Watch this page throughout the day for updates on COVID-19 in Calgary
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With news on COVID-19 happening rapidly, we’ve created this page to bring you our latest stories and information on the outbreak in and around Calgary.
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What’s happening now
- A 10-4 majority supported repealing the city’s mask mandate that’s been in place since last August, but Coun. Druh Farrell denied unanimous consent for third reading of the bylaw to do so — that means the change isn’t official until council deals with it at another meeting.
- Alberta lifted nearly all mandatory COVID-19 rules on Canada Day and released guidelines putting the onus of protecting children, adults and workers’ health during a pandemic onto individuals and business owners.
- A retired educator from Langdon won the first $1-million prize in Alberta’s vaccination lottery.
- Banff has repealed its face mask bylaws, bringing it in line with the province’s recommendations.
Calgary council votes to repeal mask bylaw
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Calgary’s mandatory mask rules are nearly a thing of the past, with a few exceptions, after a council vote Monday.
A 10-4 majority supported repealing the mandate that’s been in place since last August, but Coun. Druh Farrell denied unanimous consent for third reading of the bylaw to do so — that means the change isn’t official until council deals with it at another meeting.
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That could happen as soon as the Monday meeting adjourns, but council members will discuss it over their afternoon break.
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COVID-19 enforcement falls flat with most tickets dropped, unpaid
Of the 83 convictions resulting from those tickets, only 32 had been paid, they said.
Canada didn’t invoke dispute clause when Chinese vaccine deal fell apart, documents reveal
Canada’s contract to work with a Chinese drug company on its COVID-19 vaccine included an arbitration process for resolving disputes, but as the deal fell apart last year, the National Research Council never used the provision.
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The “collaborative research agreement” between the NRC and CanSino Biologics, obtained by the National Post through an access-to-information request, gave both sides the right to ask for binding arbitration, while barring court litigation to settle disagreements.
One expert says the NRC should have gone to arbitration when Chinese customs officials refused to allow samples of the vaccine to be sent here last year – if only to make a point.
Monday
Canada to receive 3.7 million more COVID-19 doses this week
The new deliveries will include about 900,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 2.8 million doses of Moderna vaccine.
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Those shipments will push Canada’s total vaccine deliveries above 53.7 million doses, enough to administer two shots to more than 75 per cent of eligible residents.
Sunday
Vaccine uptake needed to reopen border will be tough to meet: U of C economist
The federal government wants to see 75 per cent of Canada’s population immunized against COVID-19 with two doses before lifting international travel restrictions and opening the border.
It’s a threshold that will be tough to meet, particularly in Alberta, where nearly a quarter of people eligible for a shot still haven’t received a dose, said University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.
Having 75 per cent of Canadians fully immunized means 86 per cent of those aged 12 and over who are eligible for a shot will need to get their jabs, Tombe said.
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“Eighty-six per cent of eligible individuals is perhaps at the higher end of what polls suggest is possible,” Tombe said.
“It’s going to take a little bit more work to change some views that are out there … It’s certainly possible, but it’s going to be a heavy lift for governments.”
Sunday
‘Figure of hope’ praised for role in COVID-19 fight after death
MONTREAL — A Quebec woman who was the first person in Canada to receive a COVID-19 vaccine has died.
Gisele Levesque, 89, died on June 28 peacefully of natural causes, surrounded by family, according to the public health authority in Quebec City.
Friday
Alberta lifts nearly all COVID-19 rules in Stage 3, releases guidelines for workplace safety and kids’ activities
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As of Thursday, rules around indoor and outdoor social gatherings, capacity limits in businesses and other venues, recreation, large events like concerts or sports and other settings have been lifted. Isolation and quarantine laws are still in effect. Wearing masks isn’t mandatory in most places, apart from some health-care settings and public transit, but individual businesses and organizations can still require them.
But, the province also released guidance documents recommending individuals, businesses and those hosting children’s activities voluntarily keep some COVID-19 preventive measures in place, as needed.
Hinshaw previously said that although our COVID-19 numbers — including new, active and serious cases — are trending in the right direction, it doesn’t mean COVID-19 is completely gone.
In fact, the suite of guidance documents at times strongly impresses on Albertans the necessity of preventing COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses from spreading by taking different approaches depending on the context.
“Operators must conduct a workplace hazard assessment, and develop and implement safe workplace practices to protect against the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory infections,” reads the general guidance document.
COVID-19 Update: Calgary's mandatory masks nearly a thing of the past | Canada to receive 3.7 million vaccine doses this week - Calgary Herald
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