U.S. Centers for Disease Control urges Americans to 'reconsider' travel to Canada over COVID-19 - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department is now urging Americans to “reconsider travel” to Canada due to what the Centers for Disease Control call “high” levels of COVID-19 infection.

The new Level 3 travel advisory, issued today, marks a quick end to a three-week period when the warning to would-be travellers to Canada had been eased to “exercise increased caution.”

That Level 2 advisory coincided with Canada's decision to allow fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents back into the country.

There was no specific reason given for the revised advisory beyond the CDC's notice, also issued today, which pegs Canada's current COVID-19 levels at “high.”

Only about 61 per cent of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated, compared with nearly 75 per cent of Canadians over the age of 12.

The U.S. is maintaining its existing restrictions on non-essential Canadian travellers until at least Sept. 21, citing the ongoing spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2021.

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Alberta invests $8.3M to fund 100 EMS positions - CTV News Calgary

CALGARY -- The province is providing $8.3 million to Alberta Health Services to fund 100 EMS positions, officials announced Monday.  

“This funding will help stabilize EMS staffing levels and ensure that we are able to respond to Albertans and also take care of our staff,” said AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu.

"Our paramedics play an important role in health care, and this investment provides stability of funding so they can continue to provide high quality patient care to Albertans who need it."

The funding will allow EMS to transition 70 casual positions to temporary full-time positions. EMS has also received additional funding to continue with approximately 30 full time positions in Calgary and Edmonton that had been hired temporarily in 2019.

“This will allow EMS to hire new casual staff and to return to using our casual positions for their intended purpose, such as providing short-term and temporary relief for paramedics who are off on sick time or taking vacation time,” said Darren Sandbeck, chief paramedic and senior provincial director of AHS EMS. 

A task force with representatives from all health zones in the province has been created to help fill the positions quickly. Some of the positions have already been posted.

The Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), which represents EMS workers, issued a statement Monday afternoon saying they were happy 70 casual positions will become temporary full-time, and 30 temporary full-time positions will continue, but Monday's announcement, "doesn’t actually add a single paramedic to our overburdened health system."

"It doesn’t solve the issue of not having enough members hired. Every shift is being run short," said HSAA president Mike Parker.

"Without hiring more new paramedics, the current government continues to put the system, our members, and every Albertan needing urgent medical care, at risk."

The number of 911 calls received by Alberta EMS has gone up in recent months for a variety of factors, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in wildfire smoke-related calls, heat-related events, and emergency calls as Albertans have been returning to pre-pandemic-levels of activity.

Provincial officials say all call types have increased. 

“We need to do our best to support our paramedics and all healthcare workers now as we continue to see high demand on our healthcare services, and this decision by AHS should provide some tangible short term relief as we work on longer term solutions,” said Health Minister Tyler Shandro.

Before the pandemic, EMS received about 1,095 calls to 911 per day and it is currently sitting at 1,521 calls per day.

“This funding helps us keep paramedic numbers stable so we can continue to respond to emergencies," said Sandbeck.

"We also continue to work with our Emergency Department partners and the Government of Alberta on new strategies to shorten the time it takes to transfer care from an ambulance to the appropriate hospital department so that paramedics can return to service sooner."

Paramedics have said recently emergency response times are skyrocketing as increased demand for EMS services has created a patchwork effort to provide coverage.

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Drought shrivels Canada’s wheat crop to 14-year low, canola to 9-year low - Global News

Drought has shriveled Canada’s wheat crop to its smallest in 14 years, and its canola harvest to a nine-year low, a government report showed on Monday.

Parched soils and record-hot temperatures in Canada’s western crop belt sharply reduced farm yields of one of the world’s biggest wheat-exporting countries and largest canola-growing nation. The drought has forced millers and bakers to pay more for spring wheat, and drove canola prices to record highs.

Read more: Heat wave, lack of rain leads to continued deterioration, says Alberta crop report

Statistics Canada, in this year’s first report on crop production, estimated the all-wheat harvest at 22.9 million tonnes, down 35 per cent from last year and slightly larger than the average trade expectation of 22.6 million tonnes. Canola production looked set to reach 14.7 million tonnes, down 24 per cent from last year, and also larger than the average trade forecast of 14.1 million tonnes.

