COVID-19

During yesterday's update, Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange talked about the changes being made in Alberta schools to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

Acting on the recommendations of the Alberta Advisory Committee on Immunization, starting today, expanding immunization to most vulnerable groups, anyone 75 and older who received vaccination at least six months ago will be eligible for a 3rd booster shot. Indigenous, Metis, and Inuit will also be able to access a third COVID vaccine dose.

There is no doubt that everyone is and has been feeling a great deal of stress throughout the pandemic. So, St. Andrew’s United Church has teamed up with Spiritual Life Coach, Stacey Foley to present a six-week meditation series. Foley says that St. Andrew’s, “Wanted to do something that was going to help the community with the difficult times that we are currently going through. In an attempt to help people with mental health issues and introduce meditation to people who have not practiced.”

For months now Ontario optometrists and the provincial government have been going back and forth with negotiations regarding compensation for OHIP-insured eye care.

On September 1, 2021, optometrists across Ontario stopped providing the eye care service as a form of a strike against the government. As a result of the stoppage, millions of children and seniors are without proper eye care.

Authorities made several announcements on Tuesday, October 5 in an attempt to ramp up the fight against the 4th COVID-19 wave. Measures entail increased vaccination for the most vulnerable, rapid tests and reporting in schools, and the continuation of the most recent protocols. All in ahead of the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Approaching the second Thanksgiving of the pandemic, history shows that Alberta saw a spike in cases following Thanksgiving last year. This year authorities say the hospitals cannot handle another spike.

The B.C. government is supporting the effort to increase vaccination rates throughout the province by making COVID-19 vaccination a requirement for B.C. public service employees.

The BC Public Service Agency, in consultation with the provincial health officer, will require its 30,000 employees to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22, 2021.

Public service employees working in core government or ministries will be required to provide proof of full vaccination using the BC Vaccine Card.

More than half of all Tuesday's new COVID-19 cases are in people who received one of more doses of the vaccine, while almost all of the active hospitalizations are people who are not fully vaccinated.

There are 102 new COVD-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 61,038. The current five-day test rate in Manitoba is 3.8 per cent.

Out of the new cases, 45 are in people who are fully vaccinated, 10 in those who are partially vaccinated, and 47 people who are not vaccinated.

There are 845 active cases of the virus.

RVS wants to set the record straight about rumours that have been circulating surrounding the division's pandemic protocols and future plans.

Board Chair, Fiona Gilbert, says that the board has also heard the whispers of mandatory COVID vaccinations for students, more lockdowns and defunding. 

Simply put, Gilbert says they are just rumours.

"There's absolutely a lot of misinformation being spread locally and beyond. It's definitely creating lots of confusion and concerns,” says Gilbert.

The Northwestern Health Unit has confirmed zero new positive COVID-19 test results in the region. 

This comes after yesterday's (October 4, 2021) daily case update reported 17 new COVID-19 cases in the region. 

The current active case count connected to the NWHU catchment area is 16. 

The Ontario government has brought forth a plan to target high-risk COVID-19 settings by the way of making rapid antigen screening available to schools, and child care settings by the direction of the local medical officer of health.

This plan will help will protect the students, and children from COVID-19, and the Delta variant.

This plan was announced today (October 4, 2021) by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore. Moore says that screening and testing remain important tools in protecting the spread of COVID-19.