The Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw encouraged Albertans to continue to follow public health guidelines, as the province won’t be moving to step three at this time.
On March 22, the COVID-19 positivity rate was roughly 6.1 per cent, with 7,500 tests completed, 456 new cases identified within 24 hours, 280 people in hospital, and 48 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“This has been a long pandemic, and I know that many people will have mixed reactions to the decision to delay step three,” Hinshaw said.
“I’ve put a great deal of thought into the message that I want to give Albertans, it’s important that every one of us understands the powers that our actions have, and how crucial it is that we all make choices that protect our communities over the coming weeks,” she said.
Hinshaw previously believed it could be possible to consider appealing to Albertans who are currently not following public health measures by offering them a lower-risk way of gathering.
“Unfortunately, as we have seen cases, variants and hospitalizations continue to rise in recent days, we cannot take the risk of easing any measures at this point,” Hinshaw said.
“Now is not the time to abandon tried and true practices that have protected our communities and our health care system over the past year. COVID-19 is still very much with us,” she said.
Hinshaw urged all Albertans to remember the surge of COVID-19 cases in November when cases and hospitalizations began to increase.
“The reality is that once we hit a growth phase of this virus, our numbers will not stand still, that’s why we all need to continue doing our part to not only follow the letter of the law and the public health orders but the spirit of them as well,” Hinshaw said.
“While immunizations will eventually protect those, who are the most vulnerable, we are not yet at a point where we have protected this whole group. We are in a challenging but hopeful time, warmer weather opens up many opportunities to get out of our houses to stay active, and safely gather with friends and family,” she said.
Throughout the update, Hinshaw reminded Albertans that as widespread immunization increases, Albertans will be able to enjoy many of the elements of their lives that were put on hold due to COVID-19.
“Until we get there, it’s more important than ever that we keep cases low, the rules in place whatever they may be are only as good as the steps all of us take day in and day out to follow them. Looking for loopholes or thinking it doesn’t matter if you bend an inconvenient rule just a little bit jeopardizes the progress that we have all made together,” Hinshaw said.
Albertan’s vigilance in minimizing the number of people they come into contact with each day, physical distancing, wearing a mask, and staying home and getting tested if they feel even slightly unwell are all crucial to stopping the spread of the virus.
“Though it may be hard to see it, our choices are immense power and each of us has a say in whether cases rise or fall in the days and weeks ahead,” Hinshaw said.
Adding, “I urge all Albertans to make the best possible choices they can to prevent cases from rising and to keep each other safe from this virus.”
Going forward, the government of Alberta will look into imposing further measures if necessary and look at where the virus transmission in the community is and develop targeted measures to minimize the transmission in those areas.
“We’ll continue to look at the evidence and make sure the decisions we make if there is ever a need to impose further measures for the remainder of our response to the pandemic based on that evidence,” said the Minister of Health, Tyler Shandro.
