Places of worship, day camps allowed to reopen on Monday
A continued decline in new COVID -19 cases in Calgary means the city can move forward with the final elements of the first stage of reopening starting Monday.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, announced Friday that day camps and places of worship in Calgary and Brooks will be allowed to reopen after the weekend.
Calgary and Brooks were initially left out of Alberta’s Stage 1 of the reopening timeline due to higher infection rates than the rest of the province. Restaurants and hair styling services in the cities were allowed to reopen Monday.
“I would like to congratulate residents of these cities on a downward trend in their numbers, which has not been seen in most places around the world where relaunch has happened,” Hinshaw said.
Day camps and summer schools may now open with some limits on occupancy. Places of worship can have services with more than 15 people, provided precautions are taken.
A maximum of one-third of the building’s capacity or 50 people, whichever is smaller, is allowed.
Hinshaw stressed that organized sports and games like soccer or martial arts are still banned. Low-contact activities like jogging in socially distanced groups or singles tennis are allowed, however.
Alberta and Calgary have generally handled the reopening well, Hinshaw said, not only in dropping case numbers but also because there hasn’t been an increase in complaints submitted to the province about non-compliance with public-health orders.
“I’m sure, like anything else, there will be a small group of people who are really excited to be out and about, and sometimes we’re the victim of our own success given that we have managed to lower the rate of virus in the province, that people may forget about the importance,” Hinshaw said.
“But I think the majority of Albertans remember the need to respond to the pandemic in a way that protects each other.”
For Ernie Tsu, owner of Trolley 5 on 17th Avenue, the first five days of reopening have been almost entirely problem-free.
“There’s a lot of people going out right now ... people are feeling very safe when they come out to any restaurant,” Tsu said. “The struggle has been guests trying to move around the restaurant to see their friends, and that’s been the toughest part, policing them to make sure they’re staying seated.”
The next stage of Alberta’s relaunch will include the reopening of libraries, cinemas and personal services such as massage parlours. The target date is June 19, but Hinshaw said Friday that the continued decline in active case numbers could mean Stage 2 happens sooner.
Hinshaw reported 24 new novel coronavirus cases in the province Friday from about 3,750 tests, a 0.6-per-cent positive rate.
There are now 616 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta, representing about nine per cent of the 6,979 cases reported in total.
No new COVID-19 deaths were reported Friday, leaving the province’s toll from the virus at 143.
A total of 6,218 Albertans have now officially recovered from COVID -19.
Hinshaw announced Friday that every Albertan may now be tested whether or not they have symptoms of the respiratory illness.
Testing is being expanded because even though Alberta’s labs have the capacity to process 7,000 tests each day, only between 2,000 and 4,000 tests are being completed daily.
“This will help provide data to further understand the impacts of moving to Stage 2 of Alberta’s relaunch strategy,” Hinshaw said. “Expanded testing will also help us understand where there may be undetected positive cases so we can prevent further spread of the virus.”
Albertans can arrange for testing by completing the online assessment tool, accessible online at ahs.ca/covid19. The expanded testing is available immediately across the province, but Calgarians can also schedule their own tests starting Friday.
Testing priority will be given to symptomatic Albertans and those who are close contacts to known cases.