CURRENT SITUATION – APRIL 28, 2020

I have combined information from press conferences, news releases and other sources from today. Anything in yellow is an update on something from yesterday or an update on an outbreak.

Alberta did not update the numbers on the website today. I have left in yesterday’s numbers and outbreak reports highlighted in blue.

If you would like to see anything that I sent out previously, or have a question on a particular topic, please ask me and I will be pleased to send to you whatever I have.

If anyone has anything helpful to add, please send it to me and I will include it. Linda

Potential Treatments

Around the World

Canada

Other Provinces

Alberta

 

POTENTIAL TREATMENTS

 

Oxford Vaccine Showing Promise

The vaccine that has been developed in the University of Oxford in the UK has now been tested on monkeys. After being given the vaccine, the monkeys were injected with the virus, and none of them got sick.

 

CDC Announces New Symptoms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added 6 symptoms of COVID-19 to its list. This is a reflection of the growing knowledge about the coronavirus.

The symptoms, which CDC reports would appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus, are: chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell.

Antibody Test Kit Being Developed

Energy giant Suncor is partnering with scientists at the University of Western Ontario and putting technology it uses in its wastewater treatment processes to develop an at-home antibody test kit. The equipment and expertise is already being used to sequence the DNA of bacteria found in Suncor’s process water.

The research team is using a type of algae that shows a lot of promise for producing the protein needed for antibody testing. The Suncor’s team algae cells are far less expensive and easier to scale than the mammalian or insect cells that other research labs are using so the resultant test would be much cheaper in cost.

 

 

I will continue to keep you informed of any information I obtain on potential treatments, tests or vaccines.

 

–WORLD NEWS–

 

Scientist who discovered HIV says Coronavirus was Created in Laboratory

Professor Luc Montagnier, the French scientist who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has added his voice to those who believe the new coronavirus was created in a laboratory. Interviewed on the CNews channel in France, Montagnier asserted that the virus had been designed by molecular biologists. Stating that it contains genetic elements of HIV, he insisted its characteristics could not have arisen naturally.

Montagnier suggested that possibly the goal had been to make an AIDS vaccine. Labeling the virus as “a professional job…a very meticulous job,” he described its genome as being a “clockwork of sequences.”

On January 31, 2020, a research group from India had published a paper suggesting that aspects of the virus bore an “uncanny similarity” to HIV. Taken together, the researchers said their findings suggested the virus had an “unconventional evolution” and that further investigation was warranted. While the researchers subsequently retracted their paper, Montagnier said they had been “forced” to do so.

In February 2020, a separate research paper published by scientists from South China University of Technology suggested the virus “probably” came from a laboratory in Wuhan, the city where it was first identified. Significantly, one of the research facilities cited in this paper, the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory, is said to be the only lab in China that is designated for the study of highly dangerous pathogens such as Ebola and SARS. Prior to the opening of this laboratory in 2018, biosafety experts and scientists from the United States had expressed concerns that a virus could escape from it. As with the paper published by the Indian researchers, however, the Chinese scientists’ paper has similarly been withdrawn.

 

 

World wide  3,138,115 cases; 217,970 deaths; 955,770 recoveries

Just to keep this in perspective:

 

• flu affects 1 billion people and causes 291,000 to 646,000 deaths worldwide (source: Johns Hopkins Medicine)

• The Spanish flu affected 1/3 of the people in the world at the time and killed between 50-100 million people.

 

 

 

Around the World

COVID-19 affects 210 countries and territories around the world.

 

Australia

• Australia has 6,738 and 88 deaths, 5,626 people have recovered.
• Australia opened Bondi beach today. Surfing and swimming is allowed.

 

Belgium

• Belgium has 47,334 cases and 7,331 deaths, 10,943 people have recovered.
• 825,000 potatoes are at risk of being thrown away because the demand for potatoes has dropped drastically because of the closure of restaurants. Belgians are being asked to eat potatoes.

 

Britain

• Britain is now reporting a total of 161,145 cases and 21,678 deaths. It is suspected the cases and deaths are higher due to not all deaths outside of hospitals being counted.
• Britain passed Germany and now has the 5^th highest cases in the world. .
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain is beginning to “wrestle the virus to the ground. “

 

France

• France has 165,911 cases and 23,660 deaths, 46,886 people have recovered.
• As is happening in other jurisdictions, some people in France are rioting because lockdown not lifting till mid-May.
• Repair work on the damaged Notre Dame is starting again.

