State of public health emergency declared in Alberta as new COVID-19 restrictions come in

In-person classes for students in Grades 7-12 will be moving to at-home learning starting November 30 and will resume January 11. Grades K-6 will continue with in-person classes until December 18, when the Christmas break starts.

Diploma exams are optional for rest of the school year.

Certain businesses will also have to close for in-person services in areas under an “enhanced” COVID-19 status, which includes the City and County of Grande Prairie, the MD of Greenview and the Peace River area.

These include:

Banquet halls, conference centres, trade shows and concert venues, non-approved/licensed markets, community centres.
Children’s play places or indoor playgrounds.
All levels of sport (professional, semi-professional, junior, collegiate/universities and amateur). Exemptions may be considered.

Restaurants, bars, pubs and lounges can continue in-person dining with new restrictions in “enhanced” areas of the province, that will be effective on Friday. Those include a maximum of six people from the same immediate household at a table and no movement between tables. People who live alone can meet with up to two non-household contacts, as long as they’re the same two people throughout the duration of these restrictions.

Most retail businesses may remain open for in-person service, with capacity limited to 25 per cent in “enhanced” areas, including:

Retail, including liquor and cannabis
Grocery stores
Pharmacies
Clothing stores
Computer and technology stores
Hardware
Automotive
Farmers markets approved by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
Unlicensed outdoor seasonal markets

As well, some entertainment and event services may remain open with capacity limited to 25 per cent. These include:

Movie theatres
Museums and galleries
Libraries
Casinos, offering slots only. Table games must be closed at this time.
Indoor entertainment centres including amusement parks, water parks, bingo halls and racing centres.
Indoor fitness, recreation, sports and physical activity centres, including dance and yoga studios, martial arts, gymnastics and private or public swimming pools.
- Facilities can be open for individual studio time, training or exercise only.
- There can be no group fitness, group classes, group training, team practices or games.
- Instructors can use facility to broadcast virtual fitness classes from, but there can be no group class

Other businesses may remain open by appointment only in “enhanced” areas, where walk-in services will be prohibited. These services include:

Personal services such as hair salons and barbershops, esthetics, manicure, pedicure, body waxing and make-up, piercing and tattoo services
Wellness services including acupuncture, massage and reflexology
Professional services such as lawyers, mediators, accountants and photographers
Private one-on-one lessons (no private group lessons permitted)
Hotels, motels, hunting and fishing lodges

The full list of new public health measures can be found here. Kenney says the new measures will be in place for at least three weeks.

The province says not following mandatory restrictions could result in fines of $1,000 per ticketed offence and up to $100,000 through the courts.

by Shaun Penner

State of public health emergency declared in Alberta as new COVID-19 restrictions come in

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