The COVID cabinet committee will also lay out a phased plan to remove almost all public health restrictions later this month as long as there is declining pressure on hospitals, Kenney said in an hour-long Facebook Live.
"After two years of this, we simply cannot continue to rely on the blunt instrument of damaging restrictions as that as a primary tool to cope with a disease that will likely be with us for the rest of our lives."The premier did not give a specific day the program would be lifted, but committed that the province would repeal the Restrictions Exemptions Program "in the first quarter of 2022."
"We must find a way to get our lives back to normal," he said.
Kenney did not appear at Thursday's afternoon news conference with Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, but instead answered questions from viewers on social media around 7 p.m.
During her COVID-19 update, Hinshaw said the province is beginning to turn a corner in the fifth wave of the pandemic and must prepare to shift toward an endemic approach but repeatedly declined to state her position on the potential removal of provincial restrictions. She said:
"I believe that after the Omicron wave has subsided, the risk of our system becoming overwhelmed will be substantially reduced, and this will enable us to shift our response. This change will take time. We cannot continue to use restrictions in the long term once the risk of system overwhelm has passed."Hospitalizations in the province saw a slight decrease Thursday from previous record-breaking numbers. There are 1,584 Albertans in hospital with the virus, down 14 from Wednesday. Intensive-care units saw an increase of six patients, with 112 reported in ICU. An additional 15 COVID-related deaths were reported Thursday, bringing the province to 3,608 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Hinshaw refused to answer media questions on whether she supports the province's planned easing of COVID-19 restrictions within the coming days. She said any recommendations she's made to Kenney are under "cabinet confidence" and decisions around restrictions are "the purview of elected officials."
Kenney suggested on Tuesday that Alberta could begin relaxing public health measures by the end of the month if the province sees a sustainable decline in hospitalizations.
"Once we see a sustained reduction in COVID pressure on the hospitals, I am looking to being able to make decisions about moving toward relaxation of public health measures at that time."However, the United Conservative caucus suggested a much faster timeline for reopening on Wednesday.
Caucus chair Nathan Neudorf issued a statement suggesting Alberta will begin lifting restrictions "very soon, likely within days," starting with the REP. A member of Kenney's cabinet also called for the premier to remove public health restrictions. Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon said in a statement issued Thursday that he will "hold" Kenney to his promise to remove vaccination mandates "imminently." He wrote:
"It is clear now that mandates like the Restrictions Exemption Program are not as effective against the current COVID-19 situation as much as health officials expected."
Alberta reported 2,370 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday from 7,338 PCR tests. The cases represent a 34 per cent test positivity rate.
City working through changes to Calgary bylaws
During his Facebook Live, Kenney was asked whether the province would prevent municipalities from enforcing their own mask or vaccine mandates. Kenney said municipalities have that authority under the Municipal Government Act, but the UCP government would consider changes when the Alberta legislature resumes.
"We will certainly take a look at that because I don't think that the city governments . . . this is not their normal field of responsibility. They don't have access to the same data that we do.The City of Calgary is working through what changes to provincial health measures could mean for the municipality. Should the province lift the REP, the city's vaccination passport bylaw will end as well, a city spokesperson wrote in an email to Postmedia. However, the city's mask bylaw will still be in effect. The statement reads:
"If the province moves ahead, safely, to broadly lift our public health measures, but we have municipal politicians improvising their own local policies, I think that would be a matter of great concern."
"There is still significant pressure on our health-care system and the current provincial and city measures continue to protect the health and safety of citizens."The City of Calgary's vaccine passport bylaw is dependent on the province's REP remaining in place, as the bylaw makes participation in the program mandatory for businesses and organizations in the city.
Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner, who also serves as chair of the emergency management committee, said it's difficult for the city to plan without direct communication from the province. He said:
"Once again, two cities where the majority of cases and businesses are coming from were totally left out of the conversation. It really puts us in a pinch."Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said the city is working through what powers it has under law in the face of the provincial removal of restrictions.
"I know we have the ability, and it's a stretch, to ask people to wear masks and make that the law of the land. I'm not sure we have the jurisdictional capabilities, power, capacity to keep a vaccine passport going in the absence of provincial support."In Edmonton, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi put out a statement on Thursday ahead of the news conference calling for the province to reconsider lifting restrictions and work with the city on exploring potential options.
I shut her off right after that as I'm not about to waste so much as a moment of my life listening yet more mindless blither.
The rock she lives under is a least a mile on a side; and the worry washing of hands before she started set the whole tone.