COVID-19

Keeping up with the changing travel rules in a pandemic world is no easy feat for travellers or travel agents.

Even though travelling can be challenging these days, Karen Fournier owner and operator of Four Stories Travel in Cochrane says she is very busy booking trips for residents seeking an escape. For example, the anticipated change in quarantine rules for young children saw a lot of young families booking holidays for spring break.

Now that Ontario’s proof of vaccination system has ended, will the province follow other jurisdictions by removing mask mandates?

During a press conference on Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says not yet, as leadership is waiting for further direction from Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore.

Leadership within the Northwestern Health Unit has said they will be monitoring the future trends and statistics of COVID-19 following the province lifting additional restrictions.

On Tuesday (March 1, 2022), capacity limits were lifted in the remaining indoor public settings.

Dr. Kit Young Hoon, Medical Officer of Health for the NWHU said this reopening phase may have an impact on the region but will continue to monitor the situation.

A Winnipeg pastor, as well as a politician, shared the stage this morning to discuss moving forward as a society post-pandemic. 

Each month there is a Pastors and Leaders in Winnipeg Prayer Meeting. For the month of March, the group invited Pastor Mark Hughes of Church of the Rock to join City Councillor and former pastor Scott Gillingham on the stage to have a conversation about moving forward as a church and city after the pandemic. 

"These past two years have been difficult for anyone in ministry leadership, in leadership at all," says Gillingham. "It's been tough."

Today marks the beginning of step two in the province’s reopening plan.

That means that you are no longer required to wear a mask in most places except for public transit, hospitals, continuing care facilities, or if you live in Edmonton.

As with everything pertaining to the pandemic, people have been dealing with a bombardment of changing information for the last 2 ½ years as the COVID-19 virus would morph and change. The fluidity of the pandemic, spiced with politics and human nature has created some very divided views. Not least of which, the great mask debate.

The federal government has extended support to two local First Nation communities that are still fighting lengthy COVID-19 outbreaks.

On the eve of the province moving to Step Two of reopening and most COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, the numbers continue to trend down. 

Since Friday there were 1,435 new PCR confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in the three-day period.

There are 1,224 people in hospital with 83 of those in ICU. 

There are currently 9,188 active cases in Alberta. 

Sadly, another 14 deaths were reported over the weekend bringing the total to 3,912 in the province. 

To date, 8,498,261 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. 

Local municipalities are preparing to lift most public health restrictions tomorrow (March 1, 2022) including masking and capacity limits.

In Red Deer, City staff will still be required to wear masks. The City is encouraging everyone to continue to treat each other with kindness as people’s comfort levels vary with masking.

The Town of Ponoka Chief Administrative Officer, Sandra Lund is urging the same sentiment

The month of March will begin with a number of changes provincewide, as Albertans prepare to enter step two of the province's plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions.

For nearly two years Alberta businesses have been navigating the COVID waters and adapting operations time and again.

The food and beverage industry has been hit with closures, capacity restrictions and at times limited to delivery, curbside or patio dining.

Now, as capacity limits and mask mandates mostly come to a close, a local restaurant owner is breathing a sigh of relief.

Over the past five years, the Kenora District Services Boards Northwest EMS has seen a steady increase in call volume in the Dryden and surrounding area.

In 2017 the KDSB Northwest EMS responded to 2,000 calls in just the Dryden area, fast forward to the end of 2021 2,939 calls were reported.

KDSB Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Henry Wall said that with the increase in calls, paramedics are being pulled in all directions.