Photo: Government of Alberta

By Shaun Penner

Two More Weeks, at least

COVID restrictions to remain in effect until at least Jan. 21: Premier

Jan 7, 2021 | 4:38 PM

Premier Jason Kenney says all current public health measures will remain in place for at least the next two weeks. This includes a ban on all indoor and outdoor social gatherings, among many other restrictions brought in on December 13.

FULL DETAILS: New restrictions implemented by province as COVID-19 cases continue climb

Kenney says this is because daily new case numbers, hospitalizations and testing positivity rates still remain high in the province, despite the new restrictions announced four weeks ago.

“The health measures that were put in place in December have helped to reduce the number of active cases, but it’s not enough,” said Kenney, noting they will be evaluating the data over the coming weeks.

He adds the province also needs to see what impact the holiday season will have on testing and case rates before deciding how to move forward.

“The worst thing we could do would be to increase the chances of another surge, which would threaten our health-care system again and require more restrictions. We must be careful and deliberate, and avoid the roller-coaster of uncertainty that a new surge would create.”

The Premier says businesses, organizations and other impacted service providers will be given at least one week’s notice prior to any changes to the current health measures that may affect them.

Thursday’s announcement was the first time the Premier had spoken to the media since New Year’s Day, when he responded to the uncovered international vacations of several MLAs from within his caucus, including Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard.

Kenney says he understands most Albertans will be frustrated with the government extending restrictions after “the terrible judgement many in government have shown”.

“After all of the terrible sacrifices that people have made for 10 months, it was insulting for government leaders to holiday outside of the country,” said Kenney. “But that frustration cannot stop hard decisions that must be made to protect public health.”

“Trust has been broken, and I accept that that trust must be repaired.”

The news of the extension came as the province added 968 new cases for January 6. Hospitalizations dropped from 911 on Tuesday to 871, while ICU admissions dropped from 141 to 139.

The Premier also said Grades K-12 students will be returning to the classroom on Monday, January 11, as originally planned.