 

Germany

• Ermany has 159,912 cases with 6,314 deaths, 117,400 people have recovered.
• Germany is opening up but people must wear masks.

 

Italy

• Italy is now reporting 201,505 cases and 27,359 deaths, 68,941 people have recovered.
• Italy plans to lift the national lockdown starting on May 4. .
• People must wear masks and physically distance. Italy has capped prices at 76 cents each to prevent price gouging and purchases are exempt from the value-added tax (VAT).

 

New Zealand

• New Zealand has 1,474 with only 19 deaths, 1,229 people have recovered.
• Opened the ocean to residents.
• Some businesses started opening and people going back to work. Construction has started and cafes and restaurants are open for take-out.

 

Spain

• Spain is reporting 232,128 cases and 23,822 deaths, 123,903 people have recovered.

 

Sweden

 

• Sweden is reporting 19,621 cases, and 2,355 deaths.  9,233 people have recovered.  

• Spain is expecting to achieve herd immunity mid-May.

 

 

United States

• The US now has 1,035,765 cases and 59,266 deaths, 142,238 have recovered.
• Many doctors in the US say they are being pressured to classify deaths as “due to COVID” if the patient tested positive for COVID, even if the death was actually caused by another condition like a heart attack.
• California has 46,163 cases with 1,862 deaths; 40,964 people have recovered.
• Florida is now reporting 32,846 cases and 1,171 deaths
• Georgia opened restaurants today. Georgia has 24,854 and 1,036 deaths.
• Montana has 451 cases and only 15 deaths, 186 people have recovered.
• New Jersey is the 2^nd highest state but has only about 1/3 of the cases and deaths that New York State does. It has 113,856 cases and 23,144 deaths, 213,343 people have recovered.
• New York State is now reporting 301,450 cases and 23,144 deaths, 834,261 people have recovered. The state seems to have passed the peak and the number of cases and deaths are slowing.
• South Dakota has 2,313 cases with only 11 deaths. 910 people have recovered. South Dakota did not lockdown as many of the other states did.
• Texas has 26,171 cases and 690 deaths, 14,311 people have recovered.

 

Canada 

 

Confirmed cases         50,015

Probable cases                    11

Deaths                          2,859

Recoveries                  19,190

No. of Tests:             754,800

 

Areas in Canada with cases of COVID-19 as of APRIL 28, 9:00 am MDT

 

Province, territory or other                Confirmed       Probable      Deaths  Recovered

 

British Columbia                                       2,053                   0             105           1,137

Alberta                                                      4,850                   0               80           1,549

Saskatchewan                                              366                   0                 5              288

Manitoba                                                     261                 11                 6              199

Ontario                                                    15,381                   0             951           8,525

Quebec                                                    25,757                   0          1,682           5,342

New Brunswick                                            118                   0                 0              111

Nova Scotia                                                  915                   0               27              439

Prince Edward Island                                     27                   0                 0                24

Newfoundland and Labrador                       258                   0                 3              219

Yukon                                                             11                   0                 0                  8

Northwest Territories                                      5                   0                 0                  5

Nunavut                                                            0                   0                 0                  0

Repatriated travellers                                  13                   0                 0

Up-to-date information is available at Canada.ca/COVID-19

 

— Canadian News–

 

–Prime Minister Trudeau Announcements–

 

Guidelines for opening economy

Need 3 things: sufficient testing capacity, protective measures in workplaces,  and protection for vulnerable groups.

 

PPE

PPE is being received every few days and shipped out to the provinces.

 

Wage Subsidy

Over 44,000 companies have  filed applications for wage subsidies.

 

–Dr. Theresa Tam—

New Modeling Information

Dr. Theresa Tam released new modelling information for COVID. The government initially used a fatality rate of 2.2% which underestimated the number of deaths. The new modelling increases the fatality rate to 5.5%  and forecasts between 3,227 and 3,883 deaths by May 5. Outbreaks in long-term care homes in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia are driving the epidemic growth and responsible for the majority of all deaths in Canada. Ontario and Quebec have about 80% of the Canadian cases.

However, spread is slowing drastically. Earlier in the pandemic, each infected person was likely to infect 2.19 other people. Distancing measures have reduced the rate of transmission so that infected people now infect only one. The goal is to make sure an infected person passes the virus on to less under 1 person.

The case doubling rate three weeks ago was every 3-5 days, now it takes 16 days. However, the federal model is still based on projections rather than on real data. According to that model, Canada can expect between 4,000 and 44,000 deaths if less than 10% of the population becomes infected.

