Premier Kenney announces targeted measures for province ahead of Christmas

All venues in the province that have a capacity of over 1,000 must limit themselves to 50 per cent capacity. Venues that seat over 1,000 people will not be able to serve food or drinks at the concessions. This is targeted at making more people follow masking rules that are sometimes not followed inside major venues.

Any venues with capacity under 1,000 will be capped at 500 people.

Restaurants and bars

Restaurants and bars currently taking part in the REP (Restriction Exemption Program) will be limited to tables with a maximum of ten people with no recreational activities such as dancing or billards allowed to take part.

Alcohol sales also must cease at 11:00 p.m., with venues being forced to close at 12:30 a.m.

Expanding rapid testing

Premier Kenney says the province will be purchasing 10 million COVID-19 rapid testing kits that will be available by January. While they will continue to receive kits from Ottawa, the province says because of the Omicron variant, they need more tests.

More than 2.5 million rapid tests or 500,000 rapid testing kits have been made available to Albertans.

Booster shots

All Albertans aged 18 and older and now eligible to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of December 21. Boosters are available to those six months after their second dose.

You can book a booster dose by visiting the Alberta Health Services website.

Household gatherings will remain at a maximum of 10 people for now.

Premier Kenney says implementing these restrictions now is the right thing to do, as the situation will likely get worse over the coming weeks.

“I said last week there are still many unknowns about this variant, but we do know is this variant is more transmissible than any previous strain of the COVID-19 virus,” he stated.

“We are appealing to Albertans to reduce their number of daily in-person contacts by half over the next coming weeks. These new measures in large public sessions will help, but we also need Albertans to make personal changes in their daily lives to slow transmission.”

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health spoke to how threatening the situation is to the healthcare system, especially considering the world doesn’t yet know enough about just how severe this variant is.

“It is too soon to have conclusive evidence of the severity of the Omicron variant. In places that have had Omicron circulating longer than we have, some have reported a decrease in severity risk and others have not. In all places where Omicron is circulating, hospitalizations and ICU numbers rose several weeks after cases began to rise,” said Hinshaw.

“It is not clear at a population level what any possible changes in severity will mean for the health system, as it’s likely those other places have not yet seen the peak of health system capacity impacts,” she added. “We will learn more as time goes on, but now is the time to be cautious.”

Hinshaw mentioned all cases will now be assumed as Omicron as it is now the dominant variant of COVID-19 in the province.

“The bottom line is we are facing a significant and unknown threat. The next few weeks will be critical in determining what the new year will look like.”

“Please, find other ways to connect with and support those you care about, make choices about activities thinking about the impacts of those around you and please do as much as possible to limit the opportunities COVID-19 and the Omicron variant spread in our communities.”

by Shane Clausing

Premier Kenney announces targeted measures for province ahead of Christmas

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