Image from Alberta Livestream

By Chris Brown/CHATNews

Province to ramp up case investigations for international travellers amid new variant concerns

Nov 29, 2021 | 5:28 PM

EDMONTON, AB – There are no confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Alberta but the province is taking steps to stop any potential spread of it from occurring.

Premier Jason Kenney said 156 Albertans have been identified as having returned in the past two weeks from one of the countries identified in Canada’s enhanced border measures.

Those travellers have been contacted and reminded about current health protocols and testing and isolation requirements. They and their households have been offered household rapid testing kits and PCR tests.

“To be clear, no one has tested positive here but we’re working with these individuals to reduce any chance of spread,” said the premier.

Kenney said measures will be implemented for all COVID-19 cases identified in returning international travellers.

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“Full case investigations and contact notification, PCR testing for all close contacts and rapid testing for households and specific settings like schools and child care settings,” said Kenney.

For all confirmed Omicron cases in people who did not travel, all close contacts will be investigated and asked about symptoms 14 days following exposure, said Kenney. He added anyone with symptoms will be treated as a probable case.

Kenney said Albertans can help the province prepare for the eventual arrival of Omicron by getting vaccinated and following public health measures.

The fourth wave of COVID-19 that overtook the province in the summer was driven by the Delta variant.

Health Minister Jason Copping reported that more than 96 per cent of Alberta Health Services employees are fully immunized, as per AHS policy. He said 99.6 per cent of physicians are fully immunized.

Copping said he’s concerned about vaccine hesitancy that remains, particularly in smaller communities where there is a potential for loss of staff and an impact on patient care.

He has directed Alberta Health Services to initiate rapid testing “at locations where there is a significant risk of service disruption due to unvaccinated employees.”

AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu said the frequent targetted testing will be temporary and introduced in a small number of clinical work locations on Dec. 13. It will only be available to a small number of staff, which Yiu estimated to be about 260 employees will be eligible at 16 work locations in the province.

The policy deadline for staff to be fully immunized will be extended to that date.

AHS originally set a deadline of Nov. 30 for employees to be fully immunized and those who were not after that date were to be placed on unpaid leave. Anyone who does not meet the new AHS requirements and deadlines will be placed on unpaid leave.

Copping also said the privacy issue that forced the province to shut down its updated QR code site last week has been fixed. The updated QR code vaccine record can be downloaded or printed at alberta.ca/covidrecords.