Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko

Stage one of relaunch

Final decision “yet to be made” on potential start to relaunch on May 14

May 12, 2020 | 4:40 PM

Less than 48 hours before some parts of the economy could reopen, the Government of Alberta cannot say for sure whether that will be happening this Thursday.

In Alberta’s Economic Relaunch Strategy announced in late April, Stage 1 is set to commence “as early as” May 14. It would see, among others, retail businesses, museums, hairstylists, and daycares resume operations.

“While I recognize that there’s that challenge that, ideally, people would have a lot of lead time, it’s also important to make sure we have the most up-to-date information about our data, about how our trends are going so that we can take that into account as we make those decisions,” says Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Some of these considerations include the number of new COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and admissions to intensive care units. As of Tuesday, 73 Albertans are in hospital and 12 are in ICU.

Either way, Dr. Hinshaw says the province will announce definitively on Wednesday whether Stage 1 will take place on May 14 or if that has to be pushed back a bit.

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In the time leading up to that, she believes it is important for all business owners to have a plan in place to ensure that their staff and customers can stay safe.

A new guide called Alberta Biz Connect was launched this week that details the many health and safety considerations companies should be implementing at this time and how those can be done.

“An important thing for all businesses to consider is what mechanisms they can put in place so patrons understand what is required of them. Business operators know their business better than we can. It’s a two-way street, customers and business operators are both responsible for being safe and using common sense.”

Dr. Hinshaw was asked about how operators of malls can ensure they are following all proper protocols, given the high numbers of employees and customers that are sure to frequent them.

“We would expect that mall operators would be following the same guidance as any other place of business. They would be incorporating increased cleaning, increased disinfection, particularly for washroom facilities in those buildings that there would be increased cleaning and disinfection, and that they would be looking at our worksite guidance and making sure that the measures that are in place that are recommended in those guidelines are being implemented in those malls.”

Since most malls have wide corridors, she thinks it should be fairly easy to ensure customers are able to maintain a two-metre distance from one another.

If Stage 1 does commence, the Prairie Mall says some stores are planning to open on Thursday. The full list of stores that plan on opening can be found here.

(With files from Shaun Penner)