA.1 — and appeared within the U.Ok. and India final month. The unique Omicron was declared a variant of concern by the WHO on Nov. 27, 2021.
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Tuesday
Public colleges face $14-million shortfall as a consequence of rising COVID prices
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Going through rising COVID prices for additional employees and elevated security protocols, public faculty officers will ask the province to take $14 million out of working reserves, depleting their totals to lower than government-recommended quantities.
The Calgary Board of Schooling says the current surge of the Omicron variant has created vital will increase in employees absenteeism, and extra prices for substitutes, in addition to the acquisition of N95 masks for school-based employees and higher air flow in lecture rooms.
Brad Grundy, chief working officer for the CBE, defined at Tuesday’s board assembly that the elevated prices have pressured a pending request for ministerial approval to entry $14 million from working reserves to stability the 2021-22 price range.
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Tuesday
Small variety of Albertans eligible to entry Pfizer’s COVID-19 capsule beginning subsequent week
An anti-viral drug to deal with COVID-19 infections can be obtainable in Alberta starting subsequent week.
Well being Minister Jason Copping introduced as we speak an preliminary cargo of Pfizer’s COVID-19 therapeutic Paxlovid was arriving within the province, with 3,200 programs of remedy obtainable to eligible Albertans starting Jan. 31.
The oral, at-home antiviral remedy is designed to be used in delicate and reasonable instances of COVID-19 to stop extreme outcomes, with Pfizer’s scientific trials displaying a virtually 90 per cent discount in hospitalizations or deaths when taken inside 5 days of an infection. Well being Canada accredited the capsule for adults final week.
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Tuesday
CBE dad and mom demand higher air high quality as youngsters wrestle with COVID results
Public faculty dad and mom made compelling pleas for higher air air flow and COVID security protocols at Tuesday’s board assembly, together with one father whose teenage daughter is struggling extreme results from lengthy COVID.
Samir Kayande, who has two youngsters within the public system — a daughter now in Grade 10 and a youthful son in elementary — mentioned that in March 2020, his complete household grew to become severely unwell.
“Testing was unavailable on the time, so we don’t know if it was COVID. But it surely took my spouse and I weeks to recuperate. However our daughter has not but recovered.”
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Tuesday
GoFundMe causes confusion over freezing multi-million greenback fundraiser for truck protesters
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A GoFundMe marketing campaign for an enormous transport truck protest convoy has reached nearly $5 million — however there are conflicting studies the cash might have been frozen.
The fundraiser, began Jan. 14 by Tamara Lich — an official from the western separatist Maverick Get together — is proving wildly profitable, recording almost 58,000 donors over the previous 10 days, with a minimum of seven giving in extra of $10,000.
The most important donation to this point, made early Tuesday night, was for $13,000.
On Tuesday, the Canadian Press reported that the Freedom Convoy 2022 marketing campaign had been placed on maintain by the web crowdfunding platform. However the fundraiser’s web site seems to be operating as regular and accepting new donations — sitting at simply shy of $5 million by Tuesday afternoon.
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The Canadian Press reported a GoFundMe spokesperson mentioned they halted the marketing campaign till organizers may present a plan on how funds could be disbursed.
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Tuesday
Alberta studies 2,722 new instances, 73 hospitalizations
Listed below are up to date COVID-19 numbers launched by Alberta Well being Companies this afternoon.
- There have been 2,722 new COVID-19 instances reported since yesterday.
- 13 deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been reported to AHS over that interval. The provincial whole is now 3,483 because the begin of the pandemic.
- Alberta has reported 22,642 instances of Omicron to this point, together with 11,489 within the Calgary zone.
- There are 1,377 individuals in hospital with COVID-19, a rise of 73 since yesterday. There are 111 individuals in ICU, a rise of three since yesterday.
- There are a reported 51,157 energetic COVID instances within the province, a lower of 4,528 since yesterday. There are a reported 24,643 energetic instances within the Calgary zone, a lower of two,350 since yesterday.
- The province accomplished 6,718 assessments on Jan. 24. Alberta at present has a positivity fee of 36.9 per cent.
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Tuesday
Boris Johnson now underneath police investigation over lockdown events
The disaster engulfing Boris Johnson escalated dramatically after the police started formally investigating allegations he and his employees held events that broke the federal government’s pandemic guidelines.
Johnson is battling for his political survival over a slew of studies about occasions in his Downing Road workplace, which had been held at a time when social gatherings had been banned underneath restrictions meant to curb the unfold of coronavirus.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick introduced an inquiry on Tuesday, hours after Johnson’s workplace confirmed employees had gathered in Downing Road to rejoice his birthday throughout the first lockdown in 2020. That was the most recent revelation in what’s been dubbed the “partygate” scandal.
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Tuesday
Pfizer and BioNTech launch trial of Omicron-targeted COVID vaccine
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE mentioned on Tuesday they began a scientific trial to check a brand new model of their vaccine particularly designed to focus on the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has eluded a number of the safety supplied by the unique two-dose vaccine routine.
Banking on volunteers in the US, the businesses plan to check the immune response generated by the Omicron-based vaccine each as a three-shot routine in unvaccinated individuals and as a booster shot for individuals who already obtained two doses of their authentic vaccine.
They’re additionally testing a fourth dose of the present vaccine towards a fourth dose of the Omicron-based vaccine in individuals who obtained a 3rd dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine three to 6 months earlier.
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Tuesday
Pfizer anti-COVID capsule’s harmful interplay with frequent medicine will slim its profit, specialists say
The excitement round Paxlovid has largely obscured one main draw back of the capsule. A booster added to the drug can work together dangerously with a slew of generally used medicines, pumping up the efficiency of blood thinners, heart-arrhythmia therapies, epilepsy medicine and others.
And the sufferers focused for its use – these most prone to severe COVID illness due to age and different well being points – are additionally the individuals most probably to be taking these “contraindicated” medicines.
In some instances the interactions may very well be managed, however it’s clear the issue will restrict the pool of potential recipients, specialists say.
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