Coronavirus

(Black Press file photo).

COVID-19 remains a factor in the Red Deer region and province this summer

Weekly reports are over, but the virus hasn’t gone away

 

People wait in line to check in at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Sources confirm the federal government is putting an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for domestic and outbound international travellers and public sector workers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates to be suspended for domestic, outbound travellers

The new rules will come into effect on June 20

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a closing press conference following the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday, June 10, 2022. Trudeau says he has tested positive for COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again tests positive for COVID-19

Trudeau says he is isolating and feeling OK

 

FILE - Nancy Rose, who contracted COVID-19 in 2021 and continues to exhibit long-haul symptoms including brain fog and memory difficulties, pauses while organizing her desk space, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in Port Jefferson, N.Y. Rose, 67, said many of her symptoms waned after she got vaccinated, though she still has bouts of fatigue and memory loss. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, found that up to a year after an initial coronavirus infection, 1 in 4 adults aged 65 and older had at least one potential long COVID health problem, compared with 1 in 5 younger adults. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Long COVID affects more older adults; shots don’t prevent it

Long COVID affects more older adults; shots don’t prevent it

FILE - Nancy Rose, who contracted COVID-19 in 2021 and continues to exhibit long-haul symptoms including brain fog and memory difficulties, pauses while organizing her desk space, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in Port Jefferson, N.Y. Rose, 67, said many of her symptoms waned after she got vaccinated, though she still has bouts of fatigue and memory loss. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, found that up to a year after an initial coronavirus infection, 1 in 4 adults aged 65 and older had at least one potential long COVID health problem, compared with 1 in 5 younger adults. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A man stands on a crowded Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Monday, May 23, 2022. A COVID surge is under way that is starting to cause disruptions as schools wrap up for the year and Americans prepare for summer vacations. Case counts are as high as they've been since mid-February and those figures are likely a major undercount because of unreported home tests and asymptomatic infections. But the beaches beckoned and visitors have flocked to Hawaii, especially in recent months. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

Pandemic-weary Americans plan for summer despite COVID surge

Pandemic-weary Americans plan for summer despite COVID surge

A man stands on a crowded Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Monday, May 23, 2022. A COVID surge is under way that is starting to cause disruptions as schools wrap up for the year and Americans prepare for summer vacations. Case counts are as high as they've been since mid-February and those figures are likely a major undercount because of unreported home tests and asymptomatic infections. But the beaches beckoned and visitors have flocked to Hawaii, especially in recent months. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. An extensive study of thousands COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals has found links between the severity of their infections and the levels of common air pollutants they experience. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

Canadian study finds links between air pollution and severity of COVID-19 infection

Canadian study finds links between air pollution and severity of COVID-19 infection

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. An extensive study of thousands COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals has found links between the severity of their infections and the levels of common air pollutants they experience. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML
Eldo Enns rides his penny farthing bicycle in Dawson City, Yukon, on Friday June 19, 2009. Yukon’s tourism industry is abuzz with anticipation as Canada’s northernmost border opens June 1 for the first time since the pandemic began, says the executive director of the Klondike Visitors Association in Dawson City.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canada’s most northern border to reopen June 1, Yukon prepares for return of tourism

Americans typically make up most of the territory’s tourists

Eldo Enns rides his penny farthing bicycle in Dawson City, Yukon, on Friday June 19, 2009. Yukon’s tourism industry is abuzz with anticipation as Canada’s northernmost border opens June 1 for the first time since the pandemic began, says the executive director of the Klondike Visitors Association in Dawson City.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company’s lab, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canada’s COVID-19 infections among adults tripled in early 2022 due to Omicron: study

Researchers found nearly 30 per cent of Canadian adults were infected during the first Omicron wave

Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company’s lab, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Jonah McGarva has been living with long-COVID since becoming infected in March 2020. (Submitted photo)

‘It’s really distressing’: Extensive long COVID symptoms linger, 2 years after infection

As of April 1, 5,288 people in B.C. have been referred to Post COVID-19 clinics for treatment

Jonah McGarva has been living with long-COVID since becoming infected in March 2020. (Submitted photo)
A woman shows a security guard proof for entry near the words "Peking University" at one of the entrance to the main campus of Peking University on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Beijing. Administrators at the elite Beijing university have backed down from plans to further tighten pandemic restrictions on students as part of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy after a weekend protest at the school, according to students Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