 

–Other Canadian News –

 

Federal Prisons

There are currently 249 federal inmates who have tested positive and one death at Mission Institution in BC.

 

Taiwan donating Masks to Canada

Taiwan is donating 500,000 masks to Canada, epressing hope that some can be used to protect indigenous communities.

Taiwan has been prevented from taking part in WHO activities to fight COVID because of Beijing, which claims Taiwan to be a renegade province.

Taiwan has successfully contained COVID, with just 429 infections and 6 deaths, and is in a position to extend medical assistance to other countries. Taipei has donated medical supplies to other countries already, including the US, Japan, and the European Union, in what is being referred to as “mask diplomacy.” The boxes come with “Taiwan can help” labels on the boxes.

Taiwan is not recognized as a sovereign state by most countries, including Canada, and China has been putting pressure on those countries that do to stop. Taiwan’s success in combating COVID has created a diplomatic opening for Taiwan.

 

 

Provinces

 

British Columbia

• British Columbia’s Education Minister Rob Fleming says he wants to learn from other provinces and countries like New Zealand before starting to reopen schools. Printed material and flash drives have been delivered to students in remote areas with no access to the internet.
• Several thousand children whose parents are essential service workers are attending schools and there are plans to accommodate more of them.

 

Manitoba

• Manitoba is expanding testing as it prepares to open its economy. Anyone with COVID symptoms can bet tested if they are referred by a clinician. The province plans to triple the capacity tyo run tests to 3,000 per day by the end of summer.
• Premier Brian Pallister said the increased testing will help people feel safer when they venture out to stores.
• The Premier is to release the province’s plan to ease restrictions tomorrow. He says that non-essential businesses will be allowed to open slowly and gradually. The 10-person limit on gatherings may also be raised.

 

New Brunswick

• New Brunswick plans to restrict temporary foreign workers from entering the province. Premier Blaine Higgs says with so many outbreaks of COVID in surrounding jurisdictions, the province’s borders must remain closed for now. This does not affect temporary foreign workers already in the province.
• People are allowed to enter New Brunswick for less than 24 hours to remove belongings from a student’s residence. All people leaving New Brunswick to remove a student’s belongings in another province must self-isolate for 14 days when they return.

 

Prince Edward Island

• Prince Edward had its first new case of COVID-19 in almost 2 weeks bringing the case total to 27. There have been no deaths in PEI.
• Dr. Heather Morrison, chief medical officer of health, announced the first phase of the governments “Renew P.E.I. Together” plan.
• Priority non-urgent health care services will begin on Friday, May 1 , including certain elective surgeries and select health service providers including physiotherapists, optometrists and chiropractors.
• Outdoor gatherings and non-contact outdoor recreational activities of up to 5 people from different households will be permitted, so long as participants maintain physical distancing.
• Screening will continue at points of entry and anyone entering PEI must self-isolate for 14 days.

 

Quebec

• Quebec reported 84 new deaths in the last 24 hours, 79 of whom were in long-term care.
• Premier Legault announced that factories, construction sites and stores will be opening up over 3 weeks in May. Workplaces will be required to follow distancing and cleanliness rules, and a ban on large gatherings will still be in force.
• Businesses with exterior-opening doors will be allowed to open outside of Montreal on May 4. The interior of shopping centres along with bars and sit-down restaurants will remain closed.
• Retail outlets in the Montreal region will be allowed to reopen May 11.
• Factories will be allowed to open on May 11 throughout Quebec with lifts on how many workers can be on the floor at any time. Those restrictions could be lifted as early as May 25, allowing a full return to work.
• Construction will be allowed to relaunch completely May 11.

 

 

Alberta

 

APRIL 28, 2020  5:00 p.m.

 

–Recent Announcements–

Update to Modelling

 

Updated COVID-19 data and modelling shows Alberta is reducing the peak. Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are well below what the modelling originally projected.

Working around clock on phased approach to relaunch. Health measures that are being watched include number of hospitalizations, number of ICU admissions and rate of growth of cases as a percentage of modelling.

Assuming the peak is in mid-May, the “probable” scenario now looks like just over 500 deaths.

There is now a new ‘low’ scenario which is not assumptions from other jurisdictions, but the actual experience we have seen in Alberta to date. This takes into account the overall low hospitalization rate. If trends continue, this could become the most likely scenario which suggests 298 people will require hospitalization when the peak is reached. Alberta is seeing a relatively higher number of cases in younger people who are less likely to need hospitalization.

