COVID ENFORCEMENT INCREASE
Madu adding 700 more officers
For the ninth consecutive day, more than 1,000 Albertans have tested positive for COVID-19.
Another 1,227 Albertans have tested positive for COVID-19, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Friday. The cases came from about 16,300 tests, about a 7.5 per cent positivity rate.
The consistently high infection rates have come alongside mounting deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19.
Alberta announced Friday nine more people had died of the virus, including two in Calgary. The new deaths bring the province's overall toll to 519, with 46 of those deaths coming in the past week alone.
Admissions to hospital and intensive-care units also rose Friday, with 405 Albertans now in hospital with the coronavirus, 86 of whom are in ICU. It's a 31 per cent rise in hospital admissions and a 48 per cent spike in ICU patients weekover-week.
Both ICU and hospital admissions are at all-time highs for the province, which has released plans to bolster the capacity of the health system by adding 2,250 acute-care beds and 425 ICU beds in the coming weeks for COVID-19 patients.
The beds would be made available by moving some patients to continuing-care beds and cancelling some non-urgent surgeries, but some doctors have questioned the feasibility of the plan due to staffing shortages.
Hinshaw said many restrictions announced by the province Tuesday went into effect Friday, particularly at businesses and services. The flurry of new restrictions includes retail businesses being capped at 25 per cent capacity and places of worship having a maximum of one-third capacity.
As well, all Alberta students in grades 7 to 12 will transition to online learning beginning Monday, and won't return to schools until after the holiday break.
“I urge Albertans to practise patience and kindness in the days ahead. If a line is a bit longer than usual or an employee asks you to follow a new policy that is in place, please do not take your frustrations out on these workers,” Hinshaw said.
“These new restrictions and measures create extra work and pressures for staff, owners and operators.”
Joined by Hinshaw Friday was Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu, who announced about 700 more peace officers would temporarily be given authority to enforce public-health orders, including a ban on all indoor social gatherings.
Fines will be as low as $1,000 and as high as $100,000 through the court system “in extreme cases,” Madu said.
Also Friday, Hinshaw said though some provinces are releasing timelines for when a COVID-19 vaccine may be made available, Alberta is not yet able to commit to a concrete date for inoculation locally, calling the vaccine date a “moving target.”
“Our goal is that whenever vaccine is available, we will be ready to start immunizing individuals on that highest priority list,” she said.
Ontario and Quebec have both earmarked New Year's as the date when people in those provinces can begin to get vaccinated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a Friday morning news conference most Canadians could be inoculated by September 2021. He insisted Ottawa was committed to working with the provinces and territories on securing safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines as quickly as possible.