WHO: China’s COVID plan is ‘unsustainable’ due to omicron

WHO: China’s COVID plan is ‘unsustainable’ due to omicron

A woman shows a security guard proof for entry near the words "Peking University" at one of the entrance to the main campus of Peking University on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Beijing. Administrators at the elite Beijing university have backed down from plans to further tighten pandemic restrictions on students as part of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy after a weekend protest at the school, according to students Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
FILE - The logo and building of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 15 April 2020. An expert group convened by the World Health Organization says there may be some benefit to giving a second booster dose of coronavirus vaccine to the most vulnerable people amid the continuing global spread of omicron and its subvariants. In a statement issued on Tuesday, May 17 2022 the U.N. health agency said there was increasing evidence that a second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine would benefit health workers, people over age 60 and those with weak immune systems. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, file)

WHO: 2nd COVID booster for most vulnerable offers benefits

WHO: 2nd COVID booster for most vulnerable offers benefits

FILE - The logo and building of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 15 April 2020. An expert group convened by the World Health Organization says there may be some benefit to giving a second booster dose of coronavirus vaccine to the most vulnerable people amid the continuing global spread of omicron and its subvariants. In a statement issued on Tuesday, May 17 2022 the U.N. health agency said there was increasing evidence that a second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine would benefit health workers, people over age 60 and those with weak immune systems. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, file)
People wait in line to check in at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Thursday, May 12, 2022.The Canadian Airports Council is asking the federal government to do away with COVID-19 protocols at customs to clear up the chaos that international travellers experience when they arrive in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Regular travel and public health measures can’t coexist: Canadian Airport Council

Council wants federal government to do away with random tests and public health questions at customs

People wait in line to check in at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Thursday, May 12, 2022.The Canadian Airports Council is asking the federal government to do away with COVID-19 protocols at customs to clear up the chaos that international travellers experience when they arrive in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Dr. Finlay McAlister, a professor of general internal medicine at the University of Alberta, is seen in an undated handout photo. Data collected from the first year and a half of the pandemic suggests about 9.5 per cent of COVID-19 hospital patients return to hospital within 30 days of discharge, while 1.5 per cent die within 30 days. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

About 11% of admitted COVID patients return to hospital or die within 30 days: study

About 11% of admitted COVID patients return to hospital or die within 30 days: study

Dr. Finlay McAlister, a professor of general internal medicine at the University of Alberta, is seen in an undated handout photo. Data collected from the first year and a half of the pandemic suggests about 9.5 per cent of COVID-19 hospital patients return to hospital within 30 days of discharge, while 1.5 per cent die within 30 days. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
A doctor draws out vaccine during a drive-through COVID-19 vaccine clinic at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Will B.C. be rolling up its sleeves for a fourth vaccine dose?

Officials still undecided on whether that is a necessary step in province’s pandemic-fighting path

A doctor draws out vaccine during a drive-through COVID-19 vaccine clinic at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
Coroner Géhane Kamel comments on her report on the death of Joyce Echaquan, during a news conference in Trois-Rivières, Que., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Coroner says Quebec Health Department chose to ignore COVID-19 risk in long-term care

Coroner says Quebec Health Department chose to ignore COVID-19 risk in long-term care

Coroner Géhane Kamel comments on her report on the death of Joyce Echaquan, during a news conference in Trois-Rivières, Que., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Medical workers in protection suits take a rest after conducting COVID tests for residents near a commercial office complex on Thursdays, May 12, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

WHO: COVID-19 falling everywhere, except Americas and Africa

WHO: COVID-19 falling everywhere, except Americas and Africa

Medical workers in protection suits take a rest after conducting COVID tests for residents near a commercial office complex on Thursdays, May 12, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Creeping COVID-19 cases result in few schools mask mandates

Creeping COVID-19 cases result in few schools mask mandates

A doctor prepares for a surgical procedure at a hospital in Washington on June 28, 2016. The latest data release by the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows Canadians still struggled with long wait times for surgeries last year compared to the days before COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Molly Riley

Pandemic ups and downs likely still compounding surgical backlogs across Canada

The ups and downs of pandemic waves continue to affect wait times…

A doctor prepares for a surgical procedure at a hospital in Washington on June 28, 2016. The latest data release by the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows Canadians still struggled with long wait times for surgeries last year compared to the days before COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Molly Riley
A pharmacist draws a dose behind vials of both Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in Toronto, Friday, June 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Waive patents for COVID-19 vaccines, treatment to end pandemic, expert tells MPs

Waive patents for COVID-19 vaccines, treatment to end pandemic, expert tells MPs

A pharmacist draws a dose behind vials of both Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in Toronto, Friday, June 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
FILE - In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer's powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)

Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill

Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill

FILE - In this photo provided by Pfizer, a lab technician visually inspects COVID-19 Paxlovid tablet samples in Freiburg, Germany in December 2021. As more doctors prescribe Pfizer's powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. (Pfizer via AP, File)