"An infected mind is a far more dangerous pestilence than any plague—one only threatens your life, the other destroys your character.” - Marcus Aurelius
.
@Nenshi
just told assembled media that the day Dr. Hinshaw announced the end of testing & tracing (& modified isolation requirements) 5 “major conventions” said they were not coming to Calgary.
He said it was a direct result of the province’s decision.
#COVID19AB
Mere days after RCMP seized nearly 50 guns -- some of which were restricted/ not reg'd -- from an individual who allegedly waived an ostensibly loaded handgun at another driver during a road rage incident, Alberta's justice minister is instructing RCMP in AB to NOT seize guns.
BREAKING: Alberta Health spox confirms four cases of XBB.1.5 (aka Kraken) have been detected in the province so far.
XBB.1.5 has been shown to be more transmissible and immune-evading than any other COVID variant.
#COVID19AB
Just got off the phone with
@jkenney
's press secretary about the autoblocks that hit the premier's Twitter page (that I also got caught up in).
He said this was put in by
@TwitterCanada
not the premier/his office. It caught the premier's office by surprise.
More to come...
This is the same minister (diff portfolio) who allegedly stood on a doctor's driveway shouting at the doctor while the doctor's family was inside. For which, that minister and Law Society of AB member will have a virtual meeting in (checks calendar) 3 weeks.
Who else wears masks while out shopping? Law-abiding citizens.
Especially folks like me who don’t want to catch a virus that causes brain, heart and lung damage, increases chances of diabetes and a myriad other long lasting effects.
Smith suggested a trans athlete has “advantages” over their cisgender counterparts, but the scientific literature disagrees, even with the existence of high-profile cases.
Fact checking Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s claims about trans athletes
And then he retweeted a known far right "media outlet," days after the outgoing premier -- the only premier he's served under -- said far right media monetizes anger (something that "concerns (him) greatly").
CPPIB mincing no words:
"We respect the right of Albertans to consider withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, however the amount the report says could be extracted from the CPP is impossible and based on an invented formula."
Some personal news:
Today is my last day with the Global News Calgary and Corus team, who I’ve enjoyed working with for the past 7 years.
This decision was one I made of my own accord after considering a new opportunity.
BREAKING: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces the ban of all crude oil imports from Russia.
"This industry accounts for more than 1/3rd of Russia's federal budget revenues. And while Cda has imported very little amts in recent yrs, this measure sends a powerful message."
So the premier’s first public comments not made on social media about the
#YYC
E. coli outbreak are made on… a program that does not allow journalists not employed by the province to ask questions.
And it was broadcast on the internet the night before the provincial update.
Just putting this timeline out there... 🧵
On March 30, police were ordered by police commission to removed tbl.
On April 1, the police association distributes tbls in defiance of the commission's order.
Also on April 1, a councillor made comments police took umbrage with.
Alberta Municipalities (frmrly AUMA) release this statement on the premier's comments about amending the MGA: "puzzling and troubling" & prev undiscussed.
"The restrictive approach Premier Kenney is now considering is completely at odds with his government’s earlier direction."
An update on the E. coli outbreak that started in
#YYC
daycares, as of Sep. 11:
-231 lab-confirmed cases linked to outbreak
-26 patients in hospital: 25 kids & 1 adult. 11 patients have been discharged since outbreak started
-21 pts with HUS, a severe kidney complication
Saw a tweet about life expectancy in BC and saw StatsCan released this data earlier this week.
Decided to whip up a quick graph to visualize the AB data:
Took a quick peek at the wastewater data in
#YYC
and, well, surf's up.
Provincial positivity rates & ww data reflect upward trends in
#COVID19AB
.
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
And I'm not saying this caused it, but I highlighted a ten-day event in the brown rectangle.
58 intensive care
@Albertadoctors
issue letter to Albertans:
"Neglecting the timely implementation of appropriate measures will allow COVID-19 infections to continue to rise and ultimately result in our health care system being completely overwhelmed."
#COVID19AB
An update: (It’s been a busy week around the office, so I’m just getting to posting this news now.)
Earlier this week, I joined the Mayor’s office in the communications team. It’s a new challenge for me and I’m sure to learn a lot along the way.
StatCan's conclusion: "Considering these findings, protection against COVID-19 infections including reinfections and the development of long-term symptoms is paramount."
