By: Priya Migneault Restaurants, hair salons, and barber shops have reopened in Calgary, now Calgarians need to ensure COVID numbers stay down to prevent a second wave. Here are all the numbers you need to stay informed on COVID-19 today in Alberta. There have been 6879 cases reported province wide since the beginning of the pandemic and since then, 5979 of those individuals have made a full recovery. There are only 762 active cases in Alberta and the majority of those are in the Calgary area. As of today, 138 Albertans have died of COVID-19 with the average age of mortality being 83 years old. There are currently 45 individuals in the hospital and five in ICU with COVID-19. The majority of people infected with the virus have been ages 40-49, with those in that age range making up 22% of cases. Healthcare workers have been the most at risk of contracting the virus. There are currently 58 healthcare employees infected. Those who contract COVID-19, depending on age, have a 4.3% of being hospitalized, a 0.8% chance of being placed into the ICU, and a 2% risk of mortality. As of right now, 218,740 Albertans have been tested for COVID-19 and 47% of those tested have been Calgarians. If you are showing symptoms contact Alberta Health Services before going to a medical facility. To keep up to date on daily COVID-19 numbers in Alberta, click the button below. Let us know your thoughts on non-essential Calgarian businesses reopening in the comments below.
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By: Priya Migneault Today in a historic 14 to 1 vote the City of Calgary has banned Gay Conversion therapy. This comes after a massive wave of opposition of the bylaw in early May, where hundreds of Calgarians shared personal stories of their struggles with identity and conversion therapy. Any business or individual found practicing forms of conversion therapy can be fined up to $10,000 and spend up to one year in prison. It is estimated that 47,000 LGBTQ+ Canadians have undergone conversion therapy, but what is conversion therapy and why have so many Canadians been affected by it? Conversion Therapy is the scientifically debunked practice of trying to change someone’s gender and/or sexual orientation through harmful medical and psychological practices. These practices are typically enforced on young individuals through religious and family beliefs. The practices can range from electric shock therapy, talk therapy, to medication and have been known to be unsuccessful and very harmful. Conversion Therapy still exists in Canada and there is currently a federal ban in the works to change that. There are currently only five countries who have banned conversion therapy for minors, according to NBC: Germany, Brazil, Malta, Ecuador, and Taiwan. The idea that someone could be medically treated for being homosexual has been around for over a century. Beginning in the 1920's, some medical professionals believed that people's sexual orientation was psychological and therefore could be treated. It wasn't until the early 2000's that medical professionals came forward to the media that Conversion Therapy could not change someone's sexual orientation and even then there was quite a bit of opposition. Since then, many scientific studies have come to the unanimous conclusion that Conversion Therapy cannot completely change one’s sexual identity or orientation and are they extremely harmful. In 2015, the same year that same sex marriage was legalized in the USA, President Barack Obama publicly shamed the practice. Although, this is an amazing day for many in and outside the LGBTQ+ community, Canada and Alberta still have a way to go until this practice is completely banned. For more on this story stay tuned until next week, where we will be covering Calgarians perspectives on the ban. By: Priya Migneault It was stated last week that Alberta would move into stage one of reopening as early as May 14th with the reopening of small retail stores (clothing, books, etc...), personal services (hairstylists, barber), museums, art galleries, summer camps, daycare, cafes and restaurants could open at 50% capacity, and farmers markets. However, scientists are warning that with all these restrictions lifting it would be easy for another bigger wave of COVID to sweep across the province and strain medical services.
With all this talk of reopening Alberta, along with other Canadian provinces, it's time for us to give a quick update of COVID numbers in Alberta currently. As of today, May 7th, there have been 6,017 cases of COVID across the province. Out of these cases 2,094 are still active, 3,809 of these cases have made a full recovery, and 114 have ended in fatality. Only 557 of the cases that have occurred in the province have been caused from known travel, 4,647 have been caused from known exposure, and 704 cases of COVID have been caused from unknown exposure. Out of all the cases 562 of them have been healthcare workers. Today there were 50 more cases confirmed province-wide and with two more suspected. Majority of the cases to date were found in males 40 to 49 years of age, but in general the age demographics most effected currently are adults between the ages of 40 to 49 and 30 to 39. Currently, those with COVID have a 4.2% chance of being hospitalized, a 0.9% chance of being placed into the ICU, and a 1.9% chance of it ending in fatality. Majority of those who have died have been seniors ages 83 and up. Right now, 18 Albertans are in the ICU with COVID and an additional 67 are hospitalized. The area in Alberta with highest amount of cases is Calgary, but per capita the South Zone has a much higher rate of COVID. Although, the Government of Alberta is hoping to begin reopening the province as early as May 14th Mayor Nenshi has stated that Calgary will most likely not begin reopening for sometime due to our city having the highest amount of cases. |
AuthorAWCS Youth Program Zed News YYC reporters Archives
December 2022
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