Alberta opens libraries, eases indoor fitness restrictions

Shandro said high-intensity activities such as running on a treadmill are still only allowed on a one-on-one basis with a trainer or for a household and one trainer.

Rules on face masks and maintaining a distance of two metres remain in place.

Drop-in fitness is still not permitted.

Shandro said the province relied on recommendations from the fitness industry to make the recommendations, including how low-intensity was defined.

Full details on indoor fitness restrictions can be found below.

Other easing of measures that were being considered for Step 2 have been delayed to Step 3, for now. That includes restrictions on hotels, conferences, and banquet centres, retail and children’s sports and performances. Shandro said these measures could be moved ahead if numbers trend in a positive direction.

“We’re being cautious while still moving ahead,” said Shandro. “While these changes are positive we can’t lose sight of the fact that further easing of measures opens up the chance of spreading COVID.”

He added the COVID-19 variants in Alberta forces the province to be even more vigilant even as measures are eased.

The variants of concern are estimated to 30 to 50 per cent more infectious than the current strain.

“We’re watching the leading indicators very carefully and we’re fully prepared to reinstate measures as needed if trends in daily cases shift,” said Shandro.

He added they’ll wait at least three weeks before a decision on moving forward with Step 3 is made.

Premier Jason Kenney said COVID-19 still poses a threat to the health-care system and stressed the importance of avoiding indoor social gatherings.

“I know that many Albertans want us to relax many more health measures today but we cannot and we must not allow exponential growth to start to take hold, driven by these new more contagious variants,” he said.

Kenney said the game-changer is the vaccine and expressed his frustration and said it’s unacceptable that Canada ranks 40th in the world for per capita inoculation.

“We renew our urgent call on the federal government to catch up with the rest of the world in vaccine procurement,” he said.

There are 20 active cases of COVID-19 in Medicine Hat on Monday.

The city now has had 556 total cases – the 20 active, 519 recovered and there have been 17 deaths.

There are two new cases in the city today and no new recoveries.

Across the province, there are 4,674 active cases, up 90 from Sunday, and 127,233 recovered cases, up 199.

Alberta’s total number of COVID-19 cases from the start of the pandemic is 133,795.

There have been 457 variant cases identified in the province, 27 new today.

There are 291 total new cases in the province today.

There are now 257 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19, 48 of which are in ICU, and 1,888 deaths.

The province completed 5,933 tests in the past 24 hours.

The provincial positivity rate is 4.9 per cent.

Alberta has delivered 235,508 doses of vaccine.

There was no announcement of when Dr. Hinshaw’s next update would take place.

An outbreak is listed on the provincial website last week at the Valleyview long-term care facility in Medicine Hat. Alberta Health has confirmed there are five active cases there and the outbreak was opened on Feb. 12. It’s the only local outbreak currently listed.

The province’s reproductive value is 1.01, and 0.94 for the province outside of Calgary and Edmonton.

There are 6,541 cases in the South Zone. There are 328 active cases and 6,123 recovered. The death total in the zone is at 90.

An AHS spokesperson told CHAT News on Monday that AHS South Zone currently has 27 COVID-19 positive individuals in hospital. There are four at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, with one of those in the ICU. Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge has 19 inpatients, with eight of those in the ICU. The Cardston Health Centre has four inpatients.

There are no local schools on either “Alert” or “Outbreak” status on the provincial reporting site.

The website Support Our Students is tracking instances of cases in schools across the province.

Cypress County has totaled 145 cases – one active case and the rest recovered.

The County of Forty Mile has 117 total cases. There are no active cases, 115 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The MD of Taber has 340 total cases — six active cases, 328 recovered and there have been six deaths.

Special Areas No. 2 has 40 total cases – one active, 38 recovered and there has been one death.

Brooks has 1,362 total cases — one active case and 1,347 are recovered. Brooks has recorded 14 deaths.

The County of Newell has a total of 159 cases — zero active cases, 157 recovered and there have been two deaths.

The County of Warner has 162 total cases. There are no active cases, 159 are recovered cases and there have been three deaths in the county.

The City of Lethbridge has a total of 2,137 cases. There are 199 active cases, 1,918 recovered and there have been 20 deaths. Lethbridge County has 547 cases, 17 active cases, 527 recovered and there have been seven deaths.

The figures on alberta.ca are “up-to-date as of end of day Feb. 28, 2021.”

Read the full March 1 update from the province here.

Saskatchewan has a total of 28,801 cases, 1,551 considered active. There are 26,865 recovered cases and there have been 385 COVID-19 deaths in the province.

Saskatchewan has delivered 79,289 doses of vaccine.

Individual and group fitness activities are permitted, with restrictions

All indoor fitness must be must be scheduled or by appointment – no drop-ins allowed.

Low intensity individual and group exercises are now allowed without a trainer.

Low intensity fitness includes activities not focused specifically on cardio, that have a low depth and rate of respiration.

Examples include: barre, pilates, stretching, tai-chi, low intensity yoga (e.g. hatha, yin), light weightlifting, indoor rock climbing.

High intensity activities are permitted for one-on-one or one-on-one household training only, with a trainer.

High intensity fitness is often focused on cardiovascular activities that have a high depth and rate of respiration.

Examples include: bodybuilding/heavy weightlifting, aerobics, rowing, Zumba, bootcamp, circuit training, cross fit, dance fitness, high intensity interval training, kickboxing, spin, power yoga, swimming etc.

Gym, studio, and fitness centre operators should use their best judgement in identifying what category their group exercise classes fall into based on these examples.
Safety requirements:

One-on-one sessions cannot interact with others and there must be a minimum of 3 metres distance between pairs of trainers and clients (aka sessions) in the same facility.

Trainers must be professional, certified and/or paid trainers who are providing active instruction and correction. Passive supervision of a physical activity is not considered training.
Trainers must remain masked during the session. Clients are not required to wear a mask while doing high intensity exercise.

Regardless of the type or intensity of exercise, trainers and clients must be separated by 3 metres at all times.

More than one trainer and client ‘pair’ are allowed into the facility, studio, rink, court, pool, ice surface, etc. with restrictions:

Each trainer and client pair must stay 3 metres away from all other trainers and clients at all times, including in entryways and exits.
Each trainer can only interact with their assigned client, and each client can only interact with their assigned trainer.

No interaction between clients or between trainers is allowed.

No ‘cycling through’ multiple trainers as in circuit training.

by Chris Brown

Alberta opens libraries, eases indoor fitness restrictions

Our Community