COVID-19

The province has reached another vaccine milestone. 

As of Tuesday (Dec.14), 85 per cent of eligible Albertans over the age of 12 are now fully vaccinated. 

Additionally, 89.4 per cent have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 24.7 per cent of kids 5-11 have also had their first dose. 

A total of 7.22-million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the province. 

Leadership with the Northwestern Health Unit says there’s an increased risk of COVID-19 in the region, after announcing 24 new cases of COVID-19 and an outbreak at a Fort Frances school yesterday morning.

With the rapid increase of the Omicron variant and the general spike of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, some have expressed concerns and question whether or not the province should move back into lockdown.  

In an interview with Sherri-Lynne Pharand, the Director of Education for the Keewatin Patricia District School Board (KPDSB), she assured that KPDSB schools are prepared for the potential of a lockdown announcement following the winter break.  

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) has reported COVID-19 exposures at New Prospect Public School in Dryden.

As a result, two classrooms at the school have been closed effective Friday, December 17. Staff with the school reached out to the parents and guardians in the affected classroom Thursday evening.

The Board says anyone not contacted directly by staff can continue to attend school as usual and are reminded to take the COVID-19 school and childcare screening tool daily.

Travel restrictions and recommendations have once again changed, with Ottawa advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside the country. Those who have booked trips may need to make adjustments, while those who were going to book may need to take new steps into consideration prior to taking off.

Vicki Penrod, Travel Planning Specialist with Kaleidoscope Travel and Cruise broke down the changes that were announced on December 15.

The province has provided more details in the wake of a recent announcement.

Starting Friday (Dec.17), Albertans can pick up a free BTNX rapid test kit from 700 pharmacies in Edmonton, Calgary, and Red Deer, as well as 140 Alberta Health Services sites in other communities. 

On Wednesday, December 15, more than 3.1 million Albertans 12 years of age and older (or 85 per cent) are now fully immunized against COVID-19 with two shots.

While at the same time, 89.4 per cent of Albertans age 12 and up have received at least one dose of vaccine.

To date, 95,000 pediatric vaccines have been administered to children aged five to eleven. 

Officials continue to stress the importance of immunization particularly in the wake of the rising number of Omicron cases.

There are two new deaths and more than 200 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba Thursday.

There are 218 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 70,551.

New cases include 121 people who are fully vaccinated, 80 people who are not vaccinated, and 17 people who are partially vaccinated.

There are 1,753 active cases and 67,439 recoveries. 

New cases by region include:

The Northwestern Health Unit has confirmed 24 new COVID-19 cases have been found in the region.

Of the new cases found 12 were found in the Fort Frances Health Hub, 10 in the Kenora Health Hub, and 2 in the Rainy River Health Hub.

The NWHU has also reported a COVID-19 outbreak has been confirmed at St. Mary School in Fort Frances. St. Mary is a part of the Northwest Catholic District School Board.

The province has provided more details in the wake of a recent announcement.

Starting Friday (Dec.17), Albertans can pick up a free BTNX rapid test kit from 700 pharmacies in Edmonton, Calgary, and Red Deer, as well as 140 Alberta Health Services sites in other communities.