EDMONTON, AB – “COVID-19 is surging once again in Alberta.”
That, from Premier Jason Kenney Friday as he held his first press conference in a month.
He says there is a concerning rise in hospitalizations made up of almost entirely unvaccinated Albertans. The ICU situation is worse he says, with a 93 percent jump in admissions in the past eight days.
In an attempt to address this fourth wave surge, Kenney announced new temporary COVID-19 measures set to take effect at 8am Saturday, Sept. 4.
- The province will make masks mandatory for all indoor public spaces and workplaces starting Sept. 4 at 8 a.m. Schools are not required to implement masking but school boards will continue to set COVID-19 management policies as they deem appropriate.
- Also, as of Sept. 4 at 8 a.m., restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, nightclubs and other licensed establishments will be required to end alcohol service at 10 p.m.
- In addition, Albertans are encouraged to limit in-person contacts. To support this, the province strongly recommends that unvaccinated Albertans limit their indoor social gatherings to close contacts of only two cohort families up to a maximum of 10 people.
- It is also recommended that employers pause their plans to have staff return to work and instead continue with work-from-home measures. If employees are working on location, employees must mask for all indoor settings, except in work stations or where two-metre physical distancing or adequate physical barriers are in place.
The Premier also announced that Alberta will be the first province to offer a one-time incentive of a $100 gift card for all Albertans 18 and older who receive a first or second dose of vaccine between Sept. 3 and Oct. 14.
Kenney says one out of every five Alberta adults are not fully vaccinated and “their choices are now jeopardizing our healthcare system.”
Written by Tina Karst, MyLethbridgeNow.com
