By Silvana Sabzevari Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says children and youth can still go trick or treating this year, because unlike other holidays Halloween is outdoors and there is less of a chance of spreading COVID unlike Thanksgiving where families sit together indoors and enjoy a meal together. “I know Halloween is a favourite day for many. And I know many parents are already planning costumes and activities. I have no plans to suggest that Albertans cancel Halloween this year. My own children would never forgive me,” she said. That is why we have created a page with tips and advice on how you and your family can enjoy a Halloween that is still fun and scary – but for the right reasons," says Hinshaw. However, she has some tips to enjoy Halloween safely.
Large gatherings are prohibited and medium gatherings are not recommended. Keep parties small and safe, health officers advise. Personally, Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year - Silvana
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By: Priya Migneault It's been over two weeks since the City of Calgary banned conversion therapy in a historic 14-1 vote. The city made this ban law at the beginning of Pride month (June) and we wanted to know what Calgarians thought. This past week I interviewed two different individuals, who live in Calgary, and they had very similar thoughts about this topic. El (they/them) says, "It's good that conversion therapy has been banned." "The practice is obviously harmful, especially to LGBTQ+ youth who have to go through it," they say, "but even LGBTQ+ youth who have not experienced it can be damaged (emotionally) by living under the constant threat of conversion therapy." El is confident that this is a step in the right direction, however they believe that more action should be taken to protect LGBTQ+ individuals by both municipal and provincial legislation. Jenna, a queer activist, says she was fairly shocked to find out that the practice of conversion therapy had not previously been banned around the time same sex marriage was legalized. "I'm happy it's banned... I think it's good for the LGBTQIAP2S+ community for sure, but (it) seems overdue," she says, "Hopefully kids growing up now won't have to go through that and will feel safer coming out in Calgary." Throughout this past week, I've had conversations around Calgary's ban on conversion therapy with numerous individuals, off the record, and almost all have said, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IT STILL EXISTS." For the most part Calgarians seem pleased with the vote and are happy to embrace a city without conversion therapy. Also, Happy Pride Month everyone! 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. 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. By: Kristina Lanuza Hope From Home is a digital fundraising event that takes place on April 7th, or World Health Day to help deal with the impacts of COVID-19. With people such as JackSepticEye (a YouTuber and actor known for his vlogs and comedy) and Phil Lester (known for his popular YouTube channel, AmazingPhil) taking part, it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, fundraisers for COVID-19 around. The Hope From Home fundraiser was created by Tiltify and is partnered with three major non-profit organizations: the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the United Way and Red Nose Day. Each of these non-profits have different goals in regards to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund works to support the research of the virus and help provide care to patients that require it. United Way helps those in need access food, shelter and other necessities including information about COVID-19. Lastly, Red Nose Day strives to help children in poverty during this pandemic through donations going to food, shelter and medicine. This event will be a multi-platform digital fundraising event, meaning that it will take place on multiple different social media platforms across the internet. Small channels and larger influencers will each be on their respective platforms spreading information, stories and awareness. Throughout April 7th, those partaking in the fundraising event will be streaming, posting and spreading awareness about the fundraiser, collecting donations that will go to the three non-profit partners of the event. Whether it be by collecting or donating money, sharing the event itself through social media posts or word of mouth, even just maintaining the rules of social distancing, everybody has a chance to help those that are affected across the world by COVID-19. By: Priya Migneault Right now, there is a lot of misinformation about COVID-19 being spread online and it is creating an environment of fear that is starting to affect Albertan's. To eliminate some of this fear I have decided to clear the air about the numbers of COVID in Alberta. As of today, Alberta has 1,181 cases of COVID-19, which may seem like a lot but Alberta has a population of 4.371 million people. Out of these cases 75 people have been hospitalized and 25 are in critical condition. The highest concentration of cases in Alberta is in the SE section of Calgary, with 118 active cases. 62% of COVID cases are in Calgary, with 48% of those sick being male and 52% being female. Tragically this virus has claimed 20 lives in Alberta to date.
Looking at the data it seems like females under the age of 34 are more likely to contract the virus than their male counterparts. However, males between the ages of 35 to 64 have contracted the virus more than females the same age. Both genders, ages 65 to 80+, have a very similar results of contracting the virus, with females having a slightly higher chance. If your interested in knowing more about this data and how it looks currently please click the button below to link you to Alberta Health Services webpage. By: Priya Migneault Conservation International just released their impact report for 2019 and it covers all of their top conservation efforts worldwide. The report brings home the concept that conservation in todays day and age in an absolute necessity and it also shows how far we have come in the past few years. This 20 page report was sent to donors of the organization to show them the impact their dollars is making around the globe. The first few pages drive home the significant importance that Costal Mangrove Forests have to their ecosystems and to marine life as a whole. Mangroves are crucial to our planet because they can store up to 10 times more carbon than trees in terrestrial forests. They are one of the top plants for carbon sequestration and combating climate change to date. However, since the 1940's humans have destroyed over half of the mangrove forests world wide. When mangroves are chopped down, typically for firewood or to expand fish farming, the carbon they have been storing for centuries enters our atmosphere. This year Conservation International has directly prevent the clearing of 9,600 hectares of mangrove trees and are actively restoring 1,800 hectares. They are working with the Colombian government to replicate this process of restoration at 10 different significant sites for the mangrove population. For the first time in history the seven Amazonian countries were called together by Colombian President Iván Duque to work together to protect the Amazon river basin. This was during the recent fires in the world's largest tropical rainforest. All seven countries, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname, came together in an agreement to collaborate on reforestation initiatives, developing educational tools for communities and schools, and to increase the role indigenous communities play in sustainable development. Moving farther into the report Conservation International covers the topic of ocean health and the major strides they are making in ocean conservation across the globe.