The probable model projects 190 in ICU, which is a reduction from the original modelling which suggested 232. The updated “elevated” scenario is 248 in ICU, reduced from the originally modelled nearly 400. The Low scenario suggests 95 in ICU at peak. The Probable scenario projects that 2% need hospitalization, while the “low” scenario suggests 1%.

Currently working on phased approach to relaunch economy which will be announced later this week.  The actual dates will likely depend on how well we are managing outbreaks. Hope will be able to start doing some re-opening in a couple of weeks.

Alberta has kept more businesses open than other provinces, and we allow more people to gather – 15 people, while some provinces have allowed only 2. The vast majority of the Alberta work force and economy were not shut down due to COVID-19. Some of the closures that have occurred were already happening prior to COVID.

 

Lloydminster

Lloydminster is aligning with SK. With respect to challenges of border city is, it highlights the need to coordinate with Saskatchewan.

 

Relaunch will probably be similar to SK and will not be significant gaps between our approaches. Premier will speak to Premier Moe & Horgan about potentially some sort of coordinated action where it makes sense – i.e. Peace River country in BC & Alberta, as well as cases like Lloydminster.

 

Asymptomatic Transmission

It is not certain how much spread is related to asymptomatic transmission so that has not been included in the new model.  For the sake of time and simplicity it was not included in the model.

 

 

Case updates

Confirmed recovered cases now number 1,800, and 154 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported, bringing the total number to 4,850. Five more Albertans have died; 2 of whom were in long-term care facilities, 1 in Calgary and 1 in South zone.  There are now a total of 80 deaths in Alberta.

 

483 cases in continuing care facilities across Alberta – 52 deaths.

In Cargill, identified to date

249 employees and contractors at JBS.

 

Testing is widely available including to asymptomatic people in outbreak settings. Temporary housing for isolation is also being provided. Also using these in high-risk situations i.e. any meat processing plant where even 1 case is identified, also in homeless shelters.

 

Latest updates

• Cases have been identified in all zones across the province:
  • 3,366 cases in the Calgary zone
  • 685 cases in the South zone
  • 486 cases in the Edmonton zone
  • 202 cases in the North zone
  • 84 cases in the Central zone
  • 27 cases in zones yet to be confirmed
• Of these cases, there are currently 82 people in hospital, 21 of whom have been admitted to intensive care units (ICU).
• 524 cases are suspected of being community acquired.
• The total deaths are 80: 50 in the Calgary zone; 14 in the North zone; 11 in the Edmonton zone; four in the South zone; and one in the Central zone.
• To date, 483 cases have been confirmed at continuing care facilities, and 52 residents at these facilities have died.
• There have been 131,772 people tested for COVID-19 and a total of 138,681 tests performed by the lab. In the last 24 hours, 3,239 tests have been completed.
• The number of confirmed and recovered cases among health-care workers is now available online. The vast majority of cases are believed to have acquired their infection outside of the workplace.

• Emergency services, including isolation trailers and contact tracing, are already in place.

• Any individual exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, including cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat or shortness of breath, is eligible for testing. People can access testing by completing the COVID-19 self-assessment online. A separate self-assessment tool is available for health-care and shelter workers, enforcement and first responders.
• Aggregate data, showing cases by age range and zone, as well as by local geographic areas, is available online at alberta.ca/covid19statistics.

 

 (Central zone and areas around Calgary includes:

Ponoka County – 2 cases, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

City of Camrose – 2 cases, 1 death, 1 recovered

County of Camrose – 1 cases, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Red Deer – 34 cases; 0 deaths, 31 recovered

City of Lacombe – 2 cases, 0 deaths, 2 recovered

County of Lacombe – 3 cases; 0 deaths; 3 recovered

Clearwater County – 2 cases, 0 death; 1 recovered

County of Stettler – 4 cases, 0 death; 3 recovered

Red Deer County – 12 cases, 0 deaths, 11 recovered

Clearwater County – 1 case; 0 deaths; 1 recovered

Mountain View County – 5 cases, 0 deaths, 5 recovered

Kneehill County – 2 cases, 0 deaths; 1 recovered

MC of Bighorn – 17 cases; 0 deaths; 15 recovered

MD of Rockyview – 36 cases, 0 deaths; 23 recovered

Wheatland County – 2 case; 0 deaths; 2 recovered

ID No. 9 (Banff & Canmore) – 4 cases; 0 deaths; 2 recovered

Foothills County – 682 cases, 4 deaths; 169 recovered

City of Airdrie – 27 cases, 0 deaths,  19 recovered

City of Calgary – 2582 cases; 44 deaths; 966 recovered

City of Brooks – 623 cases, 4 deaths, 16 recovered

County of Newell – 5 cases

Special Areas No. 2 – 2 cases

 

I am including smaller towns within counties, where I can get the information.  The total of each smaller town is also included in the country total. If there is a town I have not included that you would like to see, please let me know and I will see if I can get that info. Sometimes more than 1 town is lumped in together or not separated from the county figures – for example,  Penhold, Blackfalds and the area around Red Deer is included in Red Deer County figures.

