'Because they live in Alberta': Calgary physician reacts to youngest Albertan COVID-19 death
An 18-year-old woman became the youngest Albertan to die of COVID-19, the province announced Wednesday which one Calgary physician said was because of the province's lacklustre COVID-19 policies in schools.
The woman lived in Central Zone and died on Monday. She had pre-existing conditions and was not vaccinated.
Wednesday, the physicians' group POP (Protect Our Province) addressed the issue of COVID-19 and school-aged children.
"This a tragic moment for our society," said Dr. Joe Vipond, a Calgary emergency room physician and member of POP. "Because it didn't have to be this way, and, and this person who otherwise would have had a good life, died because they live in Alberta. And I'm so sorry to the parents and friends and family of this person."
Vipond questioned the province's COVID-19 policy in schools.
"Unless we have good policy, we're going to fail," he said. "This government, our chief medical officer of health has put in policies that has accelerated transmission in the schools, we have eliminated contact tracing in schools, we have eliminated asymptomatic testing of close contacts in schools. We have gotten rid of parental notification of positive cases so the parents can't make adequate risk assessments for their children."
The province announced 1,336 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, with the positivity rate dipping to just over nine per cent. Active cases were down more than 600.
More than 19,000 vaccines were administered Tuesday, up 30 per cent from a week ago.
Nearly 92 per cent of those in ICU are not fully vaccinated.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.