Photo: Government of Alberta

By Shaun Penner

Re-opening the economy

Premier to unveil Alberta’s phased relaunch plan Thursday

Apr 30, 2020 | 12:09 PM

Details on the province’s plan for a staged relaunch of the Alberta economy will be unveiled Thursday afternoon by Premier Jason Kenney as part of the daily COVID-19 update.

Kenney announced details would be coming sometime this week during Tuesday’s coronavirus update, where he announced updated modelling from Alberta Health showed the province’s projected number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions at the peak of the outbreak is lower than they originally thought.

With that, he said he was hoping to see some parts of the economy open back up in May.

“It has to be done in a measured way,” said Kenney on Tuesday. “To quote Premier (Scott) Moe (of Saskatchewan), it’s going to be more like a dimmer switch than an on-off switch.”

Last week, Premier Moe announced a five-step reopening plan in Saskatchewan starting with medical services such as dentists, optometrists and physical therapy on May 4.

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Golf courses could be allowed to reopen on May 15, followed on May 19 by retail shops that sell clothing, flowers, books, sporting goods and toys.

Other restrictions on businesses and large gatherings would follow, with strict monitoring on outbreaks and cases at each stage.

“Our Alberta relaunch strategy will likely be fairly similar to that of Saskatchewan,” said Kenney. “(It won’t be) identical in every respect, but I suspect there won’t be significant gaps between the Alberta and Saskatchewan approach.”

Thursday’s press conference is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. The live stream of the address can be seen below:

(With files from Dean Bennett of the Canadian Press)