“I think buyers around the world have already made major shifts,” said Brian Voth, president of IntelliFARM, a farmer advisory service. “A lot of rationing has to happen.”

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Canola importers may turn to Ukraine, western Europe and Australia for substitutes, while U.S. mills that depend on Canadian wheat to produce flour may need to blend in wheat from other countries, Voth said.

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Uplands residents concerned about planned canola crushing facility site – May 10, 2021

Harvests are small, but not as tiny as some expected, Voth said, adding that some of his farmer clients in Manitoba produced better yields than they expected.

ICE Canada November canola futures were little changed after the report, trading up 0.4 per cent. Canola, a cousin of rapeseed, is used largely to produce vegetable oil.

Minneapolis spring wheat futures also traded slightly higher.

Statscan used satellite imagery and agro-climatic data up to July 31 for the report. It will provide updated crop estimates on Sept. 14.

© 2021 Reuters

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Innoculation frustration: Health professionals bewildered by vaccine refusal leading to hospitalization - CTV News Calgary

CALGARY -- Months after COVID-19 vaccinations became available to all eligible Albertans, many people are still refusing to get them and subsequently ending up in the hospital with COVID-19.

That's wearing on the medical professionals who end up caring for them.

"There is an underlying frustration that you feel personally," said Dr. Yael Moussadji, an emergency physician in Calgary. "However, when you practice medicine...you have to provide compassionate care to your patients, not matter what choices they've made in their lives...it is certainly testing the bank of compassion we carry with us on a daily basis."

Alberta is leading the country in new, daily COVID-19 cases and trailing the national average in vaccinations.

The vast majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Alberta have either only one dose of vaccine or none at all.

Dr. Moussadji said it appears that most people who refuse to get shots think they are protecting themselves.

MISINFORMATION, NOT IDEOLOGY

"This isn't about ideology," she says, "The number of patients that I have seen who are truly anti-vaccination is quite small. Most of the people I encounter who are unvaccinated are for various reasons due to misinformation."

Dr. Moussadji said many of those patients fear vaccine side-effects that don't actually exist or have found other incorrect information online.

Alberta's nurses said the vaccine hesitancy is the fault of the provincial authorities.

"What we are mostly mad about is the way the Kenney government has consistently downplayed the pandemic and not done a really good job of promoting vaccines," said Cam Westhead with the United Nurses of Alberta, "It's very demoralizing to have been warning the premier and health minster and Dr. Hinshaw about the capacity of the system...and to have been ignored this entire time."

Dr. Moussadji said she feels sorry for people fighting COVID-19 who thought they were being safe by refusing a vaccination.

"We certainly do feel compassion for these patients," she says, "because they now find themselves in a scenario where they do have COVID-19.

"Some of them are quite ill," she said, "and in some cases this could've been avoided or prevented."

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Hurricane Ida Shuts In 95% Of U.S. Gulf Coast Oil Output - OilPrice.com

Charles Kennedy

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By Charles Kennedy - Aug 30, 2021, 8:27 AM CDT

As much as 95 percent of oil production in the U.S. section of the Gulf of Mexico has been shut in, as hurricane Ida passed through it before making landfall in Louisiana earlier today.

According to data from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, some 288 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuated. This is more than half of the manned platforms in the Gulf.

This meant that about 1.74 million barrels in daily production, or 95.65 percent of the total produced in the Gulf, was shut in, along with 2.09 billion cu ft of natural gas production daily, or 93.75 percent of the total, the BSEE reported.

Refiners along the Gulf Coast also shut down their facilities. According to a CNN report from earlier today that quoted Lipow Oil Associates President Andy Lipow, as of Ida's landfall, six refineries in the New Orleans area were shut down, including facilities managed by PBF, Phillips 66, Shell, Marathon, and Valero.

"It's now a waiting game to assess whatever wind and flooding damage will be caused as the hurricane passes through the area," Lipow said.

According to an earlier Bloomberg report, the shut-in refining capacity totaled 2.11 million bpd, or about 12 percent of the national total. The figure also includes refineries operating at reduced rates because of the hurricane.

Ida is the ninth named storm in the hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. Gulf of Mexico producers had evacuated staff ahead of a storm in June, too. Occidental Petroleum and Chevron Corp were among companies evacuating staff from platforms.

Last year's season had as many as 30 named storms, several of which battered the offshore oil and gas sector, at one point causing the shutdown of as much as 90 percent of production capacity as well as refining capacity on the Gulf Coast.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Bell asks court to block Quebecor's purchase of 5G spectrum in Western Canada - CBC.ca

BCE Inc. is asking the federal government to block Quebecor Inc.'s purchase of 5G spectrum in Western Canada, stating the company didn't meet the requirements to bid on airwaves there.

Bell's court challenge comes after an auction of a key 5G spectrum by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada this summer.

The company said Quebecor subsidiary Videotron was able to purchase spectrum in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia that was set aside for smaller carriers, allowing it to access airwaves at a cheaper price than Canada's largest carriers.

Bell said the set-aside spectrum for smaller carriers was only eligible to companies that have pre-existing operations in the jurisdiction, and argued Quebecor doesn't have a presence in those provinces.

It's asking the federal government to block Quebecor's purchase and hold the auction again.

However, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said his company is eligible because its affiliate Fibrenoire Inc. provides business services in several provinces outside Quebec.

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N.B. hits milestone of having 75 per cent of eligible population vaccinated - CTV News Atlantic

HALIFAX -- Public health in New Brunswick says the province has reached its goal of having 75 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

As of Monday, 75 per cent of New Brunswickers age 12 and older are fully vaccinated and 84.4 per cent have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

"Becoming fully vaccinated is absolutely the best means of preventing a COVID-19 infection and today we can say that three-quarters of those eligible have achieved this level of protection," said Health Minister Dorothy Shepherd. "New Brunswickers should be proud of this significant accomplishment."

In total,1,110,159 vaccine doses have been administered in New Brunswick.

All eligible New Brunswickers can book their second dose appointments now for a date that is at least 28 days after their first dose.

NEW CASES OVER THE WEEKEND

New Brunswick reported 39 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend. There were 17 new cases on Saturday, 10 new cases on Sunday, and 12 new cases Monday.

There are eight new cases in Zone 1 (Moncton region), five of which are contacts of previously confirmed cases and three are under investigation.

There is one case in Zone 2 (Saint John region) and the case is under investigation.

There are 17 new cases in Zone 3 (Fredericton region), twelve of which are contacts of previously confirmed cases, three are travel-related and two are under investigation.

There are 10 new cases in Zone 4 (Edmundston region), eight of which are contacts of previously confirmed cases and two are under investigation.

There are two cases in Zone 5 (Campbellton region) and both are contacts of previously confirmed cases.

There is one case in Zone 6 (Bathurst region) that is under investigation.

There are three patients in hospital in New Brunswick due to COVID-19, with one in an intensive care unit.

There have been 39 recoveries since Thursday and the number of active cases is 160.

COVID-19 CASE DATA

New Brunswick has had 2,760 cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

In total, 2,553 people have recovered, and46 peoplehave died in the province from COVID-19.

Public health says 1,425 tests were completed in New Brunswick since Friday. A total of 409,019 tests have been processed since the start of the pandemic.

The number of cases are broken down by New Brunswick’s seven health zones:

• Zone 1 – Moncton region: 739 confirmed cases (75 active cases)
• Zone 2 – Saint John region: 333 confirmed cases (nine active cases)
• Zone 3 – Fredericton region: 515 confirmed cases (42 active cases)
• Zone 4 – Edmundston region: 770 confirmed cases (15 active cases)
• Zone 5 – Campbellton region: 190 confirmed cases (two active cases)
• Zone 6 – Bathurst region: 149 confirmed cases (five active cases)
• Zone 7 – Miramichi region: 64 confirmed cases (12 active cases)

POTENTIAL PUBLIC EXPOSURES

Anyone with symptoms of the virus, as well as anyone who has been at the site of a possible public exposure, is urged to request a test online or call Tele-Care at 811 to get an appointment.

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