COVID-19 pandemic prompts Calgary post-secondary institutions to cancel in-person classes
Calgary's three largest post-secondary institutions have cancelled all in-person classes for the remainder of the week after the provincial government declared a pandemic-related state of emergency.
The University of Calgary, Mount Royal University and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology each announced the cancellation of all classes that were scheduled to take place on campus in the coming days. Online classes will run as scheduled.
The MRU campus and SAIT's campuses will also be closed to all activity through the weekend.
The cancellations follow the Alberta government's declaration of a COVID-19-related state of emergency Wednesday evening as ll as new public health measures including the reintroduction of two-metre physical distancing guidelines in indoor public spaces.
University of Calgary will resume in-person classes Sept. 20, according to an email from president and vice-chancellor Ed McCauley, but students and staff attending campus bust be fully vaccinated or have a negative test within 72 hours.
The email said in-person classes were cancelled at U of C this week because physical distancing wasn't possible in classrooms and hallways.
"Starting on Monday, (Sept. 20), provincial rules will require that the University of Calgary allow only those who are vaccinated or who have had a negative rapid test within 72 hours to attend campus if we do not want to be subject to two-metre physical distancing and other restrictions," it read.
"Our COVIDSafe Campus program aligns to these requirements, protects our safety, and allows us to maintain operations as previously planned. More than 37,000 members of our campus community already registered in the app to come to campus, and 91.3 per cent of those community members are fully vaccinated.
"To ensure that we can prove full compliance with government regulations in a timely fashion, everyone on campus who has attested to being vaccinated must be prepared to provide proof of vaccination status. This ability to prove vaccination is a requirement to be on campus and in the coming days, you will be asked to upload this proof into the COVIDSafe Campus application.
The province had previously announced printable vaccine cards would be available Sept. 16 but that has been delayed until Sunday, Sept. 19.
With Alberta's newly announced proof of vaccination program set to start on Sept. 20, Health Minister Tyler Shandro assured Albertans they'll still be able to use their existing vaccination records as proof when the new rules take effect.
Shandro added that screenshots or photos of vaccine documents would also be acceptable.
On Thursday morning, more than 100,000 people were trying to log on to the province's MyHealth Records website.
Rapid testing is being accepted as an alternative to vaccination until Jan. 1, 2022, then "it will be a requirement for all members of our community, unless they have an exception based on a protected ground, to be vaccinated to be on campus," read the email.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.