COVID-19 Update: Stampede prizes added to lottery | Council debating mask bylaw | Border measures to start easing in July
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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.
What’s happening now City council debating face-covering bylaw
Calgary city council is debating whether the local face-covering bylaw will be repealed at the start or the end of July.
Alberta will be removing its provincial requirement for the public to wear masks on July 1 when it enters Stage 3 of its reopening plan. However, people may still be required to cover their faces indoors in Calgary until July 31 if councillors vote to accept city administration’s recommendation to keep the bylaw until July 31 as long as case numbers and vaccination rates are “trending in the right direction.”
Civic affairs journalist Madeline Smith is reporting live during the mask debate:
Calgary Stampede prizes added to vaccination lottery 
The province has announced it is adding Calgary Stampede prizes to its lottery encouraging Albertans to get vaccinated.
Stampede family admissions and ride packages, rodeo and performance packages, as well as general admissions, will be included in the first Open for Summer Lottery draw. Winners will be announced on July 1, when Stage 3 of Alberta’s reopening begins.
All Albertans 18 and over are eligible to register for the lottery once they’ve received their COVID-19 vaccine. This includes Albertans who already received one or both shots of vaccine. Eligibility for the first draw will close at 11:59 p.m. on June 24.
More than 1.5 million Albertans have entered the province’s lottery, which currently includes three draws for $1 million and travel prizes from Air Canada and WestJet.
Click here for more information or to enter the lottery.
Read more.
COVID-19 developments around Canada on Monday 
Ontario is reporting 270 new COVID-19 cases today and three more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus. The province says 323 people are in intensive care with COVID-19-related critical illness and 202 people are on ventilators.
Quebec is reporting 90 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths. Health officials say hospitalizations dropped by two, to 168, and 39 people were in intensive care, unchanged since the prior day. Premier Francois Legault received his second COVID-19 vaccination today at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium and urged Quebecers to get fully vaccinated.
Health authorities in Nova Scotia are reporting no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time in almost three months. Premier Iain Rankin said today it’s a great way to start the summer. The province has 79 active reported cases, which includes three people recovering in hospital
Hinshaw reminds Albertans to get first available vaccine appointment Border quarantine to soon lift for fully vaccinated Canadians 
Fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents will soon be able to return to Canada without a mandatory quarantine.
The first stage in loosening the border restrictions that have been in place for 15 months will begin at 11:59 p.m. eastern time on July 5.
It will apply only to people already eligible to travel to Canada, including citizens, permanent residents, and people registered under the Indian Act.
Those travellers must have two doses of a vaccine approved by Health Canada, provide a negative COVID-19 test from 72 hours before arrival, take a second test upon arrival, and have a quarantine plan in the event the arrival test comes back positive.
All others will still have to stay in hotel quarantine for up to three days pending a negative arrival test, and then quarantine at home for the remainder of the 14-day period.
Children who aren’t vaccinated will be able to return home with their parents, but must quarantine there for two weeks and take a second test eight days after arriving home.
Read more.
Federal ministers provided an update. Watch it here:
Class of 2021 stays afloat amid rise and fall of COVID’s stormy waters 
In a school year like no other, the Class of 2021 has navigated a sea storm.
From the rising wave of excitement with the restart of classes in September — finally seeing friends and favourite teachers — to the sudden crash of quarantine, isolated yet again as provincial directives forced them to grasp complex curriculum as they sat alone, for hours, in front of computers at home.
Still, somehow, they managed to stay afloat, and will celebrate graduation over the last weeks of June, albeit in a safe, socially distanced and virtual way.
During this unprecedented 2020-21 academic year, high schools, with their larger classes and crowded hallways, faced some of the highest rates of COVID cases and quarantines.
Many times, outbreaks saw individual schools closed for weeks. Other times, mandated restrictions sent kids across the province home to learn, then called them back, then sent them home again.
“It was chaotic,” said Luke Bent, a graduate from Queen Elizabeth High School.
Video: Three $1M prizes up for grabs in Alberta vaccine lottery (Calgary Herald)
Read more .
Sunday Alberta reports 100 new cases as uptake for second doses of COVID-19 vaccine remains high 
Another 100 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Alberta on Sunday, marking the lowest daily number recorded since early September, as uptake for second doses of vaccine remains high.
The 100 new cases reported Sunday came from nearly 4,900 tests, representing a positivity rate of only two per cent, which was lower than the 2.45 per cent positivity documented on Saturday. This is the fewest cases reported in a single day since Sept. 8 when the province detected 96 new cases.
Nearly 30 per cent of Alberta’s eligible population — those age 12 and over — have returned to a clinic or pharmacy to receive their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Second dose appointments were opened to everyone on Friday, though those who received an mRNA vaccine should wait four weeks between shots.
The Calgary zone is home to 1,005 active cases, while the Edmonton and North zones have just over 400 cases each, the Central zone has 218 and the South zone has only 78.
Across the province, there are 214 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including 53 requiring treatment in intensive-care units.
One additional COVID death was reported Sunday, bringing Alberta’s death toll to 2,290. The death was of a woman in her 80s from the Calgary zone.
Read more .
Sunday Calgary councillors want more support for parks amid increased pandemic use 
Two city councillors are asking for more support to keep Calgary’s parks in good condition as the COVID-19 pandemic has seen people flock to outdoor green spaces.
Ward 1 Councillor Ward Sutherland and Ward 6 Councillor Jeff Davison have filed a notice of motion asking for a one-time $500,000 injection into the city parks department to help keep up with the increased use. They are also asking administration to outline the costs of creating a park pandemic response program.
Sutherland said on top of an increased in interest in parks the pandemic has highlighted there are more ways to use parks than what has been done in the past, citing the Bowness Park skateway as an example. He said a response program would be an investment at ensuring parks are well-kept and maintained between seasons and used to their full capacity.