 

Black Diamond – 24 cases, 0 deaths, 9 recovered

Canmore – 17 cases, 0 deaths, 15 recovered

Cochrane-Springbank – 18 cases 0 deaths, 12 recovered

Crossfield – 4 cases, 0 deaths, 2 recovered

Chestermere – 23 cases, 0 deaths, 11 recovered

Didsbury/Carstairs – 3 cases, 0 deaths, 3 recovered

High River – 494 cases, 3 deaths, 121 recovered

Innisfail/Bowden – 1 case, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Okotoks – Pri ddis – 145 cases, 1 deaths, 40 recovered

Olds – 2 cases, 0 deaths, 2 recovered

Rocky Mountain House -1 case, 0 deaths, 0 recovered

Strathmore – 13 cases, 0 deaths, 9 recovered

Sundre – 1 case, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

Sylvan Lake – 0 cases

Three Hills / Highway 21 – 2 cases, 0 deaths, 1 recovered

 

OUTBREAK SITES

• Outbreak = 2 or more cases which indicates community spread in the facility. Congregate sites are required to report even 1 possible case. Outbreak is declared over when 4 weeks have passed with no new cases.

• • Long-term care and supported living facilities with COVID-19 cases:   I have included the information from the Alberta government website plus information from other sources. There are now 458 confirmed cases in continuing care facilities.  
    • Academy of Aging, Calgary
    • Age Care Midnapore, Calgary
    • AgeCare Seton, Calgary
    • AgeCare Skypointe, Calgary
    • Age Care Walden Heights, Calgary
    • Bethany Care Centre, Calgary seniors home in the NW has confirmed 2 cases; one is a resident and 1 a staff member. The resident has since died.
    • Bethany Riverview, Calgary has confirmed 1 staff member has tested positive.
    • Bow View Manor, Calgary has 2 confirmed cases in staff members..
    • Carewest George Boyak, Calgary has 1 case.

 

• Carewest Glenmore Park, Calgary

 

• • • Carewest Sarcee, Calgary has 12 cases and 2 deaths.
    • Cedars Villa Extendicare, Calgary
    • Chinook Care Centre, Calgary
    • Clifton Manor, Okotoks, now has 23 confirmed cases among residents and 12 in staff for a total of 33 cases, plus 6 deaths. This is likely connected to the Cargill/High River outbreak.
    • Hillcrest Extendicare, Calgary
    • High Prairie’s Health Complex, JB Wood Continuing Care, 1 death
    • High River Long term Care (in High River Hospital) – 2 death2; the 2^nd death was yesterday and was a man in his 70’s.
    • Intercare Brentwood Care Centre, Calgary, 1 death.

 

• Intercare Southwood, Calgary

 

• • Kensington Village – Shepherd’s Care, Edmonton has 29 cases in its independent living section; 3 deaths.
  • Manoir du Lac Retirement Home in McLennan. The last numbers were 38 confirmed cases and 7 deaths.
  • Manor Village at Fish Creek Park, Calgary
  • McKenzie Towne Long Term Care, Calgary, 21 deaths.
  • McKenzie Towne Revera Retirement Residence, Calgary

• • Millrise Seniors Village, Calgary, now has 28 cases. Families are reporting that conditions very concerning including residents not being bathed, being served frozen food, and staff quitting. Issues were identified at that location and orders were given in order to require that measures were put in place to prevent spread of disease and make sure care is adequate. AHS is offering care to make sure they have adequate staffing levels and if not able to bring up levels during that time, AHS will make sure that is looked after.

• • Orchard Manor, Brooks
  • Providence Care Centre Ashwood Unit, Calgary
  • Seasons Retirement Home, High River – 2 cases.
  • Sunrise Gardens, Brooks
  • Tudor Manor, Okotoks has 3 confirmed cases in staff members.

