SUMMER IN JEOPARDY?

Follow the rules, Hinshaw says

Alberta's hopes for a summer reopening could be in doubt, and more restrictions could be coming, if we don't stem the growth of COVID -19 cases now, the province's top doctor said Tuesday.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said during her update that large events could be possible this summer if the majority of Albertans are vaccinated, although they may look different as they may require masks and physical distancing. She said currently the only way to protect people is through restrictions.

Hinshaw said she and her team are closely monitoring the province's situation and, if the trend doesn't change, more restrictions may be necessary.

“The recipe for getting safely to summer is simple,” she said. “We need to reduce cases sharply by limiting in-person interactions as much as possible every day. We need to stop the spread for just a few more months so that the vaccines can do their work. We are getting closer to this every day.”

Earlier in the day, Premier Jason Kenney expressed optimism that Alberta will be able to reopen soon enough to hold large events and allow for expanded social gatherings.

“I remain hopeful that we will have a Calgary Stampede, that we'll once again be able to raise a pint with friends and toast our nation on Canada Day,” Kenney told reporters at an announcement.

When asked if that was too optimistic, the premier said the best motivation is hope, and people are tired of fear.

“We are so close. Vaccines every day get us closer to that level of protection that we need so that we can have something like a normal summer, and that's the hope which I believe can inspire people to avoid social contact over the next few weeks,” said Kenney.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Kenney has been over-promising and under-delivering throughout the pandemic and doesn't appear to have learned his lesson.

“He needs to get on board with a much more effective means of instilling confidence and buy-in from Albertans on this important matter,” she said.

The province reported 1,081 new infections on Tuesday. There are now 402 people in hospital with the virus, 88 of those are in intensive care. Three more deaths were reported within the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 2,021.

Alberta added 705 new variant cases which now make up 52.4 per cent, or 7,910 of the provincial active case total of 15,087 on Tuesday.

Nearly one million doses of vaccine have been administered as of Sunday.

Hinshaw said the vaccine is effective at preventing severe illness and death but can take someone several months before their body starts to become immune. Even then, she said they are not completely protected.

Hinshaw said all three available vaccines work against the more infectious variant strain.

Concerns over vaccine safety arose on Tuesday after Canada reported its first vaccine-induced blood clots linked to Oxford-astrazeneca and the United States paused the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following six reports of blood clots.

Hinshaw said the province is watching the situation with Johnson & Johnson closely and working with provincial and territorial counterparts and federal partners to assess the data.

The province started providing Oxford-astrazeneca vaccines on April 6 to Albertans between the ages of 55 and 64 who do not have underlying chronic health conditions. Hinshaw has previously said blood clots are rare with the vaccine and can be treated and it remains an effective way to prevent severe outcomes from the virus.

Meanwhile, the City of Edmonton provided an update on public health enforcement April 5-11. In that time, enforcement officers handed out one ticket to someone for not following the city's mandatory mask bylaw as well as 77 warnings. No tickets were issued for violating the Public Health Act, but there were three warnings.

Edmonton Public Schools reported on Tuesday new single cases at Queen Elizabeth, Vimy Ridge, Holyrood, Allendale, Grandview Heights and two cases at Victoria. Edmonton Catholic Schools reported new single cases at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Monsignor Fee Otterson, Divine Mercy, St. Alphonsus, J.H. Picard, St. Joseph, St. John XXIII and St. Francis Xavier.