Thread by @BarbLarochelle

We will have both Kenney & Shandro as special guests for the covid update. That means that even though this is starting late, it will be later. Also we’ll get to hear it all twice—Shandro’s specialty.

Yup. Pushing ahead. Kenney is touting Alberta’s ‘tremendous’ progress’. Emphasis on hospital and case numbers. Encouraging data, Kenney says. The vaccinations have had a ‘huge impact’ he says. (Already?)

Indoor fitness and libraries will have targeted restrictions eased, but a delay for the hotels and conference centres due to the testing positivity rates.

Cases have levelled off and the positivity rate has increased, as has the number of variant cases. ‘We cannot and we must not allow exponential growth to take hold’ due to the variants, says Kenney.

Kenney says to Albertans who are worried that this is too slow, the ‘game changer is the vaccine’. Time to slam Trudeau! Urgent call for feds to catch up with the rest of the world.

Kenney says we still don’t know where a third of our cases are coming from. They think 30% of the transmissions are happening at home.

Shandro says libraries will be open at 15% capacity. Adults can restart low intensity individual and group fitness routines like Pilates, yoga & tae chi. Still with masks and 3 m apart. No drop-ins. They relied on recommendations from the fitness sector for these ideas.

(No bias there, right?)
None of the other Step 2 stuff is happening yet, due to the variants that are much more contagious. The variants know better than to go to gyms, though.

Shandro also mentions that we still don’t have enough vaccine from the federal government. Now to Dr. Hinshaw.

291 new cases
5900 tests for 4.9% + rate
236 schools or 10% of all schools have alerts now.
890 cases in school since Jan. 11
35 new cases of the variant for 457 total.
R value is over 1.

There were 8000 vaccines given today. (At that rate, it will take over a year to vaccinate everyone. )

We can’t let our guard down, and new easing of restrictions should not be seen as a sign that we can, says Dr. Hinshaw.

CTV reporter asks Shandro about measures that are delayed. Are they now part of Step 3? No decision yet, he says. It could come before Step 3. Kenney adds that if the numbers are going in the ‘right direction’ with the variants under control, we can take more steps within Step 2.

But they already made it clear the numbers are NOT doing that.

Globe & Mail question about the Northern region and new cases nearly doubling in the last 3 weeks?

Kenney says they discussed it a lot. Eastern rural Alberta is doing very well, but NE quadrant of Alberta is having ‘significant increases’. He wants more info. about that. He says there are many outbreaks on First Nations reserves, even though they have been so careful.

There are also outbreaks in a care home in the Grande Prairie area. Kenney says the stringency of health measures are not the only thing that matters, but also the willingness of people to comply with them.

David Staples asks if people in LTC have had their 2 vaccinations, why are they not allowed to see loved ones or get out yet?

Dr. Hinshaw says it takes 3 weeks after 1st dose to see full impact (of immunity?) and another week after 2nd dose. People are not instantly immune. They are allowed to have a designated 2 people visit them.

Shandro says the vaccines protect from severe outcomes, protect from getting the virus, or prevent transmission, and they have to look at all of those factors.

Have to stop there due to noise and commotion at home!