Premier Jason Kenney announced the new measures during a press conference on Friday (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Shaun Penner

COVID-19 UPDATE: November 6

Fifteen person gathering limit in place for City, County of Grande Prairie

Nov 6, 2020 | 4:06 PM

With cases of COVID-19 on a steep rise across Alberta, Premier Jason Kenney announced that all communities currently under an Alberta Health “Watch” status are now under a 15 person limit for all social and family gatherings.

This includes the City and County of Grande Prairie, as well as the Peace River and Fairview area. They all have over 50 active cases of COVID-19, per 100,000 people.

The 15 person restriction applies to all social gatherings, indoors and outdoors, including but not limited to:

• banquets and award ceremonies
• wedding or funeral receptions
• luncheons or potlucks
• parties: birthday, baby showers, retirement, dinners, backyard BBQs
• other private social gatherings and functions

The new gathering restrictions do not apply to structured events, such as:

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• seated-audience conferences, sports and shows
• dining in restaurants
• fitness centres
• funeral services
• wedding ceremonies
• worship services

This comes as the province added 802 new cases on November 4, while there were 609 new cases identified for November 5. Continued technical issues with the province’s COVID-19 dashboard have delayed detailed reporting of local numbers.

There are now 171 people in hospital in Alberta, with 33 of those people in an ICU. Of those, eight people are in hospital in the North Zone, tow of whom are in an ICU.

There were also eight more deaths linked to COVID-19 over the last two days in Alberta, bringing the death toll to 352 in the province.

A testing positivity rate of 5.3 per cent was set over the last two days in Alberta, as the province conducted 26,483 tests on Wednesday and Thursday.

Some other voluntary measures have also been issued for areas under a watch status, including limiting cohorts to no more than three (i.e. your household, school and one other cohort).

The wearing of masks in all indoor work settings, except when alone in a workspace where one can safely distance from others, is also recommended under a voluntary measure.

Kenney says the measures are necessary as COVID-19 hospitalizations are reaching concerning levels in Edmonton and Calgary, calling it a turning point for the province.

He says current estimations suggested there could be as many as 293 hospitalizations in Alberta within a few weeks if the curve does not begin to bend.

“If these numbers continue to grow at the current pace they will put our health-care system at risk. They will put our economy at risk. And our loved ones at risk,” said Kenney. “We’ve seen how hospitals get overrun in other jurisdictions around the world. We must not let that happen here in Alberta.”

Kenney added, “If we don’t bend the curve down now we’ll face even tougher choices in the days ahead. But if we take smart, targeted actions and each do our part, we can continue to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.”

But, he says, the province is not looking at a full “lockdown”.

“We’ve seen other jurisdictions implement sweeping lockdowns, indiscriminately violating people’s rights and destroying livelihoods. Nobody wants that to happen here in Alberta.”

He stressed that social gatherings and households are the leading cause of spread in Alberta, accounting for 40 per cent of all active cases in both Edmonton and Calgary.

One setting the province is seeing little transmission in is structured settings like restaurants. Kenney says less than one per cent of active cases in those two cities are linked to in-person dining at restaurants.

“That is because operators and staff have worked extremely hard to adopt the health guidance and protect the health of customers, and I want to thank them all for that.”

“Our data indicates that it is currently safer to eat out at a restaurant, at a table with no more than six (people), with protections in place, than to attend a private gathering at someone’s home.”

Kenney emphasized that such measures are necessary to not overwhelm the acute care health system in the province.

Due to rising hospitalizations in Edmonton and Calgary, some non-urgent surgeries have already been postponed to provide more space for COVID-19 patients. Kenney says the problem will only get worse with the current trajectory of new cases.

“This is not a potential, future reality. It is today’s reality. And only more surgeries will have to be postponed, and more people moved out of hospitals who are currently receiving medical treatment if we don’t get on top of this.”

The measures brought in for the Grande Prairie area on Friday were previously implemented in Edmonton and Calgary. However, as cases rise in those two cities, the province is further “asking” residents there to stop hosting social gatherings in private residences altogether.

“A lot of people will say ‘The government has no business telling us who we host at home, or what kind of socializing we do’,” said Kenney, adding, “I understand that reaction, but here’s the reality: if we don’t take these kinds of simple measures, and make these sort of modest sacrifices to social life, the cases will continue to grow to a point where they may grow out of control, and where the only options we have will be far more impactful.”

Kenney also announced that daily updates of case numbers will return beginning this weekend. Since the summer, the province had only been reporting cases between Monday and Friday, with the weekend’s statistics being reported the following Monday.

As mentioned, the province is still addressing issues with updating the online dashboard and geospatial maps, meaning detailed case numbers are not currently available on Friday afternoon.