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Tag: Alberta

Hospital surge beds added as pressure grows in Alberta’s intensive care units

Alberta hospitals are squeezing in extra intensive care unit beds as respiratory virus cases balloon and ICUs fill up.

Alberta Health Services has added 17 adult surge beds since last week — 12 in Edmonton and 5 in Calgary— bringing the total to 240.

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COVID, flu vaccine uptake low in Alberta heading into holiday season

With vaccination numbers lagging and the holiday season approaching, health experts are calling on Albertans to roll up their sleeves for their flu and COVID-19 shots.

As of Nov. 25, 17 people in Alberta had died of the flu during this respiratory virus season, and close to 500 were hospitalized, according to provincial data. In the same time frame, 245 deaths and almost 2,300 hospitalizations were tied to COVID-19.

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Alberta’s new COVID stats page can be confusing. Here are the key numbers — and what they mean

Alberta’s new respiratory virus dashboard provides weekly updates on the spread of COVID‑19 in the province, but making sense of the numbers can be a challenge — and it’s particularly difficult to figure out how many people have died.

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Calgary’s Peter Lougheed Centre adopts masking directive to curb COVID-19 infections

Calgary’s Peter Lougheed Centre is one of the latest hospitals to adopt Alberta Health Service’s mask directive to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Masking is now required for Peter Lougheed Centre’s staff, physicians, volunteers, contracted service providers and laboratory workers in patient-facing areas of the hospital.

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Manning panel gives 90 recommendations on Alberta’s COVID‑19 pandemic response

A panel reviewing Alberta’s COVID-19 response is calling for rule changes to ensure the province’s premier and cabinet have the last word in future crises, with help from a new senior science officer.

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Anti-vaxxers’ fingerprints are all over Danielle Smith’s plans for public health care

It could be dubbed the revenge of the anti-vaxxers. Or the triumph of COVID-19 conspiracy kooks.

Because there’s no question that the Alberta government’s dissection of the province’s public health care system as announced last week shows just how far it is willing to go to punish those who promoted vaccine mandates, mask mandates and any other measures in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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Nearly 40 million rapid COVID tests unused in Alberta as expiry dates loom

Alberta has close to 40 million COVID-19 rapid antigen tests in its stockpile and they’re all set to expire within a few months. Those that go unused will be trashed, the provincial government has confirmed.

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AHS mask mandate takes effect at Drumheller health centre

The Drumheller Health Centre has become the first acute-care facility in southern Alberta to adopt AHS masking rules to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The mandate, posted by Alberta Health Services on Friday, requires all patients, visitors, and medical and non-medical staff to wear masks in areas where patients are cared for, including the long-term care and supportive living wings of the hospital, as well as the Community Cancer Centre.

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Health-care workers on edge as number of Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19 doubles

Doctors and nurses are warning that Alberta’s health system is already under strain as COVID-19 hospitalizations surge and the respiratory virus season has yet to kick into high gear.

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Royal Alex becomes first Alberta hospital to bring back required masking

Health-care workers, contractors and patients now have to wear masks in some parts of the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID‑19.

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COVID-19 masking directives in place at AHS acute-care sites starting Thursday

Alberta Health Services is adopting stricter masking rules in hospitals as it deals with COVID-19 outbreaks, but regions and hospitals are free to ignore the directive.

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Alberta COVID hospitalizations up 73% since July: health minister

From Aug. 28 to Sept. 8, there were a total 92 new hospitalizations and three ICU admissions, bringing the total to 417 in hospital and seven in ICU, a 73 per cent increase of COVID hospitalizations from the last reported info.

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Absence rates due to illness double in first week and a half at Calgary public schools

Absence rates at Calgary public schools have more than doubled after the first week of school, as concerns loom over respiratory illnesses this fall and hospitals deal with an E. coli outbreak.

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Parents call for better air quality in schools to protect against viruses, wildfire smoke

Several grassroots groups of parents, health-care workers and teachers have sprung up across Canada to lobby for safer schools, including improved air quality.

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Calgary doctor to challenge AHS mask policy change in court

You can’t be putting the responsibility for basic measures to protect people with disabilities and chronic disease… on them when a very minor, reasonable, easy-to-do accommodation can be just kept in place.

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