Photo: Government of Alberta livestream

By Shaun Penner

Public Health Measures

Grade 7-12 classes shifting online in Grande Prairie starting Monday

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Premier Jason Kenney has announced that junior and senior high school classes in COVID-19 “hot spots” in Alberta, including the City of Grande Prairie, will be moving online starting Monday in an attempt to try to curb the rise in COVID-19 cases across the province.

All indoor fitness and sports activities will also be banned in Grande Prairie and other hot spots for at least the next two weeks as part of these new targeted public health measures.

Municipalities in Alberta are considered hot spots when there are 365 or more active cases per 100,000 people, with a floor of 250 active cases. The municipalities affected by these new measures includes Fort McMurray, Edmonton, Red Deer, Airdrie, Calgary and Lethbridge. Strathcona County is also considered a hot spot.

These restrictions will remain in place for two weeks, or until the region falls back below the case threshold, whichever is longer.

“We have no choice but to implement these targeted measures to slow growth and bend the curve and protect our health system over the next few weeks,” said Kenney. “These measures are layered on top of Alberta’s robust public health restrictions and will buy a little more time for our vaccination program to protect more Albertans and win the race against the variants.

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“We must respond with a firm stand against COVID-19 now so that we can enjoy a great Alberta summer.”

As of April 28, the City of Grande Prairie had 457 active cases of COVID-19, a rate of 615.5 cases per 100,000 people.

The province adds that to prevent rural areas with small populations from being unfairly impacted, municipalities with fewer than 250 active cases will be excluded from this threshold. That exemptions applies the County of Grande Prairie, which has 194 active cases of Thursday’s update.

Kenney also said during his Thursday update that the provincial government will implement a curfew where case rates are significantly high, specifically when case rates reach above 1,000 per 100,000 and if a municipality or region requests it.

He said details would be announced prior to any curfew being implemented.

Alberta added 2,048 new cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday and there are now 21,385 active cases in Alberta.

There are 632 people in hospital, 151 of whom are in intensive care. Those 151 people in ICU is a record high in Alberta during the pandemic.