Premier Jason Kenney laid out the details of a four-step plan on Jan. 29 to lift the current restrictions on businesses and activities based on hospitalization numbers.
Back in December, the Alberta government imposed a number of restrictions aimed to curb a sudden spike in COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations.
Since then, in-person classes at Alberta schools have resumed, and personal services like hair salons were allowed to book customers by appointment. Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people and funerals of up to 20 were also allowed.
Kenney announced that Alberta will now be lifting other restrictions using hospitalizations — both for ICU and general acute care — as benchmarks.
“We chose hospitalizations because it's a clear indicator of health care capacity. It is also a lagging indicator, which means it gives us a better idea of how relaxations affect the health care system,” he said.
Step 1 has a hospitalization benchmark of 600, which Alberta has now met. That means starting on Monday, Feb. 8, some restrictions on indoor and outdoor children’s sports, indoor personal fitness and restaurants, cafés and pubs will potentially be lifted.
It should be noted that children’s sport activities will only be allowed if they are related to school activities, such as physical education classes. Indoor fitness will be limited to training one-on-one with a professional trainer.
Restaurants, cafés and pubs will have to limit customers to six to a table, liquor service will have to close by 10 p.m. and in-person dining will have to be 11 p.m. No in-house entertainment like lounge singers will be allowed.
Step 2 has a hospitalization benchmark of 450. Once it is met, there will be a potential easing of some restrictions on retail shops and community halls, hotels, banquet halls and conference centres.
Step 3 has a hospitalization benchmark of 300. That will come with a potential easing of some restrictions on places of worship; adult team sports; museums, art galleries and zoos and interpretive centres; indoor seated events like movie theatres; libraries; and casinos, racing centres and bingo halls.
Finally, Step 4 has a hospitalization benchmark of 150. That will potentially bring an easing of some restrictions on trade shows and conferences; indoor entertainment centres; outdoor sporting events; wedding ceremonies and receptions; funerals; indoor concerts and amusement parks; day camps and overnight camps. Measures encouraging working from home may also be lifted.
In the case of these last three steps, further information will be coming on how specifically these restrictions will be lifted. As well, restrictions lifted in previous steps may also be further eased.
Kenney clarified that once a benchmark is reached, hospitalizations will be re-assessed three weeks later to ensure they’ve continued to fall.
He said that daily case numbers and case growth will be used in calculating whether to pause further lifting of restrictions or to impose new ones.
“If cases of COVID-19 surge again, if we start moving once again towards exponential growth like we saw in November-December, and if somehow one of these new viral variants takes hold in our community and begins to spread at rates seen in other parts of the world, we will have to impose stronger restrictions again,” he said.
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