Conservation International believes that in order for ecosystems to thrive the surrounding communities have to be on board, which is why they spent time this past spring in Western Africa educating the public about ocean sustainability and policies. They also are working to end human rights abuses in the fishing industry by recruiting major seafood businesses and non-profits to increase transparency about their sourcing. Two projects Conservation International has been working on in the past year have been about showing the world that conservation and economic growth are inseparable. One example of this has been shown from their work in West Papua, where the province has declared it's self a Conservation Province. This is the first Conservation Province in the world. They are putting sustainable development and environmental protection at the forefront of their province's economic growth. Conservation International did many other amazing things over the course of 2019 and to learn about them all please visit their website here. Conservation International has been on the front lines of environmental protection and conservation since starting in 1987. Their mission is "Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, Conservation International empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, (and) for the well-being of humanity." By: Priya Migneault Many of us have been asked by our places of work and government officials to self distance ourselves, but what exactly does that mean? Are we supposed to stay inside at all times or are we allowed to leave? Great news you don’t need to stay inside at all times! However, that doesn’t mean you can go partying or socializing with others on your time off. In order to properly self distance yourself you are not supposed to attend any unnecessary gatherings or events and cancel all events that have over 50 people. It is recommended that you try to work or study from home during this time and only associate with small groups of friends, roommates, and family members for the time being. Self distancing is being implemented for those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 unknowingly, which is almost everyone. As of right now in many places of the world the idea of self distancing is being enforced indefinitely or until the local governing body declares the opposite.
The difference between self distancing, quarantine, and self isolation is that quarantine is for those who have been directly exposed to the virus and self isolation is for those who think they have the virus or have tested positive. When under quarantine you are supposed to remain completely isolated for a minimum of 14 days or until symptoms develop in which case call your local health centre (DO NOT GO TO A CLINIC OR HOSPITAL). If you are quarantined, only leave your house in the case of an emergency. Self isolation is for those who are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 or have tested positive, but don’t require urgent medical care. During self isolation you should remain in your home for at least seven days from the onset of symptoms and not associate with anyone face-to-face. For both quarantine and self isolation you should not have face-to-face conversations with anyone and remain at least six feet from other people including family and roommates. If you live with someone stay in a separate room alone and make sure you have adequate supplies to last you two weeks. If you have any questions regarding self distancing, quarantine, or self isolation feel free to leave them in the comments. Make sure you take care of yourselves during this time and wash your hands! By: Priya Migneault With all that’s happening in the world it sometimes can be hard to not think that the world is ending right before our eyes, but how is our generation coping with our questionable future? The answer memes. Generation Z is constantly bombarded with the state of the world via the internet and it gets hard for us to move forward with hope when we do not know how certain our futures are. The way we have seen teens in these past few months react to the world and it’s apocalyptic looking issues is through memes and humor. They seem to cope with the world by poking fun at it and by using humor to push through the stress and worry. We saw this reaction happen during the rising tensions between Iraq and the USA with memes surfacing about conscription and WW3. When Australia was covered in devastating wildfires, and now with the global COVID-19 pandemic. So, why do teens react by creating memes when they’re stressed? Do they really find these issues concerning if they’re reacting with humor? To answer these questions I interviewed teens in the Calgary area starting with 16 year old Kennedy Brooks, “Yes I am concerned about different issues in the world. Right now, my biggest worry is not knowing what’s actually going on and how scared I actually should be.” Kennedy says that she does use memes as a way to cope with these worries and thinks other teens do as well because “we don’t have legitimate control over most of these things, especially when they scare us, (and) we try to express or distract ourselves in whatever way we can. Sometimes it’s the best thing we can do for ourselves.” These views were echoed by 15 year old Emma Gainor, who says that she is concerned about major issues in the world, especially the ones that affect her or those she cares for. Right now, with COVID-19 she is concerned about whether or not she will receive her credits from this semester of high school and that she has to create a new routine in her lifestyle to replace school. Emma finds memes helpful “because I find that they relate to how I am feeling and I am reassured to know that someone somewhere is feeling the same way I am.” “I think teenagers use memes to cope with stress because they don’t know how to react to these heavy topics and talking about them in a funny way helps the issues to be talked about without it being weird or uncomfortable,” she says. Adam S.T. who is 15 years old from Calgary says that he is concerned about different issues in the world "specifically the way governments are dealing with current events such as COVID-19. Government officials are not relying on other countries experiences with the virus."
Right now he is currently most concerned about how public schools in Calgary are going to fair with the recent shutdowns. "They do not seem to have made prior preparations for continuing students education online," he says, "even though this turn of events was not sudden or unheard of." Adam thinks memes are a relaxed and relatable way to communicate about current global issues with teenagers, but he does not think that they should be the only way for teens to cope with stress. "Memes are a way to cope with stress and connect to others, but (they) should not be the only outlet for stress," he says. Memes are pieces of digital content such as photos, videos, or lines of text that are varied slightly and shared widely via the internet. Individuals in Generation Z are born between the years 1995 and 2010, and are often characterized with a love for technology and being very opened minded and accepting. |
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