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Omicron concerns trigger spate of event cancellations in Calgary; U of C nixes in-person exams

Rising COVID-19 cases and concerns over the Omicron variant’s increasing presence in Alberta have prompted event cancellations across Calgary

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Rising COVID-19 cases and concerns over the Omicron variant’s increasing presence in Alberta have prompted event cancellations across Calgary.

Last week, the number of active cases rose in Alberta from 4,016 to 4,431 with three straight days of increases from Wednesday through Friday. By Friday, the province had 173 known cases of the Omicron variant, up from 30 at the beginning of the week.

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Citing the uncertainty of Omicron’s effect, the University of Calgary has cancelled the remainder of its in-person exams for the fall semester, moving some online. Block week classes from Jan. 3 to 7 are also set to take place virtually.

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“These actions reduce in-person activity and allow us time to gather information about the Omicron variant — its transmissibility, its severity, its effects on various populations and the effectiveness of vaccines — that will allow better decision-making about the start of the winter semester,” Ed McCauley, the U of C’s president and vice-chancellor, said in an email to the school community.

The winter semester is still slated to begin Jan. 10 with in-person instruction, but McCauley said classes might be delayed depending on what’s learned over the winter break. He said students and faculty should prepare for the possibility of online learning throughout January. The school aims to make a decision on the matter by Jan. 4.

Nic Greco, a fourth-year economics student at U of C, has weathered the back-and-forth the pandemic has posed for students over the past two years. While Greco managed to finish all of his exams before the university shelved in-person testing, he said he wouldn’t be surprised if a large chunk of his classes next semester end up online.

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“It’s a tough situation. The whole pandemic’s just really tough. You can’t really ever please everybody,” he said.

“We’re kind of used to this now, online learning. So if that’s what we have to do for a couple weeks before we go back, then so be it. I’d rather save a couple of positive tests and a couple of people getting sick.”

Mount Royal University has not made any announcements regarding its winter semester, but exams are currently going ahead in person.

To the west, the University of British Columbia is continuing with in-person exams, despite concerns raised by students over lack of distancing in exam areas and symptomatic students attending exams. Kurt Heinrich, the university’s senior director of media relations, said deans will allow students who are worried about their health — such as those who live with family members or others who are part of a high-risk group — to ask for their exams to be deferred. The University of Victoria cancelled in-person exams after several cases were tied to the school.

Plans for concerts, sporting events, fundraisers, and other large functions in Calgary have also been turfed.

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Among those events, Toys “R” Us Canada had to cancel a shopping spree planned Sunday for seriously ill children and their families, and Brett Kissel’s annual Christmas charity concert scheduled for Monday was also scrapped. Further down the line, organizers have pulled the plug on the Calgary Auto Show and Vehicles and Violins Gala scheduled for March.

The Calgary Flames, with 32 cases in the organization, remain off the ice until at least Dec. 27. The Edmonton Oilers have also seen several players enter COVID-19 protocol while on a road trip, and the NHL announced Sunday that all cross-border games would be cancelled through Dec. 23. Canada’s World Junior Championship team has also cancelled pre-tournament games ahead of the main tournament being hosted in Red Deer and Edmonton beginning Dec. 26.

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Several provinces, including Ontario, Quebec and B.C., announced tightened restrictions last week, reintroducing capacity limits on restaurants and other indoor gatherings.

The Alberta government has not changed its orders regarding gatherings, barring a slight easement for the holidays to allow 10 people to get together from any number of households. Previously only 10 people from two households could attend a gathering. Unvaccinated people are also allowed to gather in groups of up to 10. They previously were not allowed to gather at all indoors.

“If we think we need to tighten things, we will,” said Premier Jason Kenney in an interview with 12-year-old political podcaster Wyatt Sharpe on Friday.

“We may have to take some measures. I see Ontario has with respect to major events. We’ll look at that, but we have to be realistic. We can’t stop this wave. It will have widespread impact, so we need to be realistic about it.”

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In Ontario, new limits on social gatherings and capacity limits in stores and restaurants came into effect Sunday as the provincial government struggled to get escalating case counts under control, while similar restrictions were set to come down in British Columbia and Quebec on Monday.

Quebec reported 3,846 new cases on Sunday, setting an all-time high for the province’s daily tally for the second time in three days, while the number of hospitalizations and people in intensive care because of COVID-19 continued to increase.

Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, head of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Table, had warned Thursday that while hospitalizations in his province had remained fairly steady, he expected a spike in two to three weeks.

“It does cause serious disease,” Brown said in discussing the science table’s latest modelling. “Hospital rates have risen in South Africa where it first took hold. It’s not just a case of the sniffles.”

A Quebec government health-care research institute also said Thursday that it expects more than 700 non-ICU hospitalizations in the province, and more than 160 people in intensive care within two to three weeks.

However, the institute said it was less confident than usual in its projections because its data on the Omicron variant was based on a single study conducted in South Africa, which has a significantly lower vaccination rate than Quebec.

— With files from The Canadian Press and Dylan Short

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