😷
Smith says "at the management level, (AHS) made things worse" in HC because of mandatory vaccination policy.
Fun fact: in late Oct 2021, 94% of FT & PT AHS employees, 94% of AHS physicians & 97% of ICU staff were fully immunized ()
An update on the
#YYC
daycare E.coli outbreak, for Sep. 9:
- 164 lab-confirmed cases linked 2 outbreak (up from 142)
- 27 in hospital & 6 others have been discharged since the outbreak's start on Sep. 4
- 19 confirmed with HUS (up from 11), are stable, receiving appropriate care
@STiberius
Yes, the federal gun buyback is aiming at (pun intended) assault-style weapons.
One of the guns seized by RCMP & anncd on Friday was an AR-15, as well as other long & handguns.
I agree there can be responsible gun ownership.
But I wouldn't call waiving a gun around "responsible."
In part 3 of my series on
#longCOVID
in
#COVID19AB
, I try to figure out how many people have caught
#COVID19
(a lot), how many people may have long COVID (a percentage of a large number), what sort of approaches government will need to take to address it:
And if you're wondering about how life expectancy has changed in all other provinces (and Canada), here you go.
(would recommend the interactive version here: )
Chatted w Dr. Lynora Saxinger & she found a possibly-concerning tidbit:
“I just checked the hospitalized flu case breakdown by age and indeed it has flipped. So last year, the highest group was 65-plus, and this year the highest group is 18 to 65 years old,” she said.
While y'all wait for a possible
#COVID19ab
dashboard update, I took a quick gander at the ww data...
#YYC
heading to the moon? (last data point Aug. 30)
"We should acknowledge reality and fix it. COVID changed the world and trying to force 'normalcy' without changing anything is going to perpetually end in tragedy for many."
My latest article. We are currently engaging in a policy of mass continual reinfection of children with a mutating virus that can broadly damage the body and which has a significant rate of subsequent disability. Children's health is at risk.
P.S. on a personal level, it bothers me that misinformation about what governments are doing to enable people to get vaccinated bothers me on a number of levels.
A leader should be encouraging everyone to get their shot, not use a pandemic to get political shots in.
Imagine being so brave as to mock a reporter who's trying to give voice to parents ahead of a new school year.
Also would love to see what exactly has been debunked? Is it the vaccines, the airborne, the LC or the systems-wide effects? Cuz I haven't seen that in the sci journals
Updated this graph after yesterday's StatCan release of life expectancies to 2022.
Interactive Alberta life expectancies:
(in 2022, we were at life expectancies that were last seen in 2006)
With the horrible air quality from
#ABWildfire
I’ve put some MERV13 rated furnace filters in my windows so we can get clean, cool air in the house. It filters pollution out of the air as it blows into the house. Filtrete1900’s are MERV13.
#yeg
#yyc
Hey
#COVID19AB
, some news about COV & influenza vaccines is coming out momentarily.
I don't want to scoop my colleague, but I can say you'll likely only have to wait weeks, not months, for a shot.
FYI, Calgary already offers free parking & transit for folks coming to the AHS rapid flow-thru clinic at TELUS Convention Centre.
As far as I know, the vax clinic at the Genesis Centre also has free parking.
#yyc
#yyccc
NEW:
#COVID19AB
AHS confirms the Royal Alexandra Hospital has implemented the new masking directive, a decision made by site leadership.
AHS staff, HCWs, APL workers in patient-facing areas and in acute care areas at RAH are required to mask.
Y'all ready for some
#COVID19AB
wastewater graphs?
Let's start in
#YYC
(prev 6 mos, last data point April 7):
The angle of the rolling average line (in black) has turned sharply upward in the last week...
I was doing some back-of-the-napkin calculations and through 2022 to Sep. 26, an average of 5.9 Albertans per day have had their deaths attributed to COVID-19.
That's up from 2020 (4/d) & 2021 (5.76/d).
5.9 is an average of one every four hours and four minutes.
#COVID19AB
For a government representative to say the press corps are asking too many questions is really saying something.
My experience with this govt has all too often been that I wasn't allowed to ask a question, because "that's all the time we have" or somesuch.
Press secretary told me today other reporters dropped out of the press conference queue because I was asking too many questions. Would love to hear from any colleagues who did this.
