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Share your COVID-19 stories
As Alberta continues to navigate the unpredictable waves of COVID-19, we’re looking to hear your stories on this evolving situation.
- Have you or a loved one had a surgery rescheduled or cancelled in recent weeks?
- Are you someone who has decided to get vaccinated after previously being skeptical of the vaccines?
- Have you changed your mind about sending your children back to school in person?
- Have you enrolled your children in a private school due to COVID-19?
- Are you a frontline health-care worker seeing new strains on the health system?
Send us your stories via email at [email protected]
10:58 a.m.
Hinshaw to provide update on COVID-19 in the province Tuesday afternoon
Alberta’s chief medical officer of health will provide an update on COVID-19 in the province Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw is scheduled to appear at 3:30 p.m.
8:33 a.m.
This COVID vaccine can be inhaled and it’s being made and tested in Canada
Sharon Kirkey, National Post
Instead of being injected into the deltoid muscles in the arm, the McMaster University vaccine is delivered via tiny aerosol particles breathed deep into the lungs.
The vaccine is part of a second generation of COVID-19 vaccines and one of two Canadian-made formulas that hope to offer a more robust, and more stable immune response. Quebec-based Medicago Inc. reported Tuesday that its plant-based vaccine was 71 per cent effective against all variants of SARS-CoV-2 — except Omicron, which wasn’t circulating during the study — and 75 per cent effective against the globally dominant Delta variant, in a trial involving more than 24,000 adults across six countries.
Medicago said it plans to “imminently” seek Health Canada approval. If approved, it would be the world’s first plant-produced vaccine to be used in humans.
Monday
Alberta reports seven new cases of Omicron variant since Friday
Anna Junker
Alberta has confirmed seven new cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant since Friday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 11.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said the province has a total of 11 Omicron cases. According to Alberta Health, 10 of those cases have been identified in returning travellers and one is a household contact.
“These individuals are isolating, and all appropriate public health follow-up is underway,” Hinshaw said.
“To date, only mild symptoms have been reported (and) these individuals are recovering at home. As (with) the other cases, these individuals have done nothing wrong & should not be stigmatized.”
In a statement, NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman said she is concerned that the new variant may be in schools and highlighted the need for more students to get vaccinated in school.
“Our Caucus will continue to push for sensible COVID-19 polices that keep kids in the classroom and protect them from the virus, including by offering public education, community outreach, improved ventilation and vaccines in school,” Hoffman said.
“We don’t know what the impact of this new variant will be,” he said. “It appears to be more transmissible. Perhaps it’s less severe. We don’t know yet whether how effective the vaccines will work but that research is being done.”
On Monday, Alberta reported 788 new cases of COVID-19, including 349 cases from Friday, 252 from Saturday, and 187 from Sunday. There are currently 4,374 active cases in the province.
The province also reported 366 people hospitalized with the virus, 72 of whom are receiving treatment in intensive care.
Five more people died of COVID-19 in Alberta, raising the death toll to 3,263.
“COVID-19 has obviously been a factor in this, but so has the UCP’s ongoing war with Alberta doctors, nurses and other front-line health-care professionals,” said Notley, who called for a comprehensive plan to recruit front-line health-care workers.
“The UCP government has, over a period of time, created an increasingly toxic relationship with Alberta’s dedicated health-care workers, who have endured unimaginable stress and heartache as the system they work in collapses around them because of the premier’s shocking mismanagement of the pandemic,” said Notley, who pointed to 24 communities across Alberta where hospitals have temporarily reduced beds or care spaces because they don’t have the staff to operate them safely.
Monday
Canada to manufacture Merck COVID-19 antivirals if regulator approves
The Canadian Press
Canada could become a global manufacturing hub for a potentially game-changing treatment of COVID-19 with the signing of a new agreement to produce Merck Canada’s antiviral drug in Whitby, Ont.
The company inked a deal with Thermo Fisher Scientific to manufacture the drug, molnupiravir, at its facility in Whitby with a mandate to supply the product domestically, as well as to the United Kingdom, European Union, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
The drug — one of the first treatments for non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients — is currently pending Health Canada approval.
The facility has already churned out 10 million courses of the drug while the company waits for the green light.
“The inventory is there, it’s ready to be shipped once we have approval, but we will continue to manufacture for future supplies.” said Marwan Akar, president of Merck Canada, at a news conference Monday.
Monday
Snotty-nosed hippos test positive for coronavirus in Belgium, the first known cases in species
Washington Post
Two hippos in Belgium that vets noticed were “expelling snot” have been placed in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Antwerp zoo said, in what appears to be the first known case of covid-19 among the species.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time in this species,” the zoo’s vet, Francis Vercammen, said, according to Reuters. “Worldwide, this virus has been reported mainly in great apes and felines.”
While hippos tend to have wet noses, vets decided to test the pair after they spotted the animals were producing thick mucus. The zoo said that staff, including the hippos’ handlers, had not displayed any symptoms and had tested negative for the infection.
The zoo, which is home to more than 5,000 animals, currently operates with a range of measures in place to help stop the spread of the coronavirus – which has claimed at least 27,000 lives in Belgium.
Monday
Next pandemic could be ‘more lethal’ than COVID, warns co-creator of AstraZeneca vaccine
Reuters
Future pandemics could be even more lethal than COVID-19 so the lessons learned from the outbreak must not be squandered and the world should ensure it is prepared for the next viral onslaught, one of the creators of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said.
The novel coronavirus has killed 5.26 million people across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University, wiped out trillions of dollars in economic output and turned life upside down for billions of people.
“The truth is, the next one could be worse. It could be more contagious, or more lethal, or both,” Sarah Gilbert said in the Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the BBC reported. “This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods.”
“The advances we have made, and the knowledge we have gained, must not be lost,” she said.
Efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic have been uneven and fragmented, marked by limited access to vaccines in low-income countries while the “healthy and wealthy” in rich countries get boosters, health experts say.
Monday
Ten COVID-19 cases found on Norwegian Cruise ship returning to New Orleans
Reuters
A cruise ship set to dock in New Orleans with over 3,000 passengers has detected 10 cases of COVID-19 among its crew and guests, the Louisiana Department of Health said late on Saturday.
“NCL has been adhering to appropriate quarantine and isolation protocols,” the department said in a tweet.
The ship is set to reach New Orleans on Sunday morning, according to its itinerary.
Everyone on board will be tested for COVID-19 before leaving and will be provided with post-exposure and quarantine public health guidance by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
People who test positive for COVID-19 will either travel to their homes or self-isolate according to CDC guidelines, the health agency said.
Monday
Omicron variant may have picked up a piece of common-cold virus
Reuters
The Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus – possibly one that causes the common cold – present in the same infected cells, according to researchers.
This genetic sequence does not appear in any earlier versions of the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, but is ubiquitous in many other viruses including those that cause the common cold, and also in the human genome, researchers said.
By inserting this particular snippet into itself, Omicron might be making itself look “more human,” which would help it evade attack by the human immune system, said Venky Soundararajan of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based data analytics firm nference, who led the study posted on Thursday on the website OSF Preprints.
Source: EdmontonJournal
