Dr. Deena Hinshaw speaks during a media conference on June 3, 2020 (Photo: Gov't of Alberta live stream)

By Troy Gillard

ANNOUNCEMENT COMING NEXT WEEK

Phase two of Alberta’s economic relaunch could come sooner than planned

Jun 3, 2020 | 5:13 PM

EDMONTON – Alberta’s top doctor says the second phase of the province’s relaunch after COVID-19 shutdowns could happen ahead of schedule.

Chief medical health officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw says new cases of infection are dwindling and fewer people are in hospital.

She says new numbers are encouraging and recommendations have been made to the government about moving up Phase 2, which is currently slated for June 19.

Alberta recorded 19 new cases on Wednesday, five of which were in the City of Grande Prairie. However the number of people in hospital has dropped to 48 from 51. Two more deaths, both in Calgary long-term care homes, brought that total to 145.

Premier Jason Kenney says an announcement will be made “early next week” about Phase 2.

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“Final decisions have not yet been taken,” he said Wednesday. “Here’s the great news – the numbers have continued to move very much in the right direction. We have successfully flattened the curve, which was always the main goal of our COVID response.”

Phase 1 of the relaunch began May 14 in most of the province and May 25 in Calgary and Brooks where COVID-19 outbreaks were still occurring.

The first phase allowed for restaurants, pubs, retail stores, hair salons, museums, art galleries, daycares, day camps, summer school and places of worship to open their doors with enhanced cleaning and physical distancing protocols and capacity limitations in place.

Phase 2 calls for the reopening of more health businesses like acupuncture and massage therapy, personal services businesses such as manicures and pedicures, as well as libraries and movie theatres with restrictions in place.

Kenney cautioned that the pandemic is still not over and that Albertans must continue to be vigilant.

“We’ll have to continue to maintain common sense public health measures,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s really up to Albertans just to be patient and rigorous about following the hygiene guidelines – frequent washing of hands, physical distancing, all of that – and follow the advice of the chief medical officer.”

Kenney added, “I think there is a high level of confidence that we can move forward with the phase two of relaunch, and possibly move forward some of the activities that initially had been planned for phase three into phase two.”

Phase 3 of the relaunch includes fully reopening all businesses and services (with some restrictions) along with arts and culture festivals, concerts and major sporting events (with restrictions). Nightclubs, gyms, pools and recreation centres would also reopen with restrictions, as well as industry conferences. And there would be no restrictions on non-essential travel. Physical distancing rules, however, would remain in place.

(With file from The Canadian Press and Shaun Penner)