Read more .
Sunday ‘We’re pretty resilient:’ COVID-19 a bigger blow to Oyen, Hardisty than killing Keystone XL pipeline expansion: mayors 
The mayors of two Alberta towns that saw booms as a result of the Keystone XL pipeline expansion before it was formally killed this month say COVID-19 hit the communities harder than the cancellation of the project will.
By the time the expansion was officially cancelled June 9, after U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order to revoke the pipeline’s permit in January, work had largely wrapped up in the Alberta towns of Hardisty and Oyen. Parts of the expansion, which was to run from Alberta to Nebraska, began construction last year.
In January, Calgary-based TC Energy, the pipeline’s owner, said it planned to eliminate more than 1,000 construction jobs as a result. Before then, Hardisty, 200 km southeast of Edmonton, had expected an influx of about 600 or so temporary workers spending locally during the construction season.
However, Mayor Douglas Irving said in June it was the COVID-19 pandemic that really took its toll on the town of about 550 people.
Read more .
Sunday U.S. extends travel restrictions at Canada, Mexico land borders through July 21 
WASHINGTON — U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least July 21, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said on Sunday.
The 30-day extension came after Canada announced its own extension on Friday of the requirements that were set to expire on Monday and have been in place since March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. government held working-group meetings with Canada and Mexico on the travel restrictions last week and plans to hold meetings about every two weeks, U.S. officials told Reuters.
Read more .
Sunday Review of stayed Alberta court cases anticipated to get back on track late this year 
The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) expects to get back to reviewing a stayed court cases more regularly after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Known as the Jordan decision, the Supreme Court of Canada in 2016 set maximum time limits for trials to be concluded — 18 months in provincial court and 30 months for Court of Queen’s Bench. If the Crown causes trials to exceed those limits, the defence can argue that the accused’s Charter rights were breached.
A report by auditor general Doug Wylie, tabled in the legislature on June 10 , showed ACPS conducted one Jordan analysis in 2019 but there is no evidence that further similar analysis has been completed or scheduled since. The auditor general recommended the ACPS do more analysis of what’s causing court cases to be delayed to the point where charges are dropped, however, those efforts have been hindered by the pandemic.
Read more .
Sunday Saskatchewan announces all COVID-19 public health measures will end July 11 
REGINA — Saskatchewan will lift all remaining public health measures meant to protect against COVID-19 as of July 11, making it the second province to do so, behind only Alberta.
The province can move to Step 3 of its pandemic reopening plan because Saskatchewan is so close to reaching the vaccination thresholds needed for a full reopening, Premier Scott Moe said.
“We are able to make this announcement because so many Saskatchewan residents have done their part by getting vaccinated, so I’d like to say thanks to Saskatchewan people,” Moe said, announcing the news in the province’s daily pandemic update on Sunday.
“Over the past 15 months, Saskatchewan residents have diligently followed public health guidelines and restrictions, and over the past months they have followed through by getting vaccinated.”
Read more .
Sunday Israel working to revive COVID vaccine swap, after Palestinians reject soon-to-be expired doses 
Israeli officials are working to revive talks to deliver vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority (PA) after a deal last Friday was suddenly called off by PA officials who said that the vaccines were too close to their expiration date and do not meet their standards.
Some 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are still without sufficient vaccine supplies as shipments from other sources continue to lag even while their neighbor, Israel, is mostly returning to pre-pandemic life.
The announcement and abrupt cancellation of the deal has given rise to conspiracy theories and further damaged the low standing of the Palestinian Authority among its people.
Read more .
Sunday Small COVID-19 outbreaks keep plaguing Australia 
MELBOURNE — Australia’s state of Queensland recorded one locally acquired coronavirus infection on Sunday, the latest streak of small outbreaks that have been plaguing the country in recent months.
The Queensland case comes as a cluster of the highly infectious Delta variant has grown by two cases to nine in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, prompting health officials to expand mask wearing rules.
“We know this strain, which is becoming the dominant strain, is extremely contagious and some people are spreading it more than others, and what we want to avoid at this stage is a super spreading event,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Australia has been highly successful in managing the spread of the coronavirus through swift border closures, social distancing rules and a high community compliance with them, reporting just over 30,300 cases and 910 COVID-19 deaths.
But the country has struggled with the vaccination rollout, and states have been plagued in recent months by small outbreaks, kept from spreading out of control through speedy contact tracing, isolation of thousands of people at a time, or snap hard lockdowns.
Read more .
Sunday Philippines seals deal for 40 million Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 doses 
MANILA — The Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE in its biggest coronavirus vaccine deal to date.
Deliveries of the vaccine, among several brands of coronavirus shots allowed for emergency use in the Southeast Asian country, will begin in late September, Carlito Galvez, head of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine procurement, said on Sunday.
The Philippines last week started a program to vaccinate 35 million people working outside their homes, while continuing to inoculate priority sectors such as healthcare workers and elderly citizens, hoping to achieve herd immunity this year.
More than 8 million doses have been administered, of which about 6 million were for first dose, suggesting a slow vaccine rollout that puts the government’s target to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year in doubt.
Read more .
Sunday Vietnam receives 500,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses donation from China 
HANOI — Vietnam has received a shipment of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses donated by China, the health ministry said on Sunday, as the country is ramping up inoculations to battle against a more widespread outbreak.
The Southeast Asian nation approved China’s Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use against COVID-19 in early June.
The vaccines will be used for three groups: Chinese citizens in Vietnam, Vietnamese who have plan to work or study in China and people who live near the borders with China, the health ministry said in a statement.
Vietnam’s domestic inoculation program, which started in March, has so far relied heavily on around 4 million shots of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Read more .