'No margin for error': Albertans look for immediate impact from restrictions as COVID-19 cases climb
As Alberta's latest round of COVID-19 health measures take hold, experts are predicting a dicey stretch — but there is reason to believe case numbers could soon decrease.
The number of daily new cases reported has been above 1,300 for two and a half weeks, but the rolling average is somewhat levelling off.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Craig Jenne says he's hoping new rules around masking and mandatory vaccination will make an even bigger dent on the figures.
"We simply have no margin for error," he said. "There's no room, no care left. We need to make sure these numbers stop rising and begin to decline rapidly."
The province's health care system has taken a major hit in September.
COVID-19 patients are flooding the facilities and surge capacity is quickly filling.
Help is on the way from Ottawa, but even as case numbers climb, Albertans will likely still be facing another week of growing hospital admissions.
Hospitalizations are a lagging indicator, which means they'll take longer to be impacted by the new restrictions. But, in other jurisdictions, similar health measures were able to bring hospital admissions and ICU numbers to a manageable level.
In British Columbia, rapidly-climbing cases were all but levelled out by a strict vaccine passport mandate.
Alberta's newest round of rules are less stringent, but experts believe they'll still have an effect on what is becoming a dire situation.
"(Alberta's) rate of growth has declined to, instead of five or six per cent a day, down to two per cent a day," said Dean Karlen of the B.C. Modelling Group.
"So that's in the right direction. In British Columbia, we were growing at two per cent a day about a month ago. Now we're down to zero."
Still, Jenne says there's no reason to become complacent.
"We're hoping that this means we're starting to plateau," he told CTV News. "But this plateau is still unmanageably high."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.