COVID-19

Alberta will take a big step towards safely returning to normal as fitness centres, libraries and movie theatres reopen and large outdoor gatherings resume.

Beginning June 10, Stage 2 of the Open for Summer Plan will take effect, two weeks after 60 per cent of Albertans age 12-plus received at least one dose of vaccine and with COVID-19 hospitalizations well below 500 and still falling.

With Stage Two of Open for Summer happening Thursday, June 10 the province has announced that historical sites and museums will be opening for summer vacation plans to be made. 

As of June 10, The Provincial Archives of Alberta and The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology will open.

On the eve of Stage Two of the Open for Summer Plan, COVID-19 benchmarks continue to be surpassed.

Hospitalizations have dropped by another seven cases for a total of 329 with 83 of those cases in ICU.

Active cases in the province have dropped once again to 4,204.

There were 313 new cases reported with a positivity rate of 3.7% on Wednesday, June 9.

To date, 67.2 per cent of the population has received at least one shot of the COVID vaccine while 15.7 per cent have been fully immunized with two doses.

The province is announcing 250 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. 

Public health officials advise two new deaths in people with COVID-19 have been reported today:
• a male in his teens from the Winnipeg health region; and
• a male in his 50s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern.

The current five-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 11.5 per cent provincially and 12.3 per cent in Winnipeg. As of 9:30 a.m. today, 250 new cases of the virus have been identified. The total number of lab-confirmed cases in Manitoba to 53,403.

Dr. Brent Roussin is announcing a "slight opening in outdoor settings" in Manitoba.

Small outdoor gatherings will be permitted starting this weekend. Up to five visitors outside can gather on both public and private property, starting Saturday.

"We are not in a position to open everything at once certainly, but we are in a position to slowly ease, very minimally, some reactions," Roussin says in a Wednesday press conference. 

As COVID-19 case rates continue to decline and vaccine rates continue to increase, a Kenora salon owner has made the decision to defy public health orders and open her shop next week.

Kari Mounk, the owner of Halo Hair Studio, says she has no choice but to open.

"It comes down to my livelihood. I have nothing left," said Mounk in conversation with KenoraOnline earlier this week.

Mounk employs four other stylists, all of whom have spent nine of the last 15 months out of work.

A long-awaited milestone has been hit for COVID-19 vaccinations, and now, the province will be sharing what's next.

For months, a 70 per cent target was the province's goal to great herd immunity with vaccinations in adults. Now that the province has its milestone, Manitoban continues to be under strict restrictions.

Manitobans who get their first COVID-19 vaccine by August 2 will be entered to win cash incentives of up to $100,000.

Premier Brian Pallister is being joined by the President and CEO of Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, Manny Atwal, to announce benefits for vaccinated Manitobans Wednesday morning.

The pair is announcing a $2 million vaccination lottery.

"The sooner we get vaccinated, the sooner we get our lives back. This lottery gives Manitobans a reason to move faster to roll up their sleeves not once, but twice," Pallister says. 

Chief Medical Officer for Alberta, Dr. Deena Hinshaw opened her COVID-19 update on Tuesday, June 8 by reminding Albertans to disclose COVID-19 symptoms when seeking medical care. Not disclosing symptoms could put the care teams at risk of spreading the virus.  

3.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alberta. Now 67 per cent of those aged 12 or older have at least one dose, and 15 per cent of Albertans are fully vaccinated.  

The Northwestern Health Unit has announced that there are no new cases of COVID-19 found in the region. 

With the announcement, the Kenora, Atikokan, Emo, Fort Frances, Rainy River, and Red Lake Health Hubs are now at zero. Kenora has been the hot spot for cases in the region since the beginning of the pandemic with 510 cases resolved thus far. 

Currently, there are two active cases in the NWHU catchment area. One in the Dryden Health Hub and one in the Sioux Lookout Health Hub.