Kenney announces sweeping restrictions; K-12 moving to online learning, restaurants to close patios
Kenney #Kenney
Premier Jason Kenney announced sweeping new COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday evening, including a transition to restaurant takeout service only, closure of personal care businesses and a shift to online learning for all students.
With more than 23,000 active cases in Alberta and the highest case rate per population in the country, Kenney said the province has entered a critical stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions introduced Tuesday are meant to slow the rapid transmission of the virus and protect the provincial health-care system from being overburdened.
Restrictions are also tightening for retail, outdoor social gatherings, places of worship and funerals.
“Let me be clear, we will not permit our health-care system to be overwhelmed. We must not, and will not, force our doctors and nurses to decide who gets care and who doesn’t,” Kenney said during a live speech Tuesday evening.
“That is why we must act now to stop the spike.”
Starting Friday, all Kindergarten to Grade 12 students will transition to at-home learning until after the long weekend on May 25.
“I know this is a real disruption for both kids and parents. But with the current level of community spread, 80,000 students and staff are in self-isolation and we will soon reach a point where many schools will not be able to operate,” Kenney said.
He anticipated the two-week reset will allow students to return to classrooms to finish the school year.
Medeana Moussa, spokeswoman for the Support Our Students advocacy group, said students continue to bear the burden of the government’s “failure.”
“The Kenney government took a gamble with a wait-and-see approach instead of being proactive with sufficient planning for schools,” said Moussa.
She added that schools have been chronically underfunded and require resources to ensure safety.
“This government’s failure to fund our schools has once again left families on their own to cope,” she said.
Starting Sunday at 11:59 p.m., personal and wellness services will be required to close and restaurants must shift to takeout service only for at least the next three weeks.
Restaurants and bars have been permitted to offer patio dining since indoor service was banned April 9. In an effort to comply with those restrictions, many eateries have invested in building temporary patios and outfitting those spaces for service.
Only takeout and delivery will be permitted as of Monday.
The personal and wellness services required to close include hair, tanning and nail salons, and tattoo shops. Health services such as dentists, chiropractors and massage therapists can remain open by appointment only.
Annie Dormuth, Alberta director with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said after nearly 14 months of the pandemic, the average debt load of a dine-in restaurant in the province has reached $330,000, with small businesses in general $186,000 deep in red ink.
Those figures, which are higher than in other provinces, show the need for more supports from the province, she said.
“Considering business like gyms and those in the hospitality sector have been the most closed, it’s time the Alberta government looks at supporting them through an additional grant,” said Dormuth.
She said 80 per cent of businesses believe the existing COVID-19 subsidies need to remain until the pandemic is quelled.
“Sixty per cent of them believe we’ll have restrictions in place until 2022.”
There was no word from Kenney about additional funds or grants for the businesses and employees affected by the new measures.
Effective immediately, all workplaces with outbreaks of three or more cases will be required to close for 10 days, with exemptions for critical workplaces. All post-secondary will also be required to move online.
As well, starting Tuesday, retail businesses must limit capacity to 10 per cent, including individual stores and common areas.
Outdoor social gatherings will be limited to five people, instead of the current maximum of 10, and the province is strongly recommending people limit these gatherings to two family cohorts.
Outdoor recreation is restricted to members of the same household or cohort, and indoor fitness centres must close.
Places of worship will be required to limit services to 15 people instead of the current 15 per cent capacity limit, which is similar to the restrictions seen last spring. Funerals will only be permitted 10 people, which is down from 20.
The measures are in place across much of the province, however, some of the new restrictions will not be introduced in regions with fewer than 50 active cases per 100,000 population and fewer than 30 active cases. Those regions, of which there are currently 42, will shift back to how things were before the province’s economic relaunch strategy started earlier this year.
Fines for those who don’t comply with the public health measures are being doubled from $1,000 to $2,000, Kenney said.
“And we are introducing a tougher enforcement protocol for repeat offenders. We will not tolerate those who endanger the health of their fellow Albertans while the vast majority of people are doing the right thing,” the premier said.
Reporters were not allowed to ask questions of the premier for clarity or further information about the announcement.
Instead, Kenney will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday, alongside Health Minister Tyler Shandro, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Justice Minister Kaycee Madu to discuss the restrictions in further detail.
“Let’s come together and show that we are Alberta strong, so we can move past this terrible time into a bright Alberta summer,” Kenney said at the end of his speech.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said on Twitter on Tuesday evening that the new measures are the right thing to do.
“We are so close to the end but too many people, particularly young people, are getting very sick. Let’s finish strong. Follow the rules, get your shot and stay safe,” said Nenshi.
The introduction of new public health measures comes as Alberta’s daily COVID-19 case count continues trending high.
Alberta reported 1,743 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, which represents a test positivity rate of about 12 per cent. The new cases include 876 cases of the more contagious variants of concern.
A second case of the B.1.617 variant first identified in India has also been detected in the province.
Kenney pledged on Monday to implement stronger restrictions this week , placing blame on Alberta’s “compliance issue.”
“The reason we are at this critical stage of the pandemic in Alberta, with record-high daily case counts and intensive-care numbers, is precisely because, for whatever reason, too many Albertans are ignoring the rules that we currently have in place,” he said.
There are 671 patients in hospital due to COVID-19, including 150 in intensive-care units.
An additional nine deaths were reported Tuesday, bringing Alberta’s death toll to 2,099.
The deaths include four men in their 60s, two men in their 70s, a man and woman in their 80s and a man in his 90s.
Teachers, child-care workers and support staff began receiving immunizations on Tuesday, as the province opened eligibility for teaching staff.
Alberta has now administered 1,668,455 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. This includes second doses for 303,509 people. About 30 per cent of Albertans have now received at least one dose.
Detailed information about all of the new restrictions can be found at alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures .
— With files from Eva Ferguson and Bill Kaufmann
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