 

 

• Other outbreak sites:

 

• • Kearl Lake work camp north of Fort McMurray – 32 confirmed cases linked to Kearl Lake, 25 in Alberta, 10 isolated at work camp and 15 off-site. 7 cases are outside Alberta – 5 in Alberta, 1 in SK, 1 in NS

• • Foothills Hospital – 9 staff at the maternity ward tested positive. All are self-isolating and no patients were affected.

o    Cargill Meat Processing Plant

o    JBS Foods, Brooks – 124 cases. Brooks has similar challenges as Cargill with large households and trying to prevent spread there.  There were 2 deaths confirmed in Brooks – one was an employee at  JBS Foods and the other is a household contact of an employee.

o    Rapid testing being set up this week. Working with the workers by providing masks so they can safely carpool, etc.

o    Bearspaw First Nation There are 14 cases of COVID-19 in the Bearspaw First Nation in the South zone. The Stoney Nakoda Tribal Council has a sophisticated emergency management system in place to contain the outbreak and to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

o    Homeless Shelters – There are now 3 in the Calgary Drop-In Centre as well as 1 in the Salvation Army.   Those people are in isolation. All staff and clients are wearing PPE. All contacts are being tested.

• • Hospital Outbreaks – 2 small hospital outbreaks, both in Edmonton – Sturgeon Community Hospital, and Royal Alexander Hospital. Also 1 case in Edmonton General due to transferring the patient from Sturgeon Community Hospital.  All cases are in a single unit.

Aggressive measures are being implemented in all outbreaks and they are affective.  Exposures that happened before measures put in place can continue to happen for up to 2 weeks because of the long incubation period.

 

New Symptoms

CDC has added new symptoms including chills, and are considering whether to expand Alberta’s list so we can align with other jurisdictions.

 

Has the expected date of peak changed?

The models give the impression that the cases will rise to a peak and then come down to nothing. The reality is that we have succeeded in slowing spread. There has been a rise in the last week or so with the recent outbreaks but as we flatten the peak is we are pushing out the duration of how we are spreading the infection out over time. So if the spread is at a relatively low rate, the health system retains the capacity to deal with any cases, and protect the more vulnerable. It is likely that we will maintain it at a low steady state and keep the transmission rate relatively low.

 

Cases tied to Cargill and JBS

In both of those sites, these outbreaks do not involve a single site, but a group of people who work at the site, share housing, share carpooling, and work at other sites. The recommendation is that we see these outbreaks as a whole community issue that is not connected to one particular worksite.  We need to put interventions in place at all of the points where transmission can happen.

 

Select registry services available remotely

To help limit the number of Albertans who need to visit registry agents in person, the Government of Alberta is temporarily allowing registry agents to provide corporate registry services, personal property registry services, and select motor vehicle services by phone, secure email, fax or mail.

For a full list of services available through alternative delivery methods, visit alberta.ca/covid19.

 

 

–OTHER NEWS—

 

Evacuation in Ft. McMurray and Ft. Vermilion

Fort McMurray is experiencing flooding due from the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers, and the Peace River in Mackenzie County, causing evacuation orders for some areas of Fort McMurray, Fort Vermilion and Tallcree First Nation at Beaver Ranch.   Downtown Fort Mc is being flooded and people are being evacuated.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire community of Draper, Longboat Landing, Waterways, Ptarmigan Trailer Park and the Taiga Nova Eco-Industrial Park, and the entire lower townsite of Fort McMurray, except for the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre and Grayling Terrace.

Mackenzie County has issued a mandatory evacuation order for residents within the Hamlet of Fort Vermilion who reside east of 50th Street, north of the golf course, River Road, and Boreal Housing and all of North Vermilion (Buttertown). Tallcree First Nation at Beaver Ranch is impacted by flooding and is being evacuated at this time. Flooding is also expected in Little Red River Cree Nation. An evacuation alert was issued April 27.

13,000 evacuees from Ft. McMurray who have registered and most of hotel capacity is now filled. Some are coming further south and some are being sent north to work camps. Cost being covered by the municipality. Criteria for the Disaster Recovery Program have been triggered and the Province will be helping the RM of Wood Buffalo with costs.

446 people were evacuated from Fort Vermilion to High Level.

Province will be providing funding through disaster planning. Sandbags and personnel are being provided to help. Emergency Management Committee of Cabinet will be meeting later this evening to discuss other ways to help.

Public Health and AHS is working with Alberta Emergency Management Agency  to mitigate virus spread trying to make sure all precautions are available in evacuation centres. There is also a boil water advisory in place.

 

Fire Bans

The MD of Rockyview, and the Town of Cochrane have both announced fire bans due to the dry conditions.