Alberta’s Restrictions Exemption Program ends at midnight

On Feb. 14, masking requirements for all school children will be removed and there will be no masking requirements at all for children 12 and under.

Premier Jason Kenney says given the “very low threat” COVID-19 poses to the health of children it is no longer justifiable to continue to disrupt and restrict the normal lives of kids.

Declining hospitalizations will inform the next steps of the three-step program.

Stage 2 will take effect on March 1 if hospitalizations continue to trend down. That step will remove all indoor masking requirements and remaining school requirements.

There is no date for Stage 3, when all remaining public health measures will be lifted.

Kenney says the plan will be put on hold if needed.

“If the current trends reverse themselves and if we see a significant and sustained increase in pressure on our hospitals we may have to pause some of these measures.”

“But we are determined to get our life back to normal, doing so in a way that ensures that a hospital bed is there for everyone who needs one,” he says.

Kenney says the government only ever wanted to keep restrictions in place only as long as they are necessary to protect public health and Alberta’s health system.

The premier says now is the time for learning to live with COVID, adding the threat of the virus “no longer outweighs the hugely damaging impact of health restrictions on our society” and on people’s mental health and broader health.

Kenney said the Restrictions Exemption Program was needed to boost vaccination rates and reduce the stress on health-care capacity.

“The Restrictions Exemption Program has served its useful purpose. It’s done its job,” Kenney says, adding vaccination rates have effectively been frozen since early December.

The premier says the province is moving carefully and confidently towards the end to restrictive measures. But, he said, it is not an end to COVID-19. New variants will arrive and there will likely be additional pressure on hospitals.

“But restrictions, mandates and those kinds of interventions will not and must not become of our lives.”

Kenney said it is clear that “we passed the peak of Omicron infections about three weeks ago” and COVID-related hospitalizations are declining.

Known active cases, the seven-day rolling average of new cases and the positivity rate have also declined in recent weeks.

There are currently 28,265 known active cases in the province, 1,623 COVID patients in hospital, 129 of which are in ICU.

The regular full update of numbers is available here.

by Chris Brown

Alberta’s Restrictions Exemption Program ends at midnight

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