Alberta K-12 students to move online, patios and salons closed, fines increased under new COVID-19 measures
K-12 #K-12
Alberta is moving K-12 students to at-home learning, closing patios and salons, and increasing fines for rulebreakers in an effort to stem a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The measures, announced by Premier Jason Kenney Tuesday night, are the strongest put in place since last spring and apply to any region or community except for those with fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 people and fewer than 30 active cases.
“We must act now to stop the spike,” he said in a live television address.
“From day one, our goals have been to avoid large-scale loss of life to keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed while minimizing the damage of restrictions on our broader society. Governments must not impair people’s rights or their livelihoods unless it is absolutely necessary to save lives and, in this case, to prevent disaster from unfolding in our hospitals.”
K-12 students move to online learning starting Friday and won’t return to classrooms until May 25.
The remaining measures come into effect either on Wednesday or Sunday and are to be in place for the next three weeks.
Retail stores will have to limit capacity to 10 per cent of their fire code occupancy or allow a minimum of five people starting on Wednesday. Companies that have reported outbreaks must close for 10 days, although there is an exception for critically essential businesses.
Post-secondary schools must also move online on Wednesday.
Capacity at places of worship is limited to 15 people and funeral services to 10 people. Outdoor social gatherings will be capped at five people, down from 10 on Wednesday.
Starting at 11:59 p.m. on May 9, restaurants must close patios and are only permitted to offer take-out and delivery. Personal wellness services, such as salons and tattoo parlours, must close as well.
The basic fine for violating public health orders has been doubled to $2,000 from $1,000 while the most severe fine remains at $100,000.
The province leads the country with the highest active per-capita rate in Canada, with 534 per 100,000 people — more than double Ontario’s 247 per 100,000 people. Variants represent 62.3 per cent of Alberta’s cases. The province currently has an 11.19 per cent positivity rate.
On Tuesday, Alberta reported 1,743 new infections, bringing the total number of active cases to a new record of 23,623, and nine additional deaths.
Kenney said the province has attempted to strike a balance through targeted approaches to restrictions so as not to impact businesses too much.
“The good news is we have vaccines on our side,” he said. “They are already working wonders. We will be able to vaccinate all Albertans over the age of 16 very soon.”
NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley said the announcement created more questions and criticized the premier for not mentioning more support for businesses, at-home learning, or paid sick leave. She said the pandemic should never have gotten to this level in Alberta.
“We needed faster work, we needed more consistent work,” Notley said. “We need more transparency about what was recommended to him, and we need to know more about how long this will last and how he’s going to support Albertans throughout it.”
Kenney did not take questions from the media Tuesday night. He is scheduled to hold a 10 a.m. news conference on Wednesday and will be joined by Health Minister Tyler Shandro, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Justice Minister Kaycee Madu.
‘Devastating news for many businesses’
Tuesday’s announcement comes after the premier straddled two seemingly conflicting messages, arguing against tighter lockdowns while encouraging Albertans to follow the rules to protect the public health-care system. Last Monday, he said some restrictions would not be effective because some Albertans would not comply.
On Thursday, with rising case numbers, Kenney announced restrictions for fitness in hotspots like Edmonton and Calgary, saying again that some restrictions won’t curb the spread because they would be ignored.
“Properly targeted restrictions that people actually comply with can be a useful tool in limiting viral spread, but indiscriminate restrictions that people ignore broadly are not an effective tool,” he said.
Puneeta McBryan, the executive director of the Downtown Business Association, said in an email Tuesday the new restrictions will undoubtedly be hard on Downtown restaurants and personal service businesses.
“The vast majority have been following the rules to the letter, and for the restaurants, they were just this past month finally able to generate some desperately needed revenue to stay afloat,” she said. “It’s also going to be an incredibly difficult time once again for all of the parents, particularly mothers, in the workforce with schools now closing again.”
Janet Riopel, president and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, said in an email the new restrictions were disappointing but not surprising given Alberta’s case numbers “completely out of control.”
“This is devastating news for many businesses,” she said. “We urge everyone to follow the new rules, stay safe, and get vaccinated — it’s the only way to ensure our businesses can reopen and stay open.”
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson tweeted that the new measures are unfortunate but necessary to eliminate the spike in cases. He said he was happy to see they apply across the entire Edmonton Metro Region, not just the city of Edmonton, after last week’s measures only included the city but not its surrounding municipalities.
Iveson said the city will be reviewing the impacts the measures have on programs and services and encouraged Edmontonians to follow public health orders and get vaccinated.
Dr. Noel Gibney, one of 50 intensive care physicians and medical professionals to sign a public letter urging Kenney to enact stricter measures Tuesday, said after Kenney’s address that the premier did the right thing.
“This went a long way to getting what the province needs at this point in time, and even though this is a little late, I don’t think this is too late,” said Gibney, adding it will require people to comply with restrictions.
Gibney said it’s difficult to get people to follow public health restrictions when public figures are on the fence about how serious COVID-19 is, or how effective restrictions are. Had the government taken action with the same measures in March, Albertans could be enjoying a relatively normal summer, he said.
This is not the first time doctors have raised the alarm about Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions during the third wave of the pandemic. In April doctors with the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association (EZMSA) and the Calgary and Area Medical Staff Society (CAMSS) called for a lockdown or circuit breaker.
Trudeau offers federal assistance
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government reached out to the Alberta government over the weekend to offer help.
“For Alberta, we continued reaching out to the province through the weekend. We’re offering whatever help they need to get the situation under control and keep Albertans safe,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.
Steve Buick, Shandro’s press secretary, said in an email that Alberta has not asked Ottawa for help.
“We are concerned about the rise in cases and hospitalizations, but at present the number of COVID patients in hospital remains well below the peak level we experienced in December,” he said.
“AHS has plans in place to accommodate higher numbers of hospital patients than the December peak level, as well as contingency planning for extreme scenarios beyond any current estimate of the likely demands on hospital capacity.”
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