#ableg
#yeg
#yyc
Missed these developments on Friday, but the East Edmonton Health Centre's Urgent Care Centre was the latest Edmonton Zone AHS facility to adopt the enhanced masking directive. It's now the 16th to make the move. The rest are below:
#COVID19AB
More fanmail, different topic.
Also, I must have blacked out during the writing, filming and editing of a video report (that I didn't do).
Watch ≠ read.
Also, note the not-so-subtle racism & nativism.
If you’ve trusted me to tell your story, thank you. If you’ve enjoyed or shared my work, thank you. And if you’ve supported the news biz during this time of upheaval, thank you too.
I’m looking forward to serving Calgarians in my next role. Stay tuned.
There's a term for a leader who limits the ability of media to ask questions...
Alberta Premier Smith, with election looming, announces new limits on media questions
ICYMI, AESO is asking Albertans to once again conserve energy today during the peak hours of 4-7 p.m.
So if you’ve got some laundry to do or a full dishwasher to run, now’s the time. You could even pre-cook dinner and reheat it in a microwave tonight.
Alberta Update brings you the latest news on what’s happening in your province. Join host Bruce McAllister for a behind-the-scenes look at how your government is taking action on the issues that matter to Albertans. Watch the first episode tomorrow at
Took a quick look at the latest
#COVID19AB
data from the ABRVD that went up after 7pm yesterday. It had two weeks' worth of data for most of the categories.
I'm tuning into an E. coli outbreak from AHS.
As of today, 96 lab-confirmed cases linked to outbreak involving 11 locations.
22 hospitalizations: 16 at ACH & 6 at PLC.
A "handful" of hospitalizations have had more serious outcomes.
In the last two weeks, there were 55 more Cov deaths, all of folks 40+.
Flu deaths nearly doubled, from 44 to 80, in those two weeks, again of folks 40+.
This resp virus season (started Aug. 27), we've been averaging 3.024 Cov deaths/d.
$4M on a $5B megaproject is <0.1% spending on public art & public gardens.
The Green Line is getting funding from all 3 orders of gov, which could be seen as $ coming from 37.6M Canadians. That could be calculated to almost 11 cents each.
So many Calgarians lost their jobs but heck with food on the tables, it’s all about feeling, and I’m sure these arts will make those Calgarians feel way better and full. How do you feel now that you are being treated like an ATM?
#yyc
#yyccc
#calgary
On Nov. 6, University of Alberta Hospital in
#YEG
declared a new outbreak of 43 (forty-three) patients (!).
Makes me wonder how big that unit at UAH is...
This has some real “let’s weaponize the Muslim community against trans people” vibes.
Also note the “trans ≠ human” rhetoric. The explicit othering should be of concern, especially to anyone who’s read Jason Stanley’s book.
This is a friendly reminder that influenza and Cov immunizations are widely available in the province. It only takes 15 mins of your time. And they're free!
I still haven't seen any updates to wastewater data past Dec. 21, which is a shame as it's probably the best indicator we have of what's going on in communities.
(something something volantem caecum)
Good morning
#YYC
. Another day of an air quality health index of 10, thanks to the smoke from wildfires in the province.
If you gotta be outside, wear an N95 or better respirator.
(There should be a city skyline behind me in the photo.)
Many more Albertans are waking up to the smell of wildfire smoke and air quality statements this morning. Even
#YYC
’s AQHI is expected to go to 6 (moderate risk) today:
A well-fitted N95 respirator can be effective to filter out the smoke (as well as 🦠).
#COVID19AB
data is now being reported monthly, unless things get worse, I've been able to confirm. That's on top of ww data responsibilities being taken over by APL. Read more:
Alberta’s change to COVID data reporting leaves parents concerned
Hearing that
#YYCCC
may do a reconsideration vote of the
#YYC
housing and affordability task force recommendations.
Time to get nerdy & crack open city council's procedure bylaw...
The govt encourages Albertans to stay up to date on their vaccinations.
(Note: if it's been >5mos since your last shot, now's the time to get another)
Also: "Wearing a mask, especially in crowded indoor settings, can help reduce the risk of becoming sick & help protect others."
According to the health minister, there are now 190 lab-confirmed cases linked to the E.coli outbreak in
#YYC
daycares and 27 people in hospital. 7 have been discharged since the outbreak was declared on Sep . 4.