National

Alberta to announce timeline to end COVID-19 rules

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Feb, 2022 10:49 AM

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he will announce later today a plan to reduce COVID-19 health restrictions.

Kenney says it will be a prudent timeline to lift the rules provided pressure on hospitals continues to decline.

Today at 5 pm I will announce Alberta’s path back to normal - a careful and prudent plan to lift damaging restrictions if pressure on our hospitals continues to decline.

Please tune in.
— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) February 8, 2022

The premier announced last week that such a plan was coming and that the first step would be ending Alberta's vaccine passports to access non-essential businesses such as restaurants and bars.

The passport, known as a restriction exemption in the province, has become the symbol of the clash in Alberta on where the line should be between public health orders and individual rights and freedoms.

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says Kenney needs to show the scientific data to support ending the decision and says without it, he appears to be prematurely ending health restrictions to pander to hardliners in his party and caucus.

Truckers and their supporters have been blockading the main U.S. border checkpoint at Coutts in southern Alberta on and off for a week in protest of vaccine rules.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

2,859 COVID19 cases for Thursday

There are currently 36,641 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 246,693 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 500 individuals are currently in hospital and 102 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

2,859 COVID19 cases for Thursday

B.C. Liberals to review memberships ahead of vote

A statement from co-chairs Rozanne Helm and Colin Hansen of the party's election organizing committee says 3,025 memberships are undergoing confirmation reviews before those people will be allowed to vote in the leadership contest.

B.C. Liberals to review memberships ahead of vote

Rainstorms slink out of B.C., leaving few effects

Environment Canada had warned this week's series of rain events would bring deluges of 50 to 150 millimetres over much of southern B.C., but preliminary measurements show conditions were not as intense.

Rainstorms slink out of B.C., leaving few effects

B.C. overdose calls rose by 31 per cent in 2021

Paramedics and medical dispatchers in B.C. responded to a record-setting 35,525 overdose calls last year. BC Emergency Health Services says paramedics attended an average of 97 overdose calls a day last year, a 31 per cent increase compared with 2020.

B.C. overdose calls rose by 31 per cent in 2021

Delays increase cost to rebuild Lytton, B.C.

Insurance losses from a wildfire that wiped out most of Lytton, B.C., have surged to $102 million. The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the amount has risen from an original estimate of $78 million mostly because of delays in rebuilding the village.

Delays increase cost to rebuild Lytton, B.C.

B.C. school district wants staff proof of vaccine

The school board in Delta, B.C., is requiring all its employees to show proof of vaccination for COVID-19 and is giving them less than two months to disclose their status. Board chair Val Windsor says it is taking the step to reduce the risk of staff and students getting COVID-19.