EDMONTON — A swimmer who was reported missing Friday near Kapasiwin on Wabamun Lake has been located.
On Wednesday around 8:30 a.m., Parkland RCMP received a call that boaters on Wabamun Lake found a dead man in the water.
Officers said they believe the man they recovered is the missing 20-year-old from Edmonton.
RCMP extend their deepest condolences to the family.
EDMONTON — Alberta is lifting much of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions in the coming days as the disease continues to infect unvaccinated Albertans.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, in her first appearance since June 29, said the province will shift its public health response and lift a number of measures related to quarantine, isolation and masks.
Starting Thursday, close contacts of COVID-19 cases will no longer be mandated to quarantine, but isolation will still be required for positive cases and people with symptoms.
On Aug. 16, people who test positive for COVID-19 will not be mandated to quarantine anymore, but the province will recommend it. Albertans with COVID-19 symptoms will not be asked to get tested, but to stay at home until they feel better. And two weeks later, COVID-19 tests will only be available to people who need to go to the hospital or see a physician.
Masks won’t be mandatory in public transit, rideshares and taxies starting on Aug. 16, the province announced. Some masking may still be required in hospitals or continuing care facilities.
‘PLEASE GET VACCINATED’
Hinshaw reported 194 new cases of COVID-19 and a positivity rate of 2.9 per cent in her update.
“Cases have risen recently, almost entirely in those who have not been fully vaccinated as we expected would likely happen as people come into close contact with each other again,” Hinshaw said.
Since July 1, when the province lifted the large majority of its restrictions, people not fully immunized accounted for 95 per cent of COVID-19 cases, 94 per cent of hospitalizations and 95 per cent of deaths caused by the disease, Hinshaw added.
As of Tuesday, 75.6 per cent of eligible Albertans had one dose and 64.3 per cent were fully immunized.
“We still need to increase those numbers but this is encouraging progress,” Hinshaw told media.
There are 84 Albertans with COVID-19 in hospital and 18 in ICU. Only one of the ICU patients has two doses, Hinshaw said.
“Please get vaccinated. If you haven’t gotten both your doses yet, this is your time.”
EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have had a busy start to the NHL’s free agency period on Wednesday.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported Wednesday morning the Oilers signed free agent forward Zach Hyman to a seven-year, $38.5 million deal. The 29-year-old will make an average of $5.5 million per year.
Hyman played 345 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and got 86 goals and 99 assists.
After Hyman, TSN Edmonton Bureau reporter Ryan Rishaug reported defenceman Tyson Barrie re-signed with the Oilers for $13.5 million over three years.
In a surprising turn of events, the Oilers traded fan favourite Ethan Bear to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Warren Foegele.
Bear, who had spent his entire NHL career with the Oilers, posted two goals and six assists last season as Foegele, 25, got 10 goals and 10 assists.
The Oilers then signed defenceman Cody Ceci. The 27-year-old signed for four seasons and an average of $3.25 million per year.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Oilers bought out forward James Neal after he cleared waivers.
More to come…
With files from TSN
EDMONTON — The descendants of a First Nations band near Edmonton are calling on Ottawa to include them in the search for unmarked graves.
In 1958, the Michel First Nations Indian Band, located outside of Villeneuve, was enfranchised by the federal government.
“Once they did that they basically kicked everybody off the reserve and then they, in turn, privatized the land,” said Kim Beaudin, the national vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.
Beaudin, a descendant of the Michel band, said the decision was made without input from the majority of band members.
“Two, three people made this decision,” said Beaudin. “There’s a lot of discussion, they (the government) claim that they brought it forward to our people at that time, I disagree.
“They wanted to enfranchise all the bands across Canada, they wanted to assimilate Indigenous people into the collective and the Michel people, was the first one that they focused on.”
Historically, enfranchising people means freeing them, making them a citizen or giving them the right to vote.
“We were told, ‘Well if you enfranchise the band, all these magical things would happen,’ well none of them happened,” said Beaudin. “One of them was the right to vote… well, ok, that wasn’t that great.”
Band members lost their treaty status after being enfranchised.
Band descendants are advocating for Ottawa to reinstate the Michel band. They also want to be included in the search for unmarked graves at residential school sites.
“Presently, we’re not being heard, there’s no discussion with the federal government on a number of issues… but when this issue came up we realized there are stories that need to be told, and we’re not having that opportunity to do that,” said Beaudin.
“I know there’s been discussion about how to build in, in terms of reaching out to our people, but how are you going to do that when the government won’t even talk to you and acknowledge you.”
Earlier in July, a plan to search the site of the former Youville school with ground-penetrating radar was announced.
EDMONTON — Students are set to return to classes in September, without a requirement to wear masks at school.
Some parents and pediatricians are calling for a provincial mandate, to protect children.
“In the scope of understanding that children spend so much time indoors, in schools, it’s cautious and it’s protection to have these measures in place,” said Wing Li, with Support our Students.
The public education advocacy group is also calling for smaller class sizes and better ventilation in schools.
“We had to shut schools down twice… so moving forward, how can not we try to mitigate that,” said Li.
Public health measures are being eased and removed in schools.
“Masks have been proven to be very effective at decreasing COVID transmission in a number of indoor settings… with school being an indoor setting… masks are really an essential mitigation measure,” said Dr. Tehseen Ladha, a pediatrician and assistant professor at the University of Alberta.
“We also know that severe COVID is low risk in kids, but it’s not zero risk… we just need several more months of mitigation measures in schools to decrease the risk before that population becomes eligible for vaccine.”
Trials are underway to see if vaccines are safe for children under 12, but results aren’t expected for several months.
“If there is a fourth wave, and looks like there will be, it will largely be among the unvaccinated, and children under 12 are unvaccinated,” added Ladha.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending students up to Grade 12 continue to wear masks in schools.
“Right now we think that schools will have the option to choose what their school’s rules will be for their community, but that’s a patchwork,” said Li.
“A lot of them (parents) are disappointed that the government is doing nothing, it seems like, not even the bare minimum that we had last year.”
Some parents are waiting to see what case numbers are before deciding to send their kids back with masks or not.
“If the cases are high… I would say keep the masks going, but if the cases are low, maybe just go from there, take it month-by-month,” said Jessica Beaver, a mother of two.
According to Ladha, some parents against masking in schools are worried not being able to see faces will affect a child’s development.
“It’s been amazing to see how children can pick up on facial cues, even when half the face is masked,” said Ladha.
She believes that the greater risk to development would be if schools needed to be shut down again, due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Touria Izri