Alberta is prepping a plan for enforcement during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Marcia Johnson says she’s getting reports of people not following the province’s recommendations.
“A plan is in place, and we’ll be starting to roll out over the next week, that would allow public health inspectors to monitor large groups in restaurants and businesses.”
Johnson says power will also be given to police to hand out fines to people not abiding. However, she says the government is counting on people to stay home when possible and practice social distancing.
“When people are asked to do something that’s difficult, everybody wants to do the best they can, but there are some, unfortunately, that don’t always go along with the restrictions. To make as much cohesion in a society as we can, it is nice to have a mechanism to nudge reluctant people more towards helping keep all our communities safe.”
No further details on the plan have been released at this time.
There have been 31 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alberta since Friday, bringing the total to 226. It’s suspected up to suspect up to 16 may be community transmission. More than 23,500 people have been tested.
The number of confirmed cases in the North zone has been adjusted to 16, down from the